"Our battles with Sophia the Great are a battle of wits"

In recent months, a number of Russian athletes have been admitted to international competitions in a neutral status. This happened to our fencers back in 2023. However, few people managed to compete at the World and European championships. The main stars who won gold medals at the last two summer Olympics are still participating in internal tournaments, as they are representatives of CSKA, and two years ago the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that federations not allow athletes associated with the army and other law enforcement agencies to participate in their competitions.

Therefore, two-time Olympic champions Sofia Velikaya and Yana Yegoryan, as well as the champion of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo Olga Nikitina, are currently competing only domestically. In March, they took part in the annual Moscow Sabre tournament. Nikitina won the women's individual championship, Yegoryan became the second, and the Great and Young Veronika Bulukova, who reached the semifinals, won the bronze medals.

In an interview with Izvestia, Yana Yegoryan explained why she lost the final to Nikitina, why the semifinal with Velikaya caused a stir in the stands again, and told how the three-year absence of international competition practice affects.

— What didn't work out in the final?

"I'm just tired." I'm just physically tired. I didn't have enough strength. That's the only reason I lost the final. It's related to the fact that we had a long competition, and we were fencing in the morning. I had a very difficult semi-final fight with Sofia the Great, after which it took a certain amount of time to recover. The time I was given before the final was not enough for me to recover. Accordingly, I was unable to prove myself in the confrontation with Olga Nikitina.

— Why do your fights with Sofia the Great cause heightened emotions in the audience? It was during your semifinal at the Moscow Sabre that the stands were most noisy.

— Everyone wants a confrontation between Yegoryan and Velikaya (smiles). Besides the fact that there is a certain background here, starting from our 2016 Olympic final in Rio de Janeiro, which everyone always remembers, we also need to take into account... that we are the best (smiles).

— In these fights, almost always someone wins with a minimum advantage of 15:14. It's like you and Sofia conspired to do a show for the public, when it's unclear who will win until the last injection.

— No, well, it's definitely impossible to come to an agreement here... It's just that such intense fights speak about the professionalism of the two athletes, about tactics — it's very difficult for us to deceive each other during the fight. So that's how it goes: punch, punch, punch, punch. I think I've found something in relation to my opponent, but he immediately finds his own ways to give you a good shot. It's a battle of wits. This fight, when we're fencing with Sonya, is really a battle of wits. I can't put it any other way. In fights with other girls, there are also aspects like physics that someone can win on. Someone can win due to some kind of clumsiness - there are very uncomfortable opponents in this regard. Sonya and I are quite tactful — we show beautiful and technical fencing. Of course, it's nice for everyone to look at us. And we are very pleased with this confrontation. Of course, we would like to meet in the finals on the same "Moscow Sabre". But the way the cards turned out, we crossed paths earlier (smiles).

— Why don't you or Velikaya have such a history of confrontations with Olga Nikitina or Sofia Pozdnyakova?

— Maybe because the Great One and I are the best (laughs). I don't know.

— You mentioned the clumsiness of some competitors who win due to it. Who can you single out in this regard?

— Listen, well, I can't name names like that. Because it would be like an insult. Therefore, of course, I will not tell you the last name.

— Not so long ago, Alexandra Mikhailova, with whom you had a fight on the Moscow Sabre, won the European Junior Sabre Championship. What impression does she make on you?

— Sasha Mikhailova is a good athlete, a very promising junior who fends on the same level as adults. I think she has a great future. But if we're talking about our fight on the Moscow Saber, then experience probably played a big role in my favor. Overall, I really like her as an athlete. She recently won the European Junior Championships, and she's going to the World Championships soon. Hopefully, he'll come back with gold, too.

"A lot is changing in the world - maybe they will invite you to the Olympic Games"

Two—time Olympic fencing champion Sofya Velikaya talks about her chances to return to the international stage, her confrontation with Yana Yegoryan and her motivation to continue performing

— Can we say that she and other young sabre skaters like Veronika Bulukova will soon be able to compete with you and other Olympic champions and start moving you from the top places?

— Why would someone suddenly move us? The question here is not about them, but about us. If we continue to work, work hard and do everything right, then we will continue to maintain our level. It's just that it's very difficult for us to grow higher now, because we don't compete in international competitions. We have nowhere to hone our experience. But for the juniors, there is just an opportunity to grow on us, because we can give them something else.

— Does the lack of international practice affect even taking into account the fact that our sabre athletes have been among the world leaders in major competitions for a long time and can still compete against each other inside Russia during the ban?

- of course. Of course, we also need to practice competing with other competitors from other countries. It's not like we have a cyclical sport where we have to run from point A to point B. Sonya and Olya and I are getting used to each other anyway. Therefore, international competitions are needed in any case. We really want to return to them. We want to show our level, which is there. For now, the juniors are allowed there, and then we'll see.