With their historically successful trip to Paris winding down, members of the Team USA fencing team reflected back on their weeks-long residence inside the Olympic Village.
Jackie Dubrovich and Maia Weintraub — one-half of the women’s foil team who won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the first team gold in American history — spoke exclusively to Us Weekly from the Village grounds, which haven’t exactly received raves from every athlete in France, but they haven’t seemed to mind.
“It’s college for the most athletic adults,” Dubrovich, 30, said with a laugh. “It’s fun! With the competitions wrapping up, I think it’s gonna be really fun. People are more likely to go out of their way to talk to other people, socialize and party.”
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Dubrovich continued, “That’s part of the fun of the Olympics. After you’re done competing, you meet all these people from around the world and you just have a good time together.”
As for what a party might look like inside the Village, Dubrovich explained that nobody should be expecting a rager — at least not on Olympic grounds.
“The Village is dry,” said. “So we can’t party in the Village, but it’s Paris. There are places to go.”
However, since basking in the glow of their gold medals — the duo won team gold alongside Lee Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs — Weintraub, 21, said the team hasn’t had much time to actually celebrate yet.
“I think we have future plans for that,” she hinted. “Because of all the chaos and media attention, which has been fantastic for the sport, we haven’t had a chance to really digest what we did and celebrate our accomplishments.”
In fact, Weintraub said she and her teammates have been proactively getting ready for a major Parisian night on the town.
“I was preparing myself with Jackie the other night,” Weintraub said. “We got to bed early. We watched some Emily in Paris. Now we’re ready.”
Despite the mostly positive review of the Village, Dubrovich did acknowledge that the conditions haven’t exactly been four-star across the board.
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“It’s not very fancy accommodations,” she said. “We have the cardboard beds. It’s hot. It’s Europe in the summertime. I wouldn’t say Europe is known for its central air system. All of those things are a reality for us right now.”
Still, those minor grievances are a small price to pay for bringing their beloved sport to the center of the Olympic conversation.
“What we are hoping comes out of this is that the sport continues to grow, especially in the lead-up to L.A. 2028,” Dubrovich said of the next Summer Games. “That’s really a priority. It’s such a beautiful sport, I don’t see a reason why it can’t be as big as some of the other marquee sports we see in this country.”
She continued, “If you think about it, we’re literally just sword fighting. It’s so cool.”
