EXPOSED SECRET: The actual cause of Longtime Team USA Fencing coach’s death. THE LEACH BUCKIE STORY.
Longtime Team USA fencing coach killed on motorcycle trip after returning from Olympics
Buckie Leach, who coached the Team USA women’s fencing team for nearly 30 years, was killed in a motorcycle crash Saturday after his return from the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Leach, 62, recently coached Lee Kiefer to the country’s first Olympic gold in individual foil. He was taking part on a cross-country motorcycle road trip when he crashed Saturday in Pennsylvania, according to USA Fencing.
He was traveling in Potter County when he struck a deer in the roadway, according to a crash report. Leach was wearing a helmet when he was thrown from his Ducati Supersport but died at the scene from his injuries.
Leach was also an assistant coach for the University of Notre Dame fencing team. The program’s head coach, Gia Kvaratskhelia, said he was “devastated” to learn of Leach’s passing.
“Buckie’s legacy at Notre Dame and within American fencing stretch far beyond the athletic accomplishments of the fencers and teams that he coached,” Kvaratskhelia said. “Rather, his enduring memory will be of the incredible person that he was – his kindness, his passion, his sense of humor, and the genuine way he brightened the lives of everyone who was fortunate enough to know him.”
The Irish won three team national championships and five individual foil championships during Leach’s five years with the program.
While with Team USA, he helped build the program that won three straight medals at the Senior World Championships from 2017 to 2021. He coached at five Olympic Games beginning in 1996 and was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame in 2013.
“But it was his heart, passion and laughter that made Buckie one of the most beloved coaches in the sport,” USA Fencing wrote on social media.
