Team Russia is about those who take real risks.
Silver with bandaged eye
Today's fencing suits reliably protect athletes' bodies from injections. The weapon has become more flexible, and there is a special knob at the tip of the blade. It is impossible to pierce the equipment. But 50-60 years ago, protective equipment was imperfect, and serious incidents on the fencing track were not
were rare.The 1972 Summer Games in Munich were remembered for the Korbut noose, three basketball seconds and a terrorist attack in the Olympic Village. Almost no one talks about the courageous act of fencer Viktor Sidyak. At that Olympics, he became the first Soviet saber fencer in history to win an individual tournament. From Munich he could bring two gold pieces. The USSR national saber team looked stronger than all its competitors and should have won the team tournament.
In the first round, Soviet saber fencers met with Italy. In one of the battles, the blade of the Italian Michele Maffei hit the protective mesh on Sidyak’s helmet, broke, and a fragment of the saber pierced Victor’s cornea. In Munich, the athlete underwent surgery because German doctors were unable to remove the fragment with a magnet. The patient was advised to rest, but the next day Sidyak entered the final of the team tournament (against the same Italians) with a rewound eye. As the athlete recalled, the eye did not hurt, as the anesthesia was in effect, but it was inconvenient to fencing with a bandage. As a result, the Soviet team lost the final, remaining with silver.
Three millimeters to the heart
Sidyak will take team gold four years later in Montreal and at the Games in Moscow. The 1980 Olympics will be his last. At that fencing tournament, tragedy almost happened in the team foil tournament. The most terrible cases in fencing occurred when the blade broke and the pommel could no longer protect. And the rapier breaks more often than other types of weapons.
This was the case in the fight between the USSR and Poland national teams at the Moscow Olympics. Vladimir Lapitsky attacked Adam Roebuck and turned around during the move, and the Pole’s foil broke, which he thrust into the Soviet athlete’s back by inertia. The blade hit the soft tissue of the back and came out of the chest. Lapitsky fell onto the path. Fortunately, vital organs were not affected. The broken rapier passed three millimeters from the heart.
The Italians won the team foil tournament at the 1980 Olympics. The USSR national team was second, the Poles took bronze. In addition to silver, Lapitsky received the award “For Courage” from the Central Committee of the Komsomol, as well as the gold medal of the Games. It was given to the athlete by Italians who visited him in the hospital.
The tragedy of Vladimir Smirnov
Vladimir Smirnov was part of that silver foil team at the 1980 Olympics. At that competition he also won gold in the individual competition. Two years later, the most terrible episode in the history of fencing will happen to him. As a member of the USSR national team, he went to the World Championships in Rome.
During a team tournament against Germany, Smirnov met with Matthias Behr: a mutual attack, the opponent’s blade breaks, the stump pierces the mask and enters the left eye socket. Smirnov is taken to the hospital, where he is placed in an induced coma. It was impossible to save the athlete. The blade penetrated 14 centimeters into the brain. Eight days later, Vladimir was disconnected from the devices.
This tragedy led to changes in equipment: the protection of masks was strengthened, blades became more flexible and became less likely to break. The loads on the tip of the rapier and sword have also changed.
Defenseless Spartakiad
Fewer than ten fatalities have been recorded in the history of sports fencing. Mostly these cases were at the adult professional level. However, the last such tragedy occurred at a youth tournament.
In 2004, the All-Ukrainian Spartakiad was held in Kharkov. Once again the broken rapier proved fatal. The blade entered the body of 17-year-old Evgeniy Prokopyev in the area of the right armpit and came out on the opposite side. It pierced both lungs and several major blood vessels. It was not possible to save the young man.
Prokopyev did not have full equipment according to European standards, in particular a side guard, which should protect against such blows. They say that all athletes competed at these competitions without side guards. After this, if participants were missing any required form element, tournaments began to be cancelled.
Dangerous transparent masks
The equipment of fencers has been modernized over time. But not all new products caught on. In 2010, transparent masks began to appear at competitions. Fencing began to lose its entertainment value and, as one of the consequences, the number of events in the Olympic program. The new element of the form was supposed to increase this entertainment. Now fans could see the eyes and emotions of the athletes, and the fencers had increased visibility.
But then the first disadvantages were revealed. When hitting the glass part, not all injections are recorded. In addition, blows to the mask left marks on it, which were very disturbing during the battle. The novelty was finally buried by an incident at the European Junior Championships in Denmark.
In the 1/32 finals of the foil players, Latvian David Gasilovsky met with Italian Francesco Trani. In one of the episodes, the transparent glass on Gasilovsky’s mask was broken through by a blade. The fragment caused a wound to the athlete in the mouth area. The Latvian did not receive any serious injuries - after medical assistance was provided, the meeting was continued, but for the International Fencing Federation this incident was enough to return to the classic lattice masks.
