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)

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Lawyers representing 100 survivors and family members of victims of the deadliest shooting in Maine history have begun the formal process of suing the Army and an Army hospital for failing to act to stop the reservist responsible for the tragedy, attorneys announced Tuesday.

The individual notices of claim say the Army was aware of the reservist's mental health decline that left him paranoid, delusional and expressing homicidal ideations, producing a “hit list” of those he wanted to attack.

“It is difficult to conceive of a case in which Army personnel could have more warning signs and opportunities to intervene to prevent a service member from committing a mass shooting than what happened in the case of Army Reservist Robert Card,” lawyers wrote in their notices mailed Friday.

The notices of claim by four law firms are a required step in suing the federal government. The Army will have six months to determine whether to respond, after which a lawsuit may be filed.

Eighteen people were killed when the 40-year-old Card opened fire at two locations he'd frequented — a bowling alley and a cornhole league hosted by a bar and grill — on Oct. 25, 2023. Another 13 people were injured. Card was found dead two days later from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

An independent commission appointed by Maine's governor concluded that there were ample opportunities to intervene by both civilian law enforcement and the Army. For now, lawyers for victims and family and friends who suffered loss are focusing on the Army, and not a private hospital that treated Card or civilian law enforcement.

The Department of Defense, U.S. Army and Army Keller Hospital “broke its promises, failed to act reasonably, violated its own polices and procedures and disregarded directives and orders,” the claim said.

In September 2023, when Card threatened to “shoot up” an armory and his friend warned of "a mass shooting,” the Army failed to provide critical background about two doctors recommending that Card not have access to weapons when it requested that local law enforcement officers check on his well being. Card's commanding officer even downplayed the threat by undercutting the credibility of the soldier who issued the warning, and by declining to share all information at his disposal, the claims said.

Cynthia Young, whose husband William and 14-year-old son Aaron were killed at the bowling alley, said in a statement that pain and trauma never goes away. “As terrible as the shooting was it’s even more tragic that there were many opportunities to prevent this and they were not taken,” she added.

The filings said there may have been a time when mass shootings were so rare that they couldn’t be predicted but “that has not been true in America for decades.”

“Mass shootings, like what happened in Lewiston, are an epidemic in America. Consequently, those in positions of responsibility and authority are required to appreciate the warning signs and behaviors that telegraph the risk of mass violence, take them seriously, and act to prevent their occurrence," the claims said.

FILE - A man photographs a make-shift memorial at the base of the Lewiston sign at Veteran's Memorial Park, Oct. 29, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

FILE - A woman visits a makeshift memorial outside Sparetime Bowling Alley, the site of a mass shooting, Oct. 28, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

FILE - Rain-soaked memorials for those who died in a mass shooting sit along the roadside by Schemengees Bar & Grille, Oct. 30, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

FILE - Law enforcement personnel are staged in a school parking lot during a manhunt for Robert Card in the aftermath of a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, Oct. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE — In this image taken from New York State Police body camera video that was obtained by WMTW-TV 8 in Portland, Maine, New York State Police interview Army reservist Robert Card, the man responsible for Maine's deadliest mass shooting, at Camp Smith, in Cortlandt, N.Y., July 16, 2023. (WMTW-TV 8/New York State Police via AP, File)

FILE - Law enforcement gather outside Schemengee's Bar and Grille, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)