For the first time ever, a Canadian is an Olympic medalist in the sport of fencing. On Sunday, Eleanor Harvey of Hamilton, Ontario made Olympic history by winning bronze in the women’s foil fencing event.
It was an all-North American podium actually as Americans won gold and silver. Lee Kiefer of Cleveland, Ohio won gold and Lauren Scruggs of Queen’s, New York won silver. This was the very first time ever a European did not reach the podium of a women’s fencing event at the Olympic Games.
For Harvey, the 12th seed at the Olympic Games, Sunday was simply a magical Canadian moment. After getting a first round bye, she defeated Yuting Wang of China 12-8 in the second round, Julia Walczyk-Klimaszyk of Poland 15-6 in the third round, and Martina Favaretto of Italy 15-14 in the quarterfinals. Harvey then lost to Scruggs 15-9 in the semifinal before beating Alice Volpi of Italy 15-12 in the bronze medal matchup. Kiefer beat Scruggs 15-6 in the gold medal match.
In Harvey’s quarterfinal win, she delivered a magical comeback against Favaretto. She once trailed the Italian Favaretto 10-4 at the half.
For Volpi it was the second straight Olympic Games she finished fourth. At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Volpi lost the bronze medal by a score of 15-14 to Larisa Korobeynikova of the Russian Olympic Committee.
This was Canada’s second medal of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. On Saturday, Summer McIntosh of Toronto, Ontario won silver in the women’s 400 metre freestyle.
