PARIS - With a dramatic final strike, former Stanford fencer Vivian Kong '16 captured the women's epee gold medal in overtime. The medal was the first for a fencer from Hong Kong, coming in Kong's second Olympics.
The 2014 NCAA Individual Champion earned a bye in the round of 64, before picking up four-straight wins to make it to the gold medal bout.
Facing France's Auriene Mallo-Breton in the championship bout, Kong quickly trailed 7-1. But after rallying to force overtime at 12-12, Kong struck Mallo-Breton to win 13-12.
Kong had competed in two previous Olympic Games, reaching the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Games in the individual epee and helping Hong Kong to seventh in the team epee. Kong finished 11th at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, becoming the first Hong Kong fencer to win an Olympic bout.
In addition to Kong's 2014 NCAA individual championship, the Stanford grad finished fourth in 2013 with the Cardinal. Kong entered Paris with a pair of bronze medals at the World Fencing Championships in 2022 and 2019.
The gold medal performance concludes Kong's Olympic program in Paris.