Russian sabre fencer S. Pozdniakova won the team world championship in 2019. The individual world championship in 2018, the team Olympic gold medal in 2021, and the individual Olympic gold medal in 2021.
S. Pozdniakova trained under Sergey Stepankin at the Fencing Center in her birthplace of Novosibirsk.
Her father, S. Pozdniakova, won four Olympic gold medals, ten World titles, and thirteen European titles in sabre fencing.
Russian Fencer S. Pozdniakova Wins Olympic Gold in Family Tradition
S. Pozdniakova, following in the footsteps of her father, won Olympic gold in sabre fencing on Monday in Chiba, Japan.
Cheung Ka Long, representing Hong Kong, won the country’s second gold medal in its history. Russia at the Tokyo Games is known by the name of its Olympic governing body, the Russian Olympic Committee.
S. Pozdniakova’s father, is a four-time Olympic gold winner in fencing and the current president of the ROC. Her finals opponent, Sofya Velikaya, is also an official in the ROC, making it an all-Russian affair. She is in charge of the team of athletes.
At 10-10, S. Pozdniakova finally broke through, her lead signalled by increasingly jubilant cheers. After she won, she got down on one knee and hugged Velikaya. In front of their teammates and fellow sportsmen, the two bowed to the crowd while holding hands.
Tokyo Olympics: S. Pozdniakova Wins Gold in Sabre, third Straight Finals Defeat for Velikaya
Russian fencer S. Pozdniakova won the women’s sabre individual event at the Makuhari Messe Hall on Monday. Defeating three-time Olympic winner and veteran Sofya Velikaya by a score of 15-11.
After losing in the finals in the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics, Velikaya has been itching for her first individual gold medal for a very long time.
Playing in her first Olympics, S. Pozdniakova gave Velikaya a run for her money. Velikaya jumped out to a commanding 7-4 lead, but Pozdniakova stormed back to win in straight sets (10-9 and 14-10).
S. Pozdniakova has overcome serious injury on two separate occasions (in 2013 and 2018) due to a ruptured ligament. Her father, S. Pozdniakova, was a famous sabre fencer and government officer.
Conclusion
S. Pozdniakova, whose father was a four-time Olympic champion, continued the family’s winning ways in the women’s sabre event at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
S. Pozdniakova made her first appearance on the international stage in 2017, and she now boasts two gold and one silver medal from the World Championships and the European Championships.
At the 2018 and 2019 European Championships, as well as the 2019 World Championships, she won gold with her team.
Until an Olympic gold came along, the most prized of those medals would have been an individual gold at the World Championships in Wuxi. As the daughter of two professional fencers, Pozdniakova was born with the sword in her hand.