PARIS – Harvard fencing standouts Lauren Scruggs and Jessica Zi Jia Guo concluded their time at the 2024 Paris Olympics with stellar performances in the women's foil team event.

After making history with a silver medal in the individual event last weekend, Scruggs wrote another incredible chapter in her young career, as she anchored the United States to a gold medal in the team event, the United States' first gold medal in a team fencing event at the Olympics for both the men's and women's teams.

At just the age of 21, Scruggs is the first student-athlete in program history to win a gold  medal and multiple medals at the Olympic Games. 

Fencing with Team Canada, Guo and her national teammates orchestrated a monumental moment, as the quartet finished in fourth place, Canada's best finish in the women's foil team event in national history. Along with Guo, Harvard fencing assistant coach Jed Dupree is a member of the Canadian women's foil coaching staff.

Scruggs and Team USA began their journey to gold with a match against China in the quarterfinals. Entering the competition as the No. 2 ranked team, the United States shined the quarterfinal match, defeating China, 45-37. Facing China's Yuting Wang in her first bout, Scruggs maintained the two-touch USA advantage by drawing with Wang, 5-5. In her second bout, Scruggs defeated Qingyuan Chen, 5-3, extending the American lead, 5-3. In the final bout of the match, Scruggs defeated Qianqian Huang to push the United States to the semifinals, 5-2.

In their quarterfinal match, Guo and the No. 6 seed Canadian squad pulled off an upset victory against No. 3 seed and host nation France in front a thunderous home crowd in what's been widely touted as the best venue at the Paris Olympics, 38-36. With the score tied at seven touches each, Guo defeated France's Eva Lacheray in her first bout to provide the Canadian's their first lead in the match, 13-10. After falling just short of a draw against Ysaora Thibus in her second bout, Guo tied with Pauline Ranvier in her final bout to set up Eleanor Harvey's decisive victory.

In the semifinals, the United States and Canada faced each other with a spot in the gold medal round on the line. In the first bout of the match, Guo and Scruggs faced each other, as Guo provided the Canadians with an early 5-1 lead. In her second bout, Guo came up just short against Jacqueline Dubrovich, and she defeated gold medalist Lee Kiefer in her final bout of the match, 6-5.

After her loss against Guo, Scruggs would drop a tight bout against Yunjia Zhang, but followed that with a decisive 5-1 victory against Harvey to send the United States to the gold medal round, 45-31.

With a bronze medal on the line, Guo and Canada took on Japan in a thrilling match. After three minutes of fencing, Guo tied with Yuka Ueno in the first bout, 3-3. In her second bout, Guo lost by just one touch against Komaki Kikuchi, 4-3, as she bounced back with a 4-3 win against Sera Azuma in her final bout of the Olympic. Despite a late run of touches threatening a comeback and closing the gap to one by Harvey, Japan won the bronze medal match, 33-32.

In its showdown against Italy, the United States and Scruggs started strong, as Scruggs defeated Martina Favaretto 5-1 in her first bout, followed with a narrow 6-5 defeat against Alice Volpi. In her final bout of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Scruggs faced Arianna Errigo for a second time, needing just five touches to secure the gold medal. In a stellar finish and with ice in her veins against the six-time world champion Ariana Errigo, Scruggs scored the clinching fifth touch.

On Saturday, Aug. 3, Crimson alumna Elizabeth Tartakovsky '23 returns to the strip with Team USA for the women's saber team event. Action starts at 7:00 a.m. eastern standard time as the United States will face South Korea in the opening match. Harvard fans can stream all the action live on Peacock.

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