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"It's insane," said 30-year-old Kiefer. "These
three years have been so short and so long at the same time.
Every day it's been a freaking battle and I have so many people
to thank for helping me get here on this day, in this moment.
"It's absolutely historical," she added. "Lauren fenced amazing
this whole season and she deserves all this respect."
Scruggs, 21, stunned Italian favourite Arianna Errigo in the
quarter-finals to reach the Olympic final at the first attempt.
"I'm super happy, you know," said a tearful Scruggs, the first
Black American fencer to win an Olympic medal in a women's
individual event.
"Of course you always want to win but I still got a medal."
Later, France failed to deliver a gold medal for the second day
in a row, with Yannick Borel losing painfully 15-9 to Kano.
Borel's defeat was reminiscent of Hong Kong's Vivian Kong
victory against France's Auriane Mallo-Breton in the women's
epee event on Saturday.
Despite a partisan crowd at the Grand Palais cheering him on,
Borel lost the first two touches and never managed to recover.
"Yannick is very strong," said Kano, a team gold medallist in
Tokyo in 2021. "I can win, I won - I'm very happy."
Mohamed Elsayed of Egypt was awarded epee bronze after a tough
bout with Hungary's Tibor Andrasfi, winning 8-7 in the last
second of sudden-death.
It was an all North American podium in the women's foil event,
with Canada's Eleanor Harvey winning bronze.
"I feel like I'm in a dream," Harvey told reporters.
(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Ken
Ferris) [© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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