The goal of the swordsman is to deliver a thrust to the opponent and avoid the thrust himself. The victory is awarded to the one who first inflicts a certain number of injections on the opponent in accordance with the rules or inflicts more such injections in a set period of time.

swordsmen wear white uniform because until electronic scoring equipment was invented, the injections were imprinted on a white surface thanks to an ink-soaked piece of cotton cloth fastened to 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 rapiers and sabers, since 1900 - on swords (in 1904 and on sticks); in 1896 and 1900, professionals (the so-called maestro) took part in the competition. Since 1912, the team championship has been played on swords and sabers, since 1920 - on rapiers. Since 1924, an individual championship has been held, since 1960 - a team championship among women in foil, since 1996 - an individual and team championship in swords, in 2004 an individual championship was held, and in 2008 a team championship in saber fencing among women.

Record holder for the won number Olympic medals is the Italian fencer Edoardo Mangiarotti, who from 1936 to 1960. won on Olympic Games 13 medals: 6 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze. Another great fencer, Aladar Gerevich from Hungary, won three medals less, but he has more gold medals - 7. In women, two Italians lead in the list of champions - Valentina Vezzali, 5 times 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 double and triple Olympic champions. But only four fencers have the title of 4-time Olympic champions. They 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 stab (hit) the opponent and avoid the stab (hit) himself. The victory is awarded to the one who first inflicts a certain number of injections (strikes) on the opponent in accordance with the rules or inflicts more such injections in a set period of time. Modern fencing consists of three disciplines: rapier, sword, saber. The length of the sports rapier is 110 cm, its weight is 500 g, the hand of the rapierist 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 by a blade of trapezoidal variable section. The saber is the only species in sports fencing, in which, in addition to injections, chopping blows can be applied. The length of a sports sword is 110 cm, its weight is 770 g, the sword has a flexible trihedral blade and a round guard with a diameter of 13.5 cm. Foil fencers are allowed injections only in the body, epee fencers - in all parts of the body, except for 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 with a length of 14 m and a width of 1.8 - 2 m.

Athletes perform in protective jackets covered with metallized fabric and masks with a metal mesh and a glove on an armed hand. The pricks and blows inflicted by the fencers are recorded by lamps on an electric apparatus. They are fixed on the basis of an electrical circuit passing through the swordsman's weapon and his clothes, connected to the apparatus by a wired system.

Fencers competed at the very first modern Olympic Games (1896). Fencing is one of the four sports included in the program of all the Olympics without exception. Participants in the 1896 Olympic Games competed in rapier and saber wrestling (only men). The Frenchman J.-A.Gravelott became the strongest among foil fencers, the Greek I.Georgiadis became the strongest among saber fencers.

Another feature of fencing as Olympic discipline lies in the fact 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 foil fencers took part in the Games of 1896 and 1900. In 1900 they were joined by 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 were the Cuban team), since 1906 - in saber fencing (Germany). Sword competitions were also added to the program: since 1900 - personal (R.Fonst, Cuba), since 1906 - team (France).

Women first took part in the Olympic fencing competitions (foil) in 1924 (the Dane E. Osier became the winner). Team foil competitions were included in the program in 1960 (the first champions were athletes from the USSR; at present, the women's team foil competition is excluded from the program). Olympic program). Since 1996, women have also competed in epee fencing (in Atlanta, the French women excelled: both in the team and in the individual competition - 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).

Among the Olympic fencing champions there are record holders. The Italian N. Nadi is the only fencer who won 5 gold medals in one Olympic tournament (in 1920): in personal - foil and saber - and in 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. Manjarotti collected the largest collection among all fencers Olympic awards- 13 (6 + 5 + 2), the athlete won them at five Olympic Games (1936-1960) in duels (individual and team) on the sword and foil. The Hungarian saber fencer A. Gerevich is the only athlete in history who has won six Olympics in a row (from 1932 to 1960), while in 1948 he won gold in both the individual and team competitions, and the last of his top awards received at age 50. Another well-known Hungarian saber fencer R. Karpaty participated in four Games and won 6 gold medals.

