WASHINGTON — Lee Kiefer made her Olympic fencing debut about two months after graduating from high school, as a wide-eyed 18-year-old with no expectations and no worries − "a baby," she said, at least by Olympic standards.

Fast forward 12 years and it feels like everything has changed.

Kiefer, 30, is now the reigning Olympic gold medalist in women's foil and arguably the face of the sport in the United States. Since her first trip to the Games, she's graduated from college, enrolled in medical school, gotten married, traveled the world and, most recently, started picking up shifts as a help-line volunteer at a Kentucky non-profit that helps people in the state get access to abortion care.

Kiefer knows her fencing career is closer to its end than its beginning − though she also bristles at the idea of being beholden to some arbitrary timeline.

"I think people are just trying to rush me to outcomes," she told USA TODAY Sports, "where the journey is super important, too."

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The next stop in that journey, of course, is Paris, where Kiefer will enter her fourth Olympics as the prohibitive favorite to win gold once again.

In 2021, the Kentucky native became the first American to win an Olympic medal in individual foil − one of the three disciplines in a sport that dates back to the original iteration of the Games. She said she thought about retiring and shifting her focus back to medical school after those Olympics but ultimately decided to give it another go. And in the three years since, she's been entrenched as the No. 1 ranked women's foil athlete in the world.

Kiefer said she and her husband, fellow U.S. fencer Gerek Meinhardt, never expected to still be fencing at this level at this point in their lives. And while she won't say whether she thinks these Olympics will be her last, she acknowledged that she is definitely approaching Paris with a different perspective − trying to be more present during the whole experience, soaking up little moments and memories along the way.

"I do want time to slow down," Kiefer said. "That is for sure."

'A gold medal is different'

On the first day of a fencing competition in Washington earlier this year, Kiefer could hardly walk a few yards without stopping to say hello or exchange a hug with a fellow competitor or coach. Some would view this as a sign of celebrity. She is not one of those people. "I've been a part of this world for a long, long time," Kiefer explained.

She started fencing at 5 years old, learning the fundamentals of the sport from her father, Steve, in the family's dining room. Steve Kiefer had captained the fencing team at Duke before going on to become a neurosurgeon, and all three of his kids went on to follow the same paths; Kiefer, her older sister Alex and their younger brother Axel all fenced collegiately before enrolling in medical school.

Kiefer has said she hated fencing at first, though it didn't take long for that to change and for her talent to emerge. She made the senior national team at 15, won her first world championship medal at 17 and was off to the Summer Olympics at 18.

"She has an incredible sense of timing and creativity," said Kiefer's younger brother Axel, who went on to compete alongside her in college at Notre Dame. "She’s not the most imposing athlete in terms of her size, but she’s very quick and she’s able to use all of her physical attributes to her advantage in a really savvy way."

Kiefer said her first two Olympic experiences could hardly have been more different. In 2012, she arrived at the London Games as a carefree kid just wanting to bask in the atmosphere and was thrilled to finish fifth. Four years later, she went to the 2016 Rio Olympics with a goal of winning a medal, put too much pressure on herself and finished a disappointing 10th.

Then, in Tokyo, the trajectory of Kiefer's career permanently changed. Competing in front of mostly empty seats due to COVID-19 restrictions, she said she was able to learn from her 2016 experience and better handle the pressure of the moment. She squeaked past the Olympic champion from the Rio Games, Inna Deriglazova of Russia, to become the first American foilest ever to win Olympic gold − a triumphant moment both for herself and the U.S. fencing community broadly.

"A gold medal is different than silver medals," Kiefer's longtime coach Amgad Khazbak said. "A gold medal is great with everything – with the confidence, with how the people (see her). She’s a star if she goes to any competition, (with) hundreds of people around her."

Why Lee Kiefer decided to return

Kiefer and her husband both downplayed the impact that winning Olympic gold has had on her life, though they said it did lead to a difficult decision. After Tokyo, they each grappled with whether to retire from fencing or continue on toward Paris − which, in Kiefer's case, meant taking another extended leave from medical school at the University of Kentucky.

