Kiefer earns 2nd Olympic gold in women's foil fencing with a victory over American teammate Scruggs

PARIS (AP) — Lee Kiefer won back-to-back gold medals in foil fencing and her teammate Lauren Scruggs took the silver Sunday to make history as the first Black fencer to win an Olympic medal in an individual women's event for the United States.

Kiefer won 15-6 in the final against Scruggs and celebrated by pirouetting down the piste in joy. Knowing the U.S. anthem would play after the final no matter what “took the pressure off,” Kiefer said.

The vocal crowd in the cavernous Grand Palais was a huge contrast to the hushed, empty venue in Chiba, Japan, where Kiefer won her first Olympic gold three years ago under pandemic restrictions.

Kiefer dedicated her win to Buckie Leach, who coached her to gold in Tokyo but died 20 days later in a motorcycle accident. “He would be so happy for me,” she said. “This one’s for him. I even have a picture of him on my wall in the village.”

Kiefer’s gold medal is the fifth in an individual event for a U.S. fencer. She follows Mariel Zagunis in 2004 and 2008 as the only American fencers to win gold in the same event twice.

“Mariel, who did it before me, she has been supporting me and being a really important person to keep me feeling important and seen and empowered these past years, so I really want to thank her for being that person,” Kiefer said.

There hadn't been an all-U.S. final in an Olympic fencing event since 2008, when Zagunis beat Sada Jacobson in saber as part of an American podium sweep. Before that, the last time it happened was in 1904.

“I’m definitely more happy than disappointed,” Scruggs said. “I think that it was shocking for me to be here in the first place, so I don’t even think I’ve had time to process losing, if I’m being honest. Just shocking and just super grateful.”

It continues a rapid rise to the top of world fencing for Scruggs, a 21-year-old Harvard student from Queens, New York.

“Maybe two years ago, I really thought I could make the team, until last year, I made my first senior team,” she said. “So to come out here and medal is just insane.”

Scruggs said she wants to inspire young Black fencers and show “that they have a place in the sport.”

Kiefer is part of a decorated Olympic power couple.

Kiefer’s husband, Gerek Meinhardt, is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist in men’s foil who will compete in two events in Paris. Kiefer and Meinhardt are medical students at the University of Kentucky who have taken leave from their studies to pursue their Olympic dreams.

Asked about her future, Kiefer reeled off her and Meinhardt's remaining events in Paris. “That's as far as we're thinking for now,” she said.

Eleanor Harvey became the first Canadian ever to win an Olympic fencing medal when she beat Alice Volpi of Italy 15-12 for the bronze.

Also Sunday, Japan's Koki Kano beat France's Yannick Borel 15-9 for the men's epee gold medal. It was Japan's first gold in an individual Olympic fencing event.

The vocal home crowd had to settle for silver for the second day in a row after Auriane Mallo-Breton lost in the women's epee final Saturday.

Mohamed Elsayed won the bronze for Egypt 8-7 in overtime against Hungary's Tibor Andrasfi.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Japan's Koki Kano, right, competes with France's Yannik Borel in the men's individual Epee final match during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Japan's Koki Kano celebrates after winning the men's individual Epee final match against France's Yannik Borel during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Japan's Koki Kano celebrates after winning the men's individual Epee final match against France's Yannik Borel during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

United States' Lee Kiefer, right, competes with United States' Lauren Scruggs in the women's individual Foil final match during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

United States' Lee Kiefer, right, competes with United States' Lauren Scruggs in the women's individual Foil final match during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

United States' Lee Kiefer, right, competes with United States' Lauren Scruggs in the women's individual Foil final match during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

United States' Lauren Scruggs reacts after winning the women's individual Foil semifinal match against Canada's Eleanor Harvey during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

United States' Lauren Scruggs reacts after winning the women's individual Foil semifinal match against Canada's Eleanor Harvey during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

United States' Lee Kiefer, left, competes with Italy's Alice Volpi in the women's individual Foil semifinal match during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy" Combs was expected to appear before a federal judge in New York on Tuesday after his indictment on undisclosed criminal charges.

The music mogul was arrested late Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

The indictment detailing the charges was expected to be unsealed Tuesday morning, according to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.

Over the past year, Combs has been sued by people who say he subjected them to physical or sexual abuse. He has denied many of those allegations and his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, called the new indictment an “unjust prosecution.”

“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal,” Agnifilo said in a statement late Monday.

Combs, 58, was recognized as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop before a flood of allegations that emerged over the past year turned him into an industry pariah.

In November, his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit saying he had beaten and raped her for years. She accused Combs of coercing her, and others, into unwanted sex in drug-fueled settings.

The suit was settled in one day but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her on a floor. After the video aired, Combs apologized, saying, “I was disgusted when I did it.”

Combs and his attorneys, however, denied similar allegations made by others in a string of lawsuits.

Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Cassie, said in a statement Tuesday that “neither Ms. Ventura nor I have any comment.”

“We appreciate your understanding and if that changes, we will certainly let you know,” he added.

A woman said Combs raped her two decades ago when she was 17. A music producer sued, saying Combs forced him to have sex with prostitutes. Another woman, April Lampros, said Combs subjected her to “terrifying sexual encounters,” starting when she was a college student in 1994.

The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie and Lampros did.

Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has gotten out of legal trouble before.

In 2001, he was acquitted of charges related to a Manhattan nightclub shooting two years earlier that injured three people. His then-protege, Shyne, was convicted of assault and other charges and served about eight years in prison.

Associated Press writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

FILE - Host Sean "Diddy" Combs presents the revolt black excellence award at the Billboard Music Awards, May 15, 2022, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment

Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment

FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS Radford Studio Center on May 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)