July 28 Olympics Preview: Women's FoilU.S. Olympic Fencing TeamOlympic Games Schedule

PARIS, France — Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) will try to defend her Olympic crown on Sunday as the Women’s Foil individual competition steps into the spotlight in Paris.

Keifer, who is ranked No. 1 in the world, wants to become the third woman to win multiple Olympic gold medals in the women’s individual foil event, joining Italy’s Valentina Vezzali and Hungary’s Ilona Elek.

She’s joined by fellow Team USA fencers Lauren Scruggs (Queens, N.Y.), the 2023 NCAA champion in women’s foil for Harvard and 2024 NCAA team champion, and Jackie Dubrovich (Maplewood, N.J.), a two-time Olympian currently ranked No. 10 in the world.

The setting will be stunning as the 8,000-seat Grand Palais, a marvel of architecture that’s normally a popular tourist attraction, has been transformed into an Olympic fencing venue. Olympians will compete in front of a sold-out crowd on one of five strips in the glass-enclosed building. 

Sunday will also feature competition in Men’s Epee, but Team USA did not qualify any athletes for the event.

As we covered in our tournament format explainer, the individual competition begins with an incomplete tableau of 64. All three Team USA fencers have byes past that first Round of 64 and into the Round of 32. 

That means a couple of extra hours of sleep for Team USA fans, who can set their alarms for 4:25 a.m. ET (10:25 a.m. Paris time) to catch the Women’s Foil Round of 32.

After that, competition continues uninterrupted with Women’s Foil and Men’s Epee alternating rounds through the quarterfinals. Then there’s a two-hour break so the morning/afternoon session ticket holders can leave and make way for the evening session attendees.

The evening session begins at 1 p.m. ET (7 p.m. Paris) with the semifinals, bronze medal bouts and gold medal bouts, followed immediately by the victory ceremonies for each weapon.

All bouts are streamed live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com (streaming schedule), with bronze and gold medal bouts also airing on CNBC.

Women’s Foil Individual

Find the full bracket here and watch live here or on Peacock, with medal rounds on CNBC.

• Table of 32: Starts at 4:55 a.m. ET (10:55 a.m. Paris)

  • Jackie Dubrovich vs. Flora Pasztor (HUN), 4:55 a.m. ET (10:55 a.m. Paris), Red Strip

  • Lauren Scruggs vs. Amita Berthier (SGP), 5:25 a.m. ET (11:25 a.m. Paris), Blue Strip

  • Lee Kiefer vs. winner of Youssra Zakarani (MAR)/ Martyna Jelinska (POL), 5:55 a.m. ET (11:55 a.m. Paris), Red Strip

• Table of 16: 8:05 a.m. ET (2:05 p.m. Paris)
• Quarterfinals: 9:55 a.m. ET (3:55 p.m. Paris)
• Semifinal 1: 1 p.m. ET (7 p.m. Paris)
• Semifinal 2: 1:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. Paris)
• Bronze Medal Bout: 2:50 p.m. ET (8:50 p.m. Paris)
• Gold Medal Bout: 3:45 p.m. ET (9:45 p.m. Paris)

Our Women’s Foil team is packed with talent. Kiefer, Scruggs and Dubrovich each won senior medals in the 2023-24 FIE (International Fencing Federation) season.

In the year 2024 alone, Kiefer picked up two golds, one silver and one bronze at World Cup or Grand Prix tournaments. She then won individual gold at the 2024 Pan American Championships — her second in a row and 11th overall. 

Dubrovich earned bronze at the 2024 Pan American Championships to go with the two bronze medals she won in the 2023-24 senior season. Those came at the Cairo World Cup in February 2024 and the Hong Kong World Cup in May 2024.

After winning the 2023 individual NCAA title as a member of the Harvard Fencing Team, Scruggs has continued her ascent into the senior ranks, earning her first senior medal (a bronze) in March 2024 at the D.C. Foil Grand Prix. 

Lee Kiefer and Jackie Dubrovich both have previous Olympics experience.

