Boston College assistant fencing coach Ralf Bissdorf leads Team USA to gold and silver

Ralf Bissdorf, assistant fencing coach for the Boston College women’s team, led the U.S. team to two medals on Sunday at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Lee Kiefer won the gold medal after defeating Lauren Scruggs 15-6 in the women’s individual foil event. The victory marked Kiefer’s second consecutive gold medal in the event. Scruggs won silver, her first career Olympic medal.

Bissdorf is an experienced fencing coach and has worked with fencers in Singapore and the United States. During his own career, Bissdorf has won multiple team and individual championships, was ranked No. 1 in the World Rank and won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the individual foil event. He has been an assistant coach at The Heights since 2019.

The German-born athlete has been the national coach of the US women’s foil team since 2022.

Sunday’s event also made history. Eleanor Harvey of Team Canada won the bronze medal after defeating Alice Volpi of Team Italy 15-12. The

Bissdorf is one of three Boston College representatives at this year’s Olympics. Eagles alumnae Erika Reineke (’17) will compete for Team USA in the women’s dinghy (sailing) event, and Laura Hottenrott (’16) will compete for Team Germany in the women’s marathon.

The sailing events begin on August 1 with the women’s dinghy first round at 9:35 a.m. ET and the marathon events begin on August 10 with the women’s event on August 11 at 2 a.m. ET. Events can be viewed on NBC and streamed on Peacock.