Lee Kiefer, Avery Skinner receive heroes' welcomes home from Paris Olympics

What an Olympics for the University of Kentucky. A school-record 11 Wildcats won 13 medals at the games: nine gold, two silver, and two bronze. If you go by Olympic rules and count team medals as one, UK’s 10 medals would rank 21st among the participating nations, and the six golds would rank 14th.

Two of those medalists touched down in the United States to heroes’ welcomes yesterday. Lee Kiefer, who won gold in individual and team foil in fencing, arrived at Bluegrass Airport in Lexington, where she was greeted by her friends, family, and the Bluegrass Fencing Team, who showered her with more paper medals. The Lexington native and University of Kentucky medical school student now has three Olympic gold medals, winning the first in Tokyo three years ago. She is now the most decorated United States female foil fencer in history. This was her fourth Olympics.

LEE KIEFER has touched down in Lexington!!! What a special moment for her coming off the plane at the airport. Now a 3x gold medalist and why not a few more from her fans. 🥹💙 #TeamUSA #fencing #Paris2024Olympics @LEX18News @BBNTonight pic.twitter.com/HGnNT5p7CR

— Kinsey Lee (@kinseyleetv) August 12, 2024

Skinner, USA Volleyball celebrate in New York City

This was the first Olympics for former Kentucky Volleyball star Avery Skinner. Skinner and USA Volleyball won silver in Paris, falling to Italy in the gold medal match after defeating rival Brazil in the semifinals. Skinner, who helped Kentucky to four straight SEC Championships and the NCAA Championship in 2020, was stellar in her Olympics debut, working her way into the starting lineup and playing a key part in the United States’ run. She should have a great shot at making the national team for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

On Monday, Skinner and her teammates landed in New York, where they rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange. This morning, they appeared on the TODAY Show with members of the men’s volleyball team, which won bronze.

Skinner shared some behind-the-scenes pictures of her trip to New York on her Instagram story, including a team selfie with Hoda Kotb:

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2024 Kentucky Wildcats Olympic Medalists

In all, a school-record 24 University of Kentucky student-athletes, alumni, and coaches represented nine countries across six sports in Paris. That tops the previous record of 20 set in the Tokyo Games in 2021. Here is a complete list of all eleven medal winners in Paris:

GOLD

• Bam Adebayo (Men’s Basketball)
  • Gold– 5×5 Basketball – Team USA
• Devin Booker (Men’s Basketball)
  • Gold– 5×5 Basketball – Team USA
• Anthony Davis (Men’s Basketball)
  • Gold– 5×5 Basketball – Team USA
• Alexis Holmes (Track and Field)
  • Gold 4x400m Relay – Team USA
• Lee Kiefer (Fencing), UK College of Medicine (competed collegiately for Notre Dame)
  • Gold – Women’s Individual Foil – Team USA
  • Gold – Women’s Team Foil – Team USA
• Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (Track and Field)
  • Gold – 400m hurdles – Team USA
  • Gold – 4x400m Relay – Team USA
• Masai Russell (Track and Field)
  • Gold 100m hurdles – Team USA

SILVER

• Daniel Roberts (Track and Field)
  • Silver – 110m hurdles – Team USA
• Avery Skinner (Volleyball)
  • Silver – Volleyball – Team USA

BRONZE

• Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (Track and Field)
  • Bronze 100m hurdles – Team Puerto Rico
• Rhyne Howard (Basketball)
  • Bronze – 3×3 Basketball – Team USA