Lee Kiefer, the only U.S. fencer to win three Olympic gold medals, won her first individual World Championship in her 12th try.
Kiefer won the foil title in Tbilisi, Georgia, routing Frenchwoman Pauline Ranvier 15-4 in the final bout.
“I’ve been chasing this for so long,” Kiefer told USA Fencing. “It has been eluding me, and we’ve put a lot of the details together at the right time.”
She is the fifth U.S. fencer to win an individual world title and the first in women’s foil.
The other Americans to take individual world titles were Becca Ward (2006, women’s sabre), Mariel Zagunis (2009, 2010, women’s sabre), Miles Chamley-Watson (2013, men’s foil) and Eli Dershwitz (2023, men’s sabre).
Kiefer, 31, previously won a team foil world title in 2018, plus individual bronze medals in 2011, 2022 and 2023. She won the last two individual Olympic foil titles, plus team foil gold in Paris.
At the 2028 Los Angeles Games, Kiefer can tie the fencing record by winning a third individual Olympic gold medal.
Fellow American foil fencer Lauren Scruggs, who took team gold and individual silver in Paris, lost in the round of 16 to Italian Anna Cristino on Friday.
Later at worlds, U.S. Olympic medalists Nick Itkin, Alexander Massialas and Gerek Meinhardt (Kiefer’s husband), plus world team rookie Bryce Louie, took silver in the men’s foil team event to Italy.
They previously were eliminated in the early rounds of men’s foil.
Worlds run through next Wednesday.
🇺🇸 Lee Kiefer captured the title with a dominant performance — marking the first-ever World Championships gold for Team USA in this event! 🏆 Congratulations to 🇫🇷 Pauline Ranvier on earning the silver — her best career result to date! 🥈👏
— FIE (@FIE_fencing) July 25, 2025
🔴 live: https://t.co/azr5fgo3Gb
ℹ… pic.twitter.com/X1TY0Vukpe
