What a joy to watch the unstoppable Lauren Scruggs ’21 this summer in Paris. Her groundbreaking performances on the USA Fencing Team made her the one to watch as she gathered momentum with each bout. She eventually became the first Black American woman to win an individual Olympic fencing medal, and helped the US secure the gold medal in the Women’s Fencing Team Foil competition—the team’s first-ever gold in that event.
"Fencing has largely, historically been a non-Black sport," she told NCAA.com in a July interview. "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."
Here at Packer we excitedly celebrated Lauren’s Olympic journey throughout the spring and summer. Our intrepid Upper School student journalists profiled her for our student newspaper, and we were delighted to welcome her back for a visit where she held a Q&A with some Lower School students about her road to the Olympics, highlighting both the hard work and joy of competing at such a stratospheric level.
Huge congratulations to Lauren and the whole USA Fencing Team! We can’t wait to see what you do next.
Photo credits: The New York Times; The Harvard Crimson