Shortly after Lauren Scruggs helped secure history for the United States in fencing on Thursday at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, she erupted into a celebration worth the top spot on the podium.
Scruggs held off a late rally from Italian fencer Arianna Errigo to close out United States' 45–39 win in the final and claim the country's first gold medal in team foil—men's or women's—in Olympic history.
After acknowledging Errigo, Scruggs walked over to the NBC cameras and let out a joyous, "USA! Let's go!" while looking right into the television screens of millions of fans watching at home.
U-S-A !!!
— Public Diplomacy Rep: Matthew Morgan (@VoteMorgan39) August 1, 2024
🦅🇺🇸🥇
Lauren Scruggs, QUEENS BABY! pic.twitter.com/Q9kX8lwE3g
A gold medal moment, no doubt.
Scruggs won gold alongside her teammates Lee Kiefer, Jacqueline Dubrovich and alternate Maia Weintraub, who was substituted into the final and won her two matchups 11–5.
Scruggs became the first Black American woman to win an individual fencing medal on Sunday by claiming silver in women's foil fencing. She lost that individual final to her American teammate Kiefer, who became the first American fencer to win three Olympic gold medals in a career.
The 21-year-old Scruggs, a New York City native, will enter her senior year at Harvard this fall.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lauren Scruggs Looked Straight Into TV Camera to Epically Celebrate Fencing Gold Medal.