It should be noted that until the mid-1950s, fencers from Hungary (saber), as well as Italy and France (rapier and epee) were the undisputed favorites of the Olympic competitions - and world fencing in general. (For example, between 1908 and 1960, Hungarian saber fencers won gold nine times in team competition at the Olympic Games - they won another title in 1988). But in con. In the 1950s and 1960s, they had serious competitors, primarily in the form of athletes from the USSR, as well as fencers from Germany, Poland and some other countries. The team of our foil fencers set a collective record by winning the Olympic tournament four times (in 1960, 1968, 1972 and 1976).

women Command Saber women Qualification 4 1 2 7 2 2 1 1 4 3 1 3 0 4 4 1 1 1 3 5 1 0 1 2 6 1 0 0 1 7 0 2 2 4 8 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 2 10 0 0 1 1 Total 10 10 10 30

Medalists

Men

Discipline	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Sword
Command sword
Rapier
Command Foil
Saber

Women

Discipline	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Sword
Command sword
Rapier
Saber
Command Saber	Russia Sophia the Great Julia Gavrilova Ekaterina Dyachenko Yana Yegoryan 3 (in the lower left corner) Pierre silently, intently peered into the aged face of (Prince) Andrei. “No, I’m asking,” said Pierre, “but Prince Andrei interrupted him: - What can I say about me... tell me, tell me about your journey, about everything that you did there on your estates? Pierre began to talk about what he had done on his estates, trying as much as possible to hide his participation in the improvements made by him. Prince Andrei several times prompted Pierre in advance what he was telling, as if everything that Pierre had done had been a long time ago. famous history, and listened not only not with interest, but even as if ashamed of what Pierre was telling. Pierre became embarrassed and even hard in the company of his friend. He fell silent. - And here's what, my soul, - said Prince Andrei, who was obviously also hard and shy with the guest, - I'm here in bivouacs, and I came only to look. Today I'm going back to my sister. I will introduce you to them. Yes, you seem to know each other,” he said, obviously entertaining the guest with whom he now felt nothing in common. - We'll leave after lunch. And now you want to see my estate? - They went out and walked until dinner, talking about political news and mutual acquaintances, like people who are not close to each other. With some animation and interest, Prince Andrei spoke only about the new estate and building he was arranging, but even here, in the middle of the conversation, on the stage, when Prince Andrei was describing to Pierre the future location of the house, he suddenly stopped. - However, there is nothing interesting here, let's go to dinner and go. - At dinner, the conversation turned to the marriage of Pierre. “I was very surprised when I heard about this,” said Prince Andrei. Pierre blushed just as he always blushed at this, and hastily said: "I'll tell you someday how it all happened." But you know that it's all over and for good. - Forever and ever? - said Prince Andrew. “Nothing happens forever. But do you know how it all ended? Have you heard of the duel? Yes, you've been through that too. “One thing I thank God for is that I didn’t kill this man,” said Pierre. - From what? - said Prince Andrew. “Killing an evil dog is even very good. “No, it’s not good to kill a person, it’s unfair… - Why is it unfair? repeated Prince Andrei; what is fair and unfair is not given to people to judge. People have always been mistaken and will be mistaken, and in nothing more than in what they consider just and unjust. “It’s unfair that there is evil for another person,” said Pierre, feeling with pleasure that for the first time since his arrival, Prince Andrei revived and began to speak and wanted to express everything that made him what he was now. – And who told you what evil is for another person? - he asked. – Evil? Evil? - said Pierre, - we all know what evil is for ourselves. “Yes, we know, but I cannot do the evil that I know for myself to another person,” Prince Andrei said more and more animatedly, apparently wanting to express his new view of things to Pierre. He spoke French. Je ne connais l dans la vie que deux maux bien reels: c "est le remord et la maladie. II n" est de bien que l "absence de ces maux. [I know only two real misfortunes in life: this is remorse and disease. And the only good is the absence of these evils.] To live for oneself, avoiding only these two evils: that is all my wisdom now. What about love for one's neighbor, and self-sacrifice? Pierre spoke up. No, I can't agree with you! To live only in such a way as not to do evil, so as not to repent? this is not enough. I lived like this, I lived for myself and ruined my life. And only now, when I live, at least I try (Pierre corrected himself out of modesty) to live for others, only now I understand all the happiness of life. No, I do not agree with you, and you do not think what you say. Prince Andrei silently looked at Pierre and smiled mockingly. - Here you will see your sister, Princess Marya. You will get along with her,” he said. “Perhaps you are right for yourself,” he continued, after a pause; - but everyone lives in his own way: you lived for yourself and you say that you almost ruined your life by doing this, and you only knew happiness when you began to live for others. And I experienced the opposite. I lived for fame. (After all, what is fame? The same love for others, the desire to do something for them, the desire for their praise.) So I lived for others, and not almost, but completely ruined my life. And since then I have become calmer, as I live for myself alone. - But how to live for oneself? Pierre asked excitedly. “And the son, and the sister, and the father?” “Yes, it’s still the same me, it’s not others,” said Prince Andrei, and others, neighbors, le prochain, as you and Princess Marya call it main source delusion and evil. Le prochain [Middle] are those, your Kyiv men, to whom you want to do good. And he looked at Pierre with a mockingly defiant look. He apparently called Pierre. “You are joking,” Pierre said more and more animatedly. What error and evil can there be in the fact that I wanted (I did very little and badly), but I wanted to do good, and even did something? What an evil it can be that unfortunate people, our peasants, people just like us, growing up and dying without another concept of God and truth, like a rite and meaningless prayer, will learn in the comforting beliefs of a future life, retribution, rewards, consolation? What is the evil and delusion in the fact that people die from illness, without help, when it is so easy to help them financially, and I will give them a doctor, and a hospital, and a shelter for an old man? And isn’t it a tangible, undoubted blessing that a peasant, a woman with a child do not have day and night of peace, and I will give them rest and leisure? ... - said Pierre, hurrying and lisping. “And I did it, albeit badly, at least a little, but I did something for this, and you not only won’t disbelieve me that what I did is good, but you won’t disbelieve me that you yourself don’t think so. And most importantly, - continued Pierre, - this is what I know and know for sure, that the pleasure of doing this good is the only true happiness of life. - Yes, if you put the question like that, then this is another matter, said Prince Andrei. - I build a house, plant a garden, and you are hospitals. Both can serve as a pastime. And what is fair, what is good - leave it to the one who knows everything, and not to us, to judge. Well, you want to argue,” he added, “come on. They left the table and sat down on the porch that served as a balcony. “Well, let’s argue,” said Prince Andrei. “You are talking about schools,” he continued, bending his finger, “teachings and so on, that is, you want to take him out,” he said, pointing to the peasant who took off his hat and passed them, “out of his animal state and give him moral needs , but it seems to me that the only possible happiness is the happiness of an animal, and you want to deprive him of it. I envy him, and you want to make him me, but without giving him my means. You say something else: make his work easier. And in my opinion, physical labor for him is the same necessity, the same condition for his existence, as mental labor is for me and for you. You can't stop thinking. I go to bed at 3 o'clock, thoughts come to me, and I can't fall asleep, I toss and turn, I don't sleep until the morning because I think and I can't help but think, how he can't help plowing, not mow; otherwise he will go to a tavern, or he will become ill. Just as I will not endure his terrible physical labor, and die in a week, so he will not endure my physical idleness, he will grow fat and die. Third, what else did you say? - Prince Andrei bent the third finger.

