One of the first Olympic athletes to capture gold this year was fencer Lee Kiefer.
Kiefer’s from Lexington. When she’s not donning her white lamé for fencing, she’s studying at the University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine.
Her recent victory at the Paris Olympics makes her the second American ever to win two gold medals in individual fencing competition. Her gold medal bout competitor was her teammate, Lauren Scruggs.
“Knowing that we’re going to have our anthem play it took the pressure off,” Kiefer said in a story posted to the Team USA website, “because I knew it was going to be a celebration at the end regardless.”
Kiefer’s husband, Gerek Meinhardt, is also a Team USA fencer and attends UK’s medical school.
Per capita, Kentucky is sending around 1 athlete per 1 million people. According to the Census Bureau, the nation’s most populous state, California, is sending 3.07 per million. And while California is sending the most athletes overall – 120 — Vermont wins per capita with 4.63 athletes per million.
Other Olympic hopefuls from Kentucky include Mariah Denigan of Walton in swimming and Yared Nuguse of Louisville in track and field.
Nuguse attended duPont Manual High School, where he was on the track and field team.
Nuguse's first Olympics appearance was in 2021 at the Tokyo Games, where he ran the men’s 1,500-meter race.
Among all the Kentuckian Olympians returning to the world stage, one athlete — and her sport — are making their debut.
Grace “Sunny” Choi is one of 16 breakdancers to be competing in the sport’s inaugural Olympic appearance.
Choi, originally from Tennessee, spent her childhood in Louisville. She started breaking in college.
She always maintained a full-time job while breaking on the side. However, with the sport being added to the Olympics, Choi had to make a decision.
“When they announced the Olympics, it took me quite some time, actually, to kind of make up my mind and decide that I was going to go that route, and then even longer to quit my job,” Choi said in an interview posted to the Team USA website. “It was January this year where I was like, ‘All right, all or nothing.’”
Choi was the first woman to qualify for the women’s breaking team last November.
She and three teammates will compete with the rest of Team USA starting Aug. 9.
