Prescod Dominates – Retains Title

Nzingha Prescod (USA) defeated team mate Lee Kiefer 15-6 in an all-USA final to repeat as the cadet world champion in women’s foil. The Americans were seeded 3rd and 4th going into the elimination rounds.

In their final bout, Prescod sprinted to an early 6-2 lead in the first period and held on in the second period ahead 3 points at an 8-5 score. After Prescod scored again one minute into the final period, Kiefer was forced to take some risks to attempt to get back into the match but was unable to convert and Prescod went on to win 15-6.

Lee Kiefer (right, photo courtesy FencingPhotos.com) cruised through her first elimination matches before facing her first real challenge in the quarter finals against Iman Kulhanek (NED). Kulhanek had knocked off 5th seed Beatrice Monaco (ITA) in the round of 16 by a 15-13 score. This match would prove to be a mirror image as Kiefer took an early lead and nudged ahead throughout the bout. Though Kulhanek tried, she could not string together a run of more than two consecutive touches.

Kiefer then faced off against #1 seed Alice Volpi in the semi-final match. Kiefer and Volpi traded touches but then the American got ahead by two points to end the first period up 6-4. Volpi quickly closed the gap to knot it up at 7-7, but then ran out of steam and Kiefer ran away with the match with 8 consecutive points to win 15-7.

Nzingha Prescod dominated her first two matches on her way to the quarter finals, but her quest to repeat was almost tripped up by Russian upstart Veronika Lavrenova. Lavrenova played Cinderella by stomping #2 seed Olga Calissi 15-7 in the round of 16 and then held onto an early lead against Min Jeong Kim to earn the right to face the defending champion.

Prescod had just come off of a tense match with Poland’s Martyna Jelinska that was tied 5-5 with only 40 seconds left in the final period of play.  Prescod scored the match-winning 6th point with 35 seconds to go and then added to her lead in the final seconds.

Lavrenova entered the semi-final match in giant killer mode and jumped ahead 3-1.  Nzingha battled back and took the lead to end the first period up 6-4.  Her lead would not last long as the two battled and ended the second period with Prescod clinging to a 10-9 lead.

In the third period Lavrenova pushed ahead and looked ready to head to the finals with a 14-11 lead with just over 1 minute remaining in the match.  Prescod willed herself back into the match with a series of tense points and tied up the score 14-all with 33 seconds remaining.  Seven seconds later, Prescod scored the 15th touch and earned her right to face off against team mate Kiefer in the finals.