By: Corbin McGuire
NCAA
Lauren Scruggs, who will be a senior at Harvard, stood in shock. Scruggs had zero expectations coming into her first Olympic Games, yet here she was, standing with a silver medal around her neck.
“Literally nothing,” she said, taking a pause.
“I thought I was going to lose my first bout, so to get a medal is just incredible.”
Also, historic.
Scruggs etched her name in the history books Sunday by becoming the first Black woman to win an Olympic fencing medal. The 21-year-old Queens, New York, native captured silver in the individual foil event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, marking a significant milestone not just for herself, but for USA Fencing, as well.
“Fencing has largely, historically been a non-Black sport,” Scruggs said. “So I hope to inspire young Black girls to get into fencing and to think that they can have a place in the sport. I just hope that more people who look like me, little girls like me, feel they have a place in the sport.”
Scruggs’ journey to this historic achievement began at the age of 7, inspired by her brother Nolen’s love for “Star Wars” and their mother’s encouragement to stick with fencing after she had paid for the equipment. Her commitment to the sport grew as she excelled. She won the 2019 and 2022 Junior World Fencing Championships in foil and the 2023 NCAA title.
In Paris, Scruggs said she leaned into her college fencing experience to etch her name into fencing history.
“Just the intensity … NCAA fencing requires a lot of heart,” she said. “I was able to tap into some of that today.”
An All-American in all three years of her college career, Scruggs arrived at the Olympics with a wealth of experience and determination. She praised the impact that Harvard’s program — run by former NCAA standout Daria Schneider — has had on her.
“The way that Daria cares for her athletes is just phenomenal,” Scruggs said. “Sometimes I feel like we’re really like her kids, honestly. She just really wants the best for us, and she makes sure that we have the best, so I’m really grateful for her.”
Scruggs is also grateful for her upbringing in New York City, which instilled in her the confidence and toughness required to succeed at the highest levels of competition. All of it was needed as she successfully navigated the Olympic individual foil bracket.
“I feel like you have to be super confident, just how you go about life there,” Scruggs said. “So I think I kind of brought some of that with me today. For each match, I locked in with my headphones and listened to my music and got super pumped. I was yelling at myself before I got on guard every touch. So just bring the energy has just always been something integral to my life.”
Ranked 11th in the International Fencing Federation’s world rankings, she began her journey to silver with a hard-fought 15-13 victory against Singapore’s Amita Berthier in the round of 32. Her next bout was a familiar faceoff against her Harvard Crimson teammate, Jessica Zi Jia Guo of Canada, a rematch of the 2024 NCAA women’s foil final that Guo won. This time, Scruggs triumphed over Guo 15-11.
“Everyone was like, if you’re going to do it, this would be the perfect time to do it,” Scruggs said. “I guess that’s kind of what happened. I think I picked the right time to really lock in.”
In beating her teammate, Scruggs advanced to a quarterfinal showdown with Italy’s Arianna Errigo, a four-time Olympian who was ranked No. 2 in the world coming into the Olympics. In a thrilling match against Errigo, Scruggs secured a dramatic 15-14 victory, earning her spot in the semifinals. With the score tied at 14 touches each, Scruggs made the winning touch to progress to the next round.
It was at this point that Scruggs knew something special was near.
“She’s basically a legend in fencing,” Scruggs said. “To win that, I was, like, ‘I need to leave here with something and give it my all.’ I think in that semifinal bout I really just gave it my all.”
Facing Canada’s Eleanor Harvey — a former Ohio State standout — in the semifinals, Scruggs displayed remarkable skill and determination, defeating the No. 14-ranked fencer 15-9 to secure a place in the gold medal match.
Scruggs dropped that match to her Team USA teammate, the world No. 1-ranked and defending gold medalist fencer Lee Kiefer, but the outcome still made history. Scruggs is now just the second female fencer in Harvard’s history to win an Olympic medal, following Emily Cross, who won a women’s foil team event silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Reflecting on her silver medal win at the age of 21, Scruggs expressed her aspirations for the future.
“I just want to see how good I can be with fencing,” she said. “Obviously, I’ve made it pretty far with this event. But hopefully, we can shoot for the stars.”
