PARIS—Jackie Dubrovich, CC ’16, and her teammates took home Olympic gold from the women’s foil fencing team event on Thursday night. Her victory marks a historic moment for the United States, as it is the country’s first-ever gold medal in the team foil event.

Dubrovich, accompanied by Olympic foil individual champion Lee Kiefer, silver medalist Lauren Scruggs, and Princeton fencer Maia Mei Weintraub, won a 45-39 match against the top-seeded team representing Italy in Thursday’s final at the Grand Palais.

In fencing, two competitors face off with the goal of winning points by striking the opponent with the tip of their sword in a target area of the torso, shoulders, or neck. When it comes to the team event, each country is competing to reach 45 points or lead when time runs out—whichever comes first. A maximum of nine three-minute bouts are played, with members of each team going head-to-head until time elapses for the individual bout or the leading team reaches a multiple of five in their score.

The Columbia alumna also competed in the women’s foil individual event this past week, where she faced the No. 23 seed Flora Pasztor from Hungary. Dubrovich had a difficult bout against the Hungarian, ending the first period with a score of 7-6 and a slim 1-point lead. However, Pasztor slowly began to pull away from Dubrovich, ending the second period with a score of 13-11. In the third period, Pasztor continued her lead against the former Lion, winning the bout with a score of 15-12. With her dreams at winning a medal in the individual events cut short, Thursday night proved a chance at redemption.

The United States began the competition by facing the People’s Republic of China in the quarterfinals. Beginning with a strong showing, the Americans quickly fell behind 12-15 in the third bout against China. Kiefer quickly reversed this and regained their lead by scoring eight touches in three minutes. Dubrovich continued to hold the United States’ advantage, taking 5 points from the People’s Republic of China with a score of 5-3, making an overall score of 25-20. The U.S. continued to pull ahead, building a dominant lead over China, resulting in a 45-37 victory for the United States.

In the semifinals, the Americans competed against the Canadians for the chance to joust for gold. The United States initially fell behind, with Scruggs trailing 1-5 behind Canada’s Jessica Zi Jia Guo. Next was Dubrovich, who met with the women’s foil individual bronze medalist Eleanor Harvey. Dubrovich held her own, keeping the Canadian lead to 4 points. Kiefer then took over, scoring 13 points for the Americans and propelling them into the lead. Dubrovich continued to advance the United States’ lead with a score of 5-3 in her bout against Guo, making for an overall score of 20-13. The Americans continued to pull ahead, eventually reaching a 10-point lead over the Canadians entering the final match of Scruggs versus Harvey. Scruggs previously defeated Harvey in the semifinals of the women’s foil individual event, and the result was the same: Scruggs dominated the match, scoring 5-1, placing the end score at 45-31 for the U.S. and securing their spot in the gold medal match.

The United States started the final match with a strong showing from the foil individual Olympic champion, giving Team USA an early 1-point lead against Italy. Scruggs continued pulling away from their competitors with a 5-point lead entering Dubrovich’s bout. Dubrovich faced Alice Volpi, the two-time European champion in the foil team event, in a difficult bout where the former Lion ended up losing to the Italian 5-7. However, Dubrovich ultimately prevailed, with enough touches to continue the lead for the United States, finishing with a score of 15-12. The Americans held their advantage against the Italians until the final bout, where Scruggs faced down Arianna Errigo, the 2012 foil team gold medalist. Errigo mounted a stunning 7-point comeback against the young Harvard fencer. However, Scruggs was able to maintain the lead for the Americans, scoring 5 points to win the Olympic gold for her team.

It’s been a long road to the top of the Olympic podium for Dubrovich. The three-time NCAA tournament medalist had a dominant collegiate career under the Lions banner, which ultimately took her on the road to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. There, she placed 21st in the individual rounds and fell just short of bronze in the team event. Afterward, she found herself “at the lowest point that [she’d] ever been with fencing,” but forged onward with a new focus on prioritizing her mental health.

Now, Dubrovich will be able to take a bow as one of the greatest fencers in Columbia’s history.