PARIS – The fencer from the Golden Dome is golden again at the Olympic Games.

In an all-America final, Notre Dame graduate Lee Kiefer defeated Lauren Scruggs 15-6 Sunday night at the Grand Palais to repeat as foil champion.

After a tense opener, Kiefer was dominant, winning her five matches by a collective 75-42. She became the third woman to win two or more Olympic golds in foil. The others are Italy’s Valentina Vezzali (2004-08-12) and Hungary’s Ilona Elek (1936-48).

After the winning point, Kiefer tore off her mask in exultation. Her Tokyo gold came during pandemic protocols and essentially without spectators.

“It's so special to have my family (here), all my best friends who I haven't even seen,” she said. “I tried to spot them in the crowd. But it makes it so much fuller."

Canada’s Eleanor Harvey won the bronze 15-12 over Italy’s Alice Volpi, keeping Europeans off the podium for the first time in Olympic history.

Kiefer, 30, of Lexington, Ky., is a four-time NCAA champion for the Fighting Irish and four-time Olympian.

She has been on a leave of absence from medical school at the University of Kentucky since the Tokyo Olympics. She is married to Gerek Meinhardt, a five-time Olympian who also was a Notre Dame fencer.

Kiefer was nearly upset in her first match, squandering a 9-1 lead before a 15-13 victory over 31^st-seeded Martyna Jelinska of Poland.

“No matter how much I tried to prepare, there's still so much pressure I put on myself to just fence well and stay present,” Kiefer said. “Each day was a rollercoaster, but here we are at the top.”

In succession, she beat China’s Huang Qianqian 15-9, Hungary’s Flora Pasztor 15-4, the No. 3-seeded Volpi 15-10 and Scruggs 15-6.

Scruggs, 21, a Harvard University fencer from Queens, N.Y., became the first Black woman from the United States to win an individual Olympic medal in fencing.

“Just seeing the sheer amount of people who are interested in fencing and who want to support fencers is just amazing, because we don't really have that in America,” she said. “So, I'm just super grateful to be able to fence in front of such a big crowd and in such a beautiful space.”

In the round of 16, Scruggs won 15-11 over Harvard teammate Jessica Guo, a Canadian who beat her at this year’s NCAA Championships.

In the round of eight, Scruggs shocked No. 1-ranked Arianna Errigo of Italy 15-14. The 36-year-old Errigo was the 2012 Olympic silver medalist.

In 2021, Kiefer upset defending champion Inna Deriglazova of Russia 15-13 for the gold.

Mariel Zagunis, also a Notre Dame graduate, is the only other American woman to earn gold in fencing, winning saber in 2004 and 2008.

Kiefer is so petite – 5-4, 110 pounds – that it can be difficult to identify her sport in the Olympic Village.

Marathoner? Gymnast? Coxswain?

“People probably just think I’m a guest,” she once said.

She took lessons in horseback riding and piano before devoting herself to fencing. During the pandemic, she trained on a fencing strip she helped build in her parents’ basement.

She placed fifth in foil in 2012 and 10^th in 2016. As long as 10 years ago, her bronze made her the second American woman to win a medal at the senior World Championships.

Kiefer comes from a fencing family.

Her father, Steve, a neurosurgeon, was a team captain at Duke. Her older sister, Alex, also a physician, was an NCAA champion at Harvard. Her younger brother, Axel, also of Notre Dame, has competed in junior worlds.

Kiefer’s mother, Teresa, a psychiatrist, was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States as a child.

Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Notre Dame's Lee Kiefer wins gold medal in fencing at Paris Olympics