It also meant going through an Olympic cycle with a metaphorical target on her back and perhaps more pressure on her shoulders.

"I think a lot of that difficulty, related to her decision, was about expectations she felt were in place for her to return," Meinhardt said. "Sometimes you put more pressure on yourself when you’re committed fully to one thing."

Ultimately, Kiefer said she decided to return in part because she still felt like she had room to grow in the sport − even as the reigning Olympic champion and world No. 1. She plans to resume her third-year coursework at Kentucky's medical school in 2025.

"Even compared to last Olympics, I feel like I’m so much more versatile," Kiefer said at a media roundtable event in April. "(I'm) always thinking about, 'how can I grow my game? What are my holes? What’s that person doing that I can borrow their idea and add to my game?'"

All the little technical nuances and tactical questions are still fascinating to her, she said, even 25 years after she first started fencing. Axel Kiefer said he's been amazed by all the consistency in training − and perspective − that his sister has put in to keep her career going, especially in a sport like fencing where the lack of financial resources can push athletes out.

"Throughout all these Olympics and stuff, Lee has just maintained her love of the sport, which I think can get lost a lot of times," Axel Kiefer said. "It becomes a job for people, or they get burnt out. But I feel like Lee has always found a way."

Lee Kiefer's new adventures, new passions

As she's gotten older and more experienced, Kiefer said she's focused more on training smart − taking a step back when a small injury crops up, for instance, to ensure it doesn't become a serious one.

She and Meinhardt have also tried to take more time outside of fencing just to enjoy their life and marriage. After training together almost exclusively during the COVID-19 pandemic, they've spent the past few years turning fencing competition trips into extended international vacations − often sticking around after an event to explore sights like Machu Picchu or the ruins at Pompeii.

"I feel like our relationship is definitely both of our secret weapon," Kiefer said. "We spend so much time together − maybe too much for a normal couple."

Kiefer described herself as "a pretty shy, reserved person," but while training for Paris, she's also become an outspoken advocate for reproductive rights. It's a cause that hadn't truly resonated with her until the U.S. Supreme Court revisited, and ultimately overturned, Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Kiefer was one of more than 500 female athletes who signed an amicus brief urging the court to protect women's rights to abortion care. When the court didn't, she looked for ways to get involved. Last fall, she began working shifts as a help-line volunteer with the Kentucky Health Justice Network, a non-profit organization that provides funding and education for Kentuckians seeking care.

Because abortion is illegal in Kentucky, Kiefer said part of her role is helping women arrange travel to Illinois, Ohio or Virginia for various appointments. She said many of the callers can't afford what's required, or give up because it's so complicated, even with the non-profit organization's help.

"It’s scary, and I think it’s getting worse all the time," Kiefer said. "But I think women, women athletes, people having a voice ... they can show our world the U.S. is in a shit spot, but there’s still people out there who can help."

When asked if she plans to speak out about reproductive rights while at the 2024 Paris Olympics, as permitted by the International Olympic Committee in certain settings, Kiefer indicated that she will be focused only on competing. As the reigning gold medalist, she knows it will be a pressure-cooker atmosphere. "Of course she’s under pressure," Khazbak said. "She feels she’s the best one."

For Kiefer, one of the strangest challenges of this Olympic cycle has been managing the varied expectations of her. She thinks some people probably wonder why she's even still fencing, when she could be focusing on medical school. And other people probably think her choice will only be justified if she defends her Olympic gold. She's trying to remind herself that "this journey is worth it and fulfilling, even if it doesn't end in medals."

"I mean, most people don't get medals at the Olympics," she said. "You don't realize that, but they have crazy stories and crazy hard work that they put into it that kind of goes unnoticed if they don't have something shiny. So yeah. I'm one of the lucky ones."

Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on social media @Tom_Schad.