Lee Kiefer, Women’s Foil: Fourth Olympics

• London 2012:

  • Individual: 5th Place, lost in Quarterfinals to Arianna Errigo (ITA)

  • Team: 6th Place, lost in Quarterfinals to Kora

• Rio 2016: 

  • Individual: 10th Place, lost in Round of 16 to Liu Yongshi (CHN)

  • Team: No Women’s Foil Team event contested in Rio

• Tokyo 2020: 

  • Individual: Gold medal and Olympic champion, defeated Inna Deriglazova (ROC) in gold medal final

  • Team: 4th Place, lost in Bronze Medal Match to Italy

Jackie Dubrovich, Women’s Foil: Second Olympics

• Tokyo 2020: 

  • Individual: 21st Place, lost in Round of 32 to Leonie Ebert (GER)

  • Team: 4th Place, lost in Bronze Medal Match to Italy

• Lee Kiefer can become the third woman to win multiple Olympic gold medals in the women's individual foil event, after Valentina Vezzali (ITA, 3) and Ilona Elek (HUN, 2).
• Lee Kiefer won the gold medal in this event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (held in 2021) after defeating the defending Olympic champion Inna Gracheva (ROC) in the final. It was the second successive Olympic women's individual foil final in which the winner defeated the defending champion; Gracheva had won gold in 2016 after winning the final against 2012 champion Elisa Di Francisca (ITA).
• As of the start of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, no woman born after Jan. 1, 2000, has won an Olympic medal in fencing. Lauren Scruggs was born Jan. 27, 2003.
• The final in the women's individual foil event was decided by one point (2008, 2012, 2016) or two points (2021) at each of the last four Olympic Games.
• If Jackie Dubrovich or Lauren Scruggs earn a medal, they’ll become just the second American woman ever to medal in the individual foil event, joining teammate Lee Kiefer.

See the detailed schedule here and the broadcast schedule here.

Sunday, July 28

Women’s Foil

• Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.)
• Lauren Scruggs (Queens, N.Y.)
• Jackie Dubrovich (Maplewood, N.J.)

Session Start Times:
Round of 32: 4:25 a.m. ET (10:25 a.m. Paris)
Medal Rounds: 1 p.m. ET (7 p.m. Paris)

Streaming/Broadcast:
Live on Peacock with select bouts on CNBC

Birthday: June 15, 1994

Hometown: Lexington, Ky.  

College: University of Notre Dame  

Current FIE World Ranking: 1

About Lee:

The Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be her fourth Olympics (2012, 2016, 2020, 2024) ... Hails from a amily of fencers ... Most decorated women's foil fencer in U.S. history ... Achieved bronze at the 2011 Senior World Championships at just 17 ... Won four individual NCAA Championships with Notre Dame before pursuing medical studies at the University of Kentucky ... Trained for the Tokyo Olympics during her third year of medical school amid the COVID-19 pandemic ... Made history as the first American to win Olympic gold in foil. … Finished the 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons ranked No. 1 in the world.

Birthday: Jan. 27, 2003

Hometown: Queens, N.Y.  

College: Harvard University  

Current FIE World Ranking: 11

About Lauren:

The 2024 Paris Games will be her first following three seasons as a standout member of Harvard University’s women’s foil team ... The Queens, NY, native was an NCAA Women’s Foil Champion and NCAA All-American in her sophomore season at Harvard, as well as the USFCA Women’s Foil Fencer of The Year ...Earned First Team All-Ivy League and Second Team All-America honors as a Freshman ... Became the youngest women’s foil fencer to win a Junior World Championship and is one of two African-American Fencers to win an individual world title (male or female).

Birthday: July 18, 1994

Hometown: Maplewood, N.J.

College: Columbia University  

Current FIE World Ranking: 10

About Jackie:

2024 marks her second consecutive appearance at the Summer Games ... Currently the 10th  ranked female foil fencer in the world ... Graduated from Columbia University in 2016 (B.A. Psychology), where she earned the school’s athlete of the year honor that year ... A three-time member of the Senior World Championship team … A four-time Junior/Cadet Worlds medalist ... Trains at the New Jersey Fencing Alliance in Maplewood under the tutelage of her coach and fiancé Brian Kaneshige.