Equipment will not save you from bruises
Any modern fencing coach explains to parents who bring their child to the class that a blade can leave at most a bruise on the body, but not pierce in any way. The equipment is completely protective. Each type of weapon has its own types of bruises.
If you stab with a sword, it hurts at one point. Terrible pain! And after the saber strikes, my whole back burns. This is a more pleasant pain, or something. At least the usual one. So I always wondered: how do epee fencers endure such pain? But they don’t understand how to adapt to our sensations,” eight-time world champion Alexey Yakimenko told SE.
The goal of the fencer is to hit the opponent and avoid getting hit himself. Victory is awarded to the one who is the first to inflict a certain number of injections on the opponent in accordance with the rules or inflict more such injections in a set period of time.
Fencers wear white uniforms because, until electronic scoring equipment was invented, hits were imprinted on a white surface by an ink-soaked piece of cotton threaded onto the tip of the weapon.
OLYMPIC GAMES
Fencing has been included in the program of the Olympic Games since 1896 - individual competitions for men on foils and sabers, since 1900 - on epees (in 1904 and on sticks); in 1896 and 1900 professionals (the so-called maestros) took part in the competitions. Since 1912, the team championship has been played in epee and saber, and since 1920 in foil. Since 1924, an individual championship has been held, since 1960 - a team championship among women in foils, since 1996 - an individual and team championship in epee, in 2004 an individual championship was held, and in 2008 a team championship in saber fencing among women.
The record holder for the number of Olympic medals won is the Italian fencer Edoardo Mangiarotti, who from 1936 to 1960. won 13 medals at the Olympic Games: 6 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze. Another great fencer, Aladar Gerevich from Hungary, won three less medals, but he has more gold medals - 7. For women, two Italians lead the list of champions - Valentina Vezzali, 5-time Olympic champion, and Giovanna Trillini, who won 4 Olympic gold medals .
RUSSIA
There are many wonderful blade masters in the Soviet Union and Russia, there are many two-time and three-time Olympic champions. But only four fencers hold the title of 4-time Olympic champions. These are foil fencer Elena Belova and saber fencers Viktor Sidyak, Viktor Krovopuskov and Stanislav Pozdnyakov.
Photo - Sergey Kivrin and Andrey Golovanov
The goal of the fencer is to inflict a thrust (punch) on the opponent and avoid a thrust (strike) himself. Victory is awarded to the one who is the first to inflict a certain number of injections (blows) on the opponent in accordance with the rules or inflict more such injections in a set period of time. Modern fencing consists of three disciplines: foil, epee, saber. The length of the sports rapier is 110 cm, its weight is 500 g, the hand of the rapier player is protected by a round guard with a diameter of 12 cm. The length of the sports saber is 105 cm, its weight is 500 g, it is also equipped with a guard, but differs from the rapier in the blade of a trapezoidal variable section. The saber is the only type in sports fencing in which, in addition to thrusts, chopping blows can be delivered. The length of the sports epee is 110 cm, its weight is 770 g, the epee has a flexible blade with a triangular cross-section and a round guard with a diameter of 13.5 cm. Foil fencers are allowed injections only in the torso, epee fencers - in all parts of the body except the back of the head not protected by a mask, saber fencers - injections ( blows) to all parts of the body above the waist. Fights are held on a fencing track 14 m long and 1.8 - 2 m wide.
Athletes perform in protective jackets covered with metallized fabric and masks with a metal mesh and a glove on their armed hand. The thrusts and blows inflicted by the fencers are recorded by lamps on an electrical apparatus. They are fixed on the basis of an electrical circuit passing through the fencer’s weapon and his clothing, connected to the device by a wired system.
Fencing is an Olympic sport in which opponents fight with the help of special sports edged weapons, which are completely safe. Conventional fencing is not at all safe, because it is a combat discipline that was actively used during military operations in the past. But as happened with many martial arts, this discipline these days has also become exclusively sporting in nature.
Participants in fencing games
There will be 212 men and women attending the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, 106 each. Based on the results of the competition, 10 sets of medals will be awarded, 5 among women and 5 among men. One country can nominate no more than 16 fencers, and no more than 8 of them are women and men.
The International Fencing Federation uses the principle of discipline rotation for a competition such as the Olympics. The 2016 Summer Olympics will feature different fencing disciplines than were offered at the London Games four years ago. Then the command saber was for men, and the command foil for women. In Rio, the men will have a team epee and the women will have a team saber.
Disciplines common to men and women:
- Sword;
- Command sword;
- Rapier;
- Saber.
