USA Fencing Photo
Lexington’s Lee Kiefer could be the most humble three-time Olympic gold medalist you could ever find.
She is not overly active on social media and does not do an abundance of interviews. However, her recent Facebook post certainly got my attention and let me know I should be even more impressed with the two fencing gold medals she won in Paris to go with the one she won in Japan three years ago.
Kiefer noted that she did not have the same injury as her husband, Olympic fencer Gerek Meinhardt, but noted they will “both be slightly left-handed for the the foreseeable future” after recent wrist surgeries. She posted photos of sutures on her wrist
Kiefer explained that most high level athletes, especially fencers at the international level, deal with “chronic injury, acute injury, mental health, or most likely a combination” of those. She did that to make it clear her injury situation was not unique.
“Last year, I started having generalized wrist pain. It progressively got worse and was also a little bit strange with it presenting as stiff, sometimes stabbing, sometimes aching, and spreading through my wrist to my hand into my forearm. I was scared and frustrated and wanted to wait it out, but Gerek encouraged me to get it checked out.
“I finally got imaging in April, and I made a plan with my healthcare team to manage this problem with primarily rest (don’t forget the Olympics are the goal). I ended up resting one month (aka no fencing at all) and skipping the Tbilisi World Cup. (To note I was still hitting the footwork hard and doing other conditioning during this time.)
“ With the help of my large support system, after the month off, we started to build back up. Push, rest, and repeat. We were smart and determined and lucky, and we felt good in Paris.
“During my appointment in April, the physicians made a note to re-MRI my wrist post Games to see if it had gotten better, gotten worse, or stayed the same. Fast forward to the present, images were taken of my wrist and many conversations were had, and I decided on surgery to give my wrist the best chance of supporting my goal of leading a super active lifestyle for the rest of forever.”
Kiefer would not commit to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after her individual and team wins in Paris. However, she did not rule it out. Now it is easy to understand why she needed time to check on her wrist to see what the future holds.
Both Kiefer and her husband are UK med students who delayed their studies to compete in the Olympics. She shared lessons learned from her experience:
— Health decisions are often very complicated and personal and private (yes, I’m also alluding to my passion for reproductive justice)
— A lot of people go through things that are not obvious or linear.
— Talk to the smart people in your life who love you.
Just a terrific, insightful social media post from an amazing athlete/competitor.
One Response
She is such an inspiration!