Enchantingly ended Monday for Russian sports fans. Just when the hands of the clock in Moscow passed after midnight, one of the most exciting fights of recent years took place in Rio de Janeiro - in the final of the saber tournament, two Russian women met among themselves, Sophia the Great and Yana Egoryan.

And if not for the Imperial March, which personifies all the evil in the film about Star Wars, which the organizers, either intentionally or thoughtlessly, put before the Russian final, nothing would have overshadowed this wonderful Russian evening. But we knew that this evil march only precedes the Russian anthem, which would inevitably sound at the end of the duel, no matter who won.

Sophia is not great yet

The favorite of this fight, of course, was Sofya Velikaya, who occupies the first line of the world ranking. It seemed that she had been going to 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 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 woman was opposed by the Korean athlete Kim Ji Young. It is not known what happened on the platform, but Sofia surrendered almost without a fight - the Korean won with a score of 15:9.

The final of the London Olympics. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

It is difficult to imagine how the fate of the Russian woman would have developed after the Olympic Games if successful. Even before the start, she was visited by thoughts of ending her career if she won. You still won’t jump above the gold medal, and continuing to fencing, stepping into your forties 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. At that moment, she realized that she could not avoid another four-year training cycle - she was shining too brightly in her eyes. gold medal hanging around the neck of a Korean woman.