Summer Olympics participants must prove themselves in order to qualify for the Olympics. For this purpose, Olympic qualification of competitions is provided; each continent has its own qualification. All competitions are regarded as qualifying tournaments. The selection is also influenced by the world ranking of athletes.
Fencing competition calendar
Competitions for those involved in fencing will take place from August 6 to 14. Finals of competitions in a particular discipline will be held daily. Schedule:
- August 6: individual epee championship, women;
- August 7: men's individual foil championship;
- August 8: Women's individual saber championship;
- August 9: individual epee championship, men;
- August 10: women's individual championship in foil, men's individual championship in saber;
- August 11: women's team epee championship;
- August 12: men's team championship in foil;
- August 13: Women's saber team championship;
- August 14: men's team epee championship.
In each discipline, to win, you need to be the first to inflict a certain number of blows or thrusts on your opponent. The competition is given a certain period of time, after which the fight ends.
Athletes compete in protective clothing: they have jackets made of metallic fabric and masks with rigid mesh. The hand that is not holding the weapon must wear a glove. The weapon is connected to the electrical panel. If a fencer strikes an opponent, this is recorded on the shield and a light comes on. If the blow was of insufficient power, for example, when the athlete only slid over the opponent, the injection is not recorded by the electrical system.
A rapier and a sword involve thrusting, but with a saber you can already deliver a chopping blow. Each type of weapon has a guard that protects the working hand from damage. Disciplines differ in the parts of the body allowed to strike.
For the fight, a fencing track is used. Its length is 14 meters.
Fencers competed at the very first Olympic Games of modern times (1896). Fencing is one of the four sports that were included in the program of all Olympics without exception. Participants in the 1896 Olympic Games competed in foil and saber wrestling (men only). The strongest among the foil fighters was the Frenchman Y.-A. Gravelotte, and among the saber fencers the Greek I. Georgiadis.
Another feature of fencing as an Olympic discipline is that already at the very first Olympic Games, professionals (fencing instructors) - the so-called masters - were allowed to participate. This peculiar privilege was noted in the rules developed by the founder of modern Olympism, Baron P. de Coubertin. Master rapier fighters took part in the Games of 1896 and 1900. In 1900, they were joined by epee fencers and saber fencers, who also competed at the intermediate Olympic Games of 1906.
Since 1904, the team championship in foil fencing has been played at the Olympic Games (the first champions are the Cuban team), and since 1906 - in saber (Germany). Epee competitions were also added to the program: from 1900 - personal (R. Fonst, Cuba), from 1906 - team (France).
Women first took part in Olympic fencing competitions (foil) in 1924 (the winner was the Danish E. Osier). Team foil competitions were included in the program in 1960 (the first champions were athletes from the USSR; currently, women's team foil is excluded from the Olympic program). Since 1996, women have also competed in epee fencing (in Atlanta, the French women excelled: both in the team and individual competitions - L. Flezzel). At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, competitions among saber fencers in the individual competition were held for the first time (M. Zagunis, USA won).
There are record holders among the Olympic fencing champions. The Italian N. Nadi is the only fencer who won 5 gold medals at one Olympic tournament (in 1920): in individual - foil and saber - and all three team types of the program (he received another gold medal at the Games in 1912 for winning the foil tournament ). His compatriot E. Mangiarotti collected the largest collection of Olympic awards among all fencers - 13 (6+5+2), the athlete won them at five Olympic Games (1936–1960) in duels (individual and team) on epee and foil. Hungarian saber fencer A. Gerevich is the only athlete in history to win six Olympics in a row (from 1932 to 1960), while in 1948 he won gold in both the individual and team competitions, and received the last of his highest awards in 50 years. Another famous Hungarian saber fencer R. Karpathy participated in four Games, winning 6 gold medals.
It should be noted that until the mid-1950s, fencers from Hungary (saber), as well as Italy and France (foil and epee) were the undisputed favorites of the Olympic competitions - and world fencing in general. (For example, Hungarian saber fencers won gold in team competitions at the Olympic Games nine times between 1908 and 1960—they won another title in 1988). But in the end In the 1950s–1960s, serious competitors appeared, primarily in the form of athletes from the USSR, as well as fencers from Germany, Poland and some other countries. Our team of foil fencers set a collective record by winning the Olympic tournament four times (in 1960, 1968, 1972 and 1976).
Monday ended enchantingly for Russian sports fans. Just when the clock hands in Moscow were passing midnight, one of the most exciting fights of recent years took place in Rio de Janeiro - two Russian women competed against each other in the final of the saber tournament. Sophia the Great And Yana Yegoryan.
