Your attack: Russians went to the European Fencing Championships for medals
French Anthony will host the European Fencing Championships from June 16 to 21, a tournament with a scandalous political background, where Russian athletes plan to say goodbye to their neutral status. Our national team has prepared a very efficient squad and has a real chance of taking first place in the medal standings. At the same time, political demarches by rivals from unfriendly countries are not excluded. Some of them are unhappy that the International Federation (FIE) is pursuing a policy of lifting all political sanctions against Russians.
The return of the flag and the European Championship
Initially, this continental championship was supposed to be held in Tallinn, Estonia, but the FIE decided to postpone it due to the unconstructive position of the local organizers. The International Federation required Estonia to confirm in writing that all athletes with approved applications would be able to cross the border, regardless of nationality.
But the authorities of the Baltic Republic refused to sign such a document. Raido Mitta, Vice Chancellor of the Estonian Ministry of Culture for Sports, said that the national government's anti-Russian sanctions take precedence over the country's sporting commitments.
After the tournament was moved to France, new difficulties arose. The organizers were not ready for the FIE to allow the use of Russian flags in their competitions. As a result, in early June, a compromise decision was made: at the current European Championship, the Russians will perform in the same format — in a neutral status. For the first time since 2021, Russian fencers will be able to compete under the national flag at the World Championships in Hong Kong, which will be held from July 22 to 30. At the same time, the Russian team will perform in Anthony for the first time in a long time without restrictions on the composition.
Who joined the Russian national team
Our application includes leaders in almost all types of weapons. Among them are the medalists of last year's World Championships, rapierist Kirill Borodachev, skewers Aizanat Murtazayeva, Kristina Yasinskaya and Milen Bavuge Habimana, as well as Olympic champions sabre player Olga Nikitina, rapierists Marta Martyanova and Adelina Zagidullina, two-time world champion saber player Kamil Ibragimov. Yana Yegoryan should be singled out separately: the two—time Olympic champion and three-time world champion is the biggest name in the Russian national team and one of the main stars of the tournament. Despite her veteran status, at the age of 32, she is in excellent shape.
— I think we are taking small steps towards the full return of our athletes. The most difficult thing is always to take the first step. And when it's already done, everyone around stops worrying and being afraid," Yana Yegoryan said in an interview with Sport-Express. — Our federation has been working for a long time, and everything was moving towards a logical outcome with neutral statuses. As for motivation, I always had it, regardless of whether they would have given us a flag or not. In any case, we always train 100% and compete with the desire to run. But, of course, when you know that you can go out to get a medal and listen to your country's national anthem, it's encouraging.
However, two more stars of our women's sabre were not included in the application. Two—time Olympic champion Sofia Velikaya announced that she was staying in sports, but acknowledged the age factor - according to her, to qualify at 41, you need to be a cut above your competitors, and "the rhythm of life with all the stress had to be combined with a sports schedule, with logistical difficulties." Two-time Olympic champion Sofia Pozdnyakova regained her father's famous surname (four-time Olympic champion Stanislav Pozdnyakov) after her divorce, resumed her career, but is still far from her best results.
Interestingly, Olga Harlan, a long—time rival of the Russians, is not among the participants of the European Championship, she is pregnant and has gone on maternity leave. Instead, 40-year-old London 2012 champion Yana Shemyakina will perform. Ukrainian sabre fighters are the most principled rivals of our girls. Many of them made loud political statements, refused to shake hands, and last year at the World Cup in Tbilisi they knocked out the Russian national team in the 1/8 finals of the team tournament. If the tournament grid brings these rivals together again, the situation will be extremely tense even without the main brawler Harlan.
Medal forecast for the European Championship
Russia's main hopes for medals are traditionally associated with the sabre and sword, where the team has experienced leaders and a decent depth of the squad. Egoryan, Nikitina, Ibragimov, Murtazayeva and rapier wrestlers the Borodachev brothers are athletes who can not only go far in individual tournaments, but also pull off team draws. At the same time, it is important to understand that Russian fencers have long been outside the usual international competition. A lot will depend not only on the class, but also on adapting to the European pace and judging.
The main rivals are traditionally Italy and France, which will try to win the medal standings at home for the second year in a row.
A year ago, at the European Championships in Genoa, Italy, the Russians had only three medals in the sanctions—weakened squad - gold in the personal sword from Aizanat Murtazayeva and bronze in the team foil (Anton Borodachev, Kirill Borodachev, Alexander Kerik, Vladislav Mylnikov) and sabre (Dmitry Danilenko, Pavel Graudyn, Anatoly Kostenko, Kirill Tyulyukov). But now there is a chance to significantly improve this result. At the same time, no medal plans have been officially announced — fencers are superstitious people and avoid specific forecasts on the eve of a major tournament.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
