A Queens native made history at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris by becoming the first Black American woman to win an individual fencing medal.

Lauren Scruggs, 21, earned a silver medal in women’s foil fencing after competing against the No. 1-ranked Arianna Errigo of Italy in the eighth round.

Scruggs also played a crucial role in the women’s fencing team foil event, helping the U.S. secure a gold medal.

During an interview with “Mornings On 1” Friday, she said the reality of winning had yet to hit her since returning from Paris on Monday, but she feels fortunate to have opened a door for many others.

“I've never tried to, like, make history, per se. I've always just tried to exist in the space as my confident, original self. So it's really cool though, for the fencing community to finally kind of have someone like me who's made history and medaled—just because I think it'll inspire more people to get into fencing. It's always better when fencing is more diverse. You're gonna get more diverse people interested in the sport. So I'm just glad that, finally, we have something like this,” Scruggs said.

On winning her silver medal, she said she “never fenced like that before in my life” and noted that to win gold with her team was “even more special.”

Scruggs said she understands fencing is a niche sport and explained she was introduced to the sport because of her older brother’s love for “Star Wars.”

“My older brother was super into ‘Star Wars,’ and I think my mom saw an ad for fencing, a local fencing class. So, he's super into the lightsabers and whatnot. So she enrolled him in the class. And he actually wanted to quit fencing, but at the time, she had already bought all the equipment, and it's kind of expensive, so she was like, ‘You're not quitting.’ So he stuck with it, and luckily, he did, because I joined soon after, and I also liked fencing, and, yeah, the rest is history,” Scruggs said.

Looking ahead, Scruggs hopes to see growth in the sport locally.

“Hopefully, more fencing clubs open up. Hopefully, more programs are available for kids in terms of just getting into fencing, and hopefully more kids just in all are more interested in the sport and join it,” she said.