Since then, Sofya, greedy for victories, won two world champion titles and became the winner of the European Championship five times. She has long proved to the whole world that she is the best saber fencer on the planet. It remained to prove it to herself - to win the gold of the Olympic Games.

But when Sophia was just starting to practice fencing, she could not even think that someday she would at least be at the Olympic Games. And the point here is not even that the girl did not believe in herself. Just before the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, the 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 mediocre foil fencers, who could hardly count on winning in their sport, began to retrain - 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 over and over again that relearning is both harder and worse than starting to learn something from the very beginning.

In 2003, 18-year-old Sofia Velikaya already became the European champion - the medal was won in the French Bourges in team competitions. This was followed by another victory in the championship of the continent and the planet as part of the team in 2004. In 2005, Sophia became the second on the planet, having won silver. And in 2006, her first personal victory came to Velikaya - in Izmir she became the European champion, winning not only in the team, but also in the individual competition.

However, the first title of world champion, which would not have to be shared with anyone, Sophia had to wait for another five whole years. Only in 2011, on the eve of the start of the London Olympics, she was able to win the title of the strongest saber fencer on the planet - this fateful event took place in Catania, Italy, 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 same Gregory the Great, who was the Pope at the turn of the 6th-7th centuries, but Sophia's elder brother. So, if not for him, perhaps we would not have had such a wonderful Olympic champion.

At one time, Grigory was the first to leave to train in Moscow. He was engaged in fencing and showed some promise. At some point, he called Sofya in Alma-Ata and said that, according to his information, saber fencing for women could soon be included in the program of the Olympic Games. He invited his sister to try himself in this sport and even advised a young coach, Dmitry Glotov, who was his friend.

Deciding that being a natural saber fencer is much better than retraining with a rapier, having weighed all the pros and cons, the still young Sophia packed up and set off to conquer Moscow.

The student has surpassed the teacher

But Sofya, 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 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 novice saber fencer, who had just moved from juniors to the adult category, not only entered the top five saber fencers on the planet, but also began to challenge the recognized masters of this business.

Born in the capital of Armenia, the city of Yerevan, the girl moved with her parents 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 Egoryan. 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 adult Russian team. Yana managed to win three gold medals of the European Championship, from 2013 to 2016, become the winner, silver and bronze medalist of the world championships. But only one of these awards, the bronze of the world championship, was individual for Yana. And then there's the Olympics. A chance that Yana still did not have.

From 6 to 14 August in Rio de Janeiro will be held Olympic competitions fencing. The Olympic fencing tournament will last 9 days. Medals will be played in six personal and four team disciplines.

The site offers you the full schedule of fencing competitions at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, use the program so as not to miss the performances of your favorite athletes. Root for your favorites, may the strongest win!

Fencing. Schedule of fencing competitions at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

August 6th Saturday -
Sword. Women. Individual championship
22:00 Semi-finals

August 7. Sunday -
Rapier. Men. Individual championship
22:00 Semi-finals
23:15 Fight for third place
23:45 Final. award ceremony

8 August. Monday -
Saber. Women. Individual championship
22:00 Semi-finals
23:15 Fight for third place
23:45 Final. award ceremony

August 9th. Tuesday -
Sword. Men. Individual championship
22:00 Semi-finals
23:15 Fight for third place
23:45 Final. award ceremony

August 10. Wednesday -
Rapier. Women. Individual championship
23:30 Semi-finals
01:20 Fight for third place
02:15 Final. award ceremony
Saber. Men. Individual championship
00:30 Semi-finals
01:50 Fight for third place
02:45 Final. Award ceremony

11th August. Thursday -
Sword. women. Team championship
19:15 Semi-finals

12th of August. Friday -
Rapier. Men. Team championship
18:00 Semi-finals
23:00 Fight for third place
00:30 Final. Award ceremony

August 13th. Saturday -
Saber. Women. Team championship
17:30 Semi-finals
23:00 Fight for third place
00:15 Final. Award ceremony

August 14th. Sunday
Sword. Men. Team Championship
19:15 Semi-finals
23:00 Fight for third place
00:30 Final. Award ceremony