And if it weren’t for the Imperial March, which personifies everything evil in the Star Wars film, which the organizers, either intentionally or out of thoughtlessness, placed before the Russian final, nothing would have overshadowed this wonderful Russian evening. But we knew that this evil march only preceded the Russian anthem, which would inevitably sound at the end of the fight, no matter who won.
Sophia is not great yet
The favorite of this fight, of course, was Sophia the Great, who ranks first in the world rankings. It seemed that she had been going towards this victory all her life. She was the first “natural saber fencer” in our team - a girl who did not switch to this sport from another, but immediately began fencing with a saber.
The athlete could have become truly great much earlier - four years ago in London, at the anniversary XXX Summer Olympic Games. It didn’t work out - in the final the Russian was up against a Korean athlete Kim Ji-young. It is unknown what happened on the platform, but Sophia gave up almost without a fight - the Korean won with a score of 15:9.
London Olympics final. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
It is difficult to imagine how the fate of the Russian woman would have developed after the Olympic Games if she had been successful. Even before the start, she had thoughts of ending her career if she won. You still won’t jump higher than a gold medal, and continuing to fencing, having crossed into the fourth decade for the sake of repeating success, is not the best motivator for a girl.
But fate had its own way. The defeat only provoked the Great One. At that moment, she realized that she could not avoid another four-year training cycle - the gold medal hanging around the Korean woman’s neck shone too brightly in her eyes.
Since then, Sophia, greedy for victories, has won two world champion titles and won the European Championship five times. She has long proven to the whole world that she is the best saber fencer on the planet. All that remained was to prove it to herself - to win gold at the Olympic Games.
But when Sophia just started fencing, she couldn’t even think that she would ever even be at the Olympic Games. And the point here is not even that the girl did not believe in herself. It’s just that until the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, women’s saber was not included in the program of the Summer Olympics.
After it became known that women's saber fencing competitions were still included in the program of the Olympic Games, many average foil fencers, who could hardly count on winning in their sport, began to retrain and switch to saber.
Sophia was different from them. For a long time, she was the only “natural saber fencer” in the entire Russian team. And she proved time after time that relearning is both more difficult and worse than starting to learn something from the very beginning.
In 2003, 18-year-old Sophia Velikaya already became the European champion - the medal was won in the French Bourges in team competition. This was followed by further victories at the continental and planetary championships as part of the team in 2004. In 2005, Sophia became second on the planet, winning silver. And in 2006, Velikaya received her first personal victory - in Izmir she became the European champion, winning not only in the team competition, but also in the individual competition.
However, Sophia had to wait another five years for the first title of world champion, which she would not have to share with anyone. Only in 2011, on the eve of the start of the London Olympics, was she able to win the title of the strongest saber fencer on the planet - this fateful event took place in Italian Catania, where Russia also won the team championship.
Sophia the Great (right), 2006. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
But, if not for Gregory the Great... Not the Gregory the Great who was Pope at the turn of the 6th-7th centuries, but Sophia’s older brother. So, if it weren’t for him, perhaps we wouldn’t have such a wonderful Olympic champion.
At one time, Grigory was the first to go to train in Moscow. He took up fencing and showed some promise. At some point, he called Sophia in Alma-Ata and said that, according to his information, women’s saber fencing could soon be included in the program of the Olympic Games. He invited his sister to try herself in this sport and even recommended a young coach, Dmitry Glotov, who was his friend.
Deciding that being a natural saber fencer was much better than retraining from a rapier, having weighed all the pros and cons, the very young Sophia packed her things and set off to conquer Moscow.
The student surpassed the teacher
But Sophia, apparently, was not destined to win at the Olympics. She was surpassed by another “natural saber fencer”, much younger and more hungry for victories - 22-year-old Yana Yegoryan.
The girl had just begun to join the Russian national team when the whole world was already talking about Sophia, and her defeat at the Olympic Games in London was considered an unfortunate accident - in 2012. However, in four short years, the aspiring saber fencer, who had just moved from juniors to the adult category, not only entered the top five best saber fencers on the planet, but also began to challenge the recognized masters of this matter.
Born in the capital of Armenia, the city of Yerevan, the girl and her parents moved to Khimki near Moscow when she was only six years old. Soon she was sent to fencing, which she began to practice under the guidance of Sergei Semin.
Yana Yegoryan. Photo: RIA Novosti / Grigory Sysoev
In 2010, she was already the winner of the Olympic Games, only the youth ones, which were held in Singapore. Since 2012, when she first joined the senior Russian national team. Yana managed to win three gold medals at the European Championships, from 2013 to 2016, and became a winner, silver and bronze medalist at the World Championships. But only one of these awards, bronze at the world championship, was individual for Yana. And now - the Olympics. A chance that Yana has never had before.