How the ban was lifted from fencing in Russia: they were admitted to international fights

Fencing in Russia is a heritage of world sport. At the last two Olympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, our fencers won the medal standings by a wide margin. In 2016, they won seven awards, four of them gold, in 2021 there were eight, three gold.

But the merits, pride and beauty of world sport are one thing, and our fencers had everything, like almost all federations after the recommendations of the IOC on the removal of Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions “due to security concerns.” The suspension also took place with the loss of our FIE president: Alisher Usmanov, having fallen under sanctions, suspended his duties as president of the international federation (he had been in this post since 2008). The post of president was temporarily taken by the secretary general of the federation, the Greek Emmanuel Katsiadakis.

All these years, the head coach of our teams was Ilgar Mammadov, who took responsibility for the national team after the unsuccessful Olympic Games in London for fencing: three medals, not a single gold medal. With Mammadov, in addition to gold medals at the Games, the team won medals at five world championships in two Olympic cycles.

And for those who are far from the history of fencing, this is the same coach who promised to shave his head in Rio de Janeiro if the team wins at least two gold medals. And shaved. (Our fencers won four golds, a silver and two bronzes.) Or rather, he was shaved – Olympic champions Yana Yegoryan and Timur Safin did it.

By the way, that was not the first time for Mamedov. As a foil fencer, he won Olympic gold twice: in Seoul 1988 and Atlanta 1996. Before Atlanta, he promised to go bald rapidly if he won the gold medal. And he also kept his promise.

Now Ilgar Mammadov, who is also the president of the national federation, is both at the forefront of attacks and in the defense of our fencing. It was he who, knowing the situation from the inside, was not afraid at the March congress to assess the hopes for a return as high. And he considered the extraordinary congress to be a ray of light in the dark realm, which left Russian athletes a chance to participate in the Olympic Games.

Until return

At the previous congress in November, which extended the suspension of Russian athletes from international competitions just until March 2023, the vote took place with exactly this message: suspension followed by an extraordinary congress in March.

Of course, it would be naive to think that all the participants of that congress, worrying about the fate of fencing, which is losing competition and the strongest athletes with the absence of Russia, were unanimously looking for ways to return to us, it would be naive. Passions raged. Until now, probably, all the participants of the congress remember how a Swede ran out to the microphone, who urged not to vote for the temporary powers of Katsiadakis, thereby denying Usmanov a further opportunity to lead the FIE.

And then he also tried to disrupt the voting in the elections of Saudi Arabia as the venue for the world championship among juniors and cadets. When the audience began to resent such a violent activity of the Swede, he repeated Khrushchev’s actions: he took off his shoe and began to knock on the microphone. After that, our representative even began his speech with a request to Congress delegates: to add mandatory tests for mental sanity to mandatory tests for COVID.

But, if this call was met with laughter, then the main part of Russia’s speech was that no one ever, for example, called for the suspension of American athletes for what was happening in the world, and the non-participation of our athletes will not help the Ukrainians and their federation in any way, and all people of sports do one thing – they were then sent into space. As well as at any congress of any sport.

And it was the March extraordinary congress that could either turn the situation around or leave it again in its previous state. March unfolded.

The secret has been revealed

This congress has gathered online. There were three votings: for admission in individual competitions, in team competitions and for the admission of officials, coaches and medical personnel. One federation, one vote. The voting was secret.

Interestingly, even in these polls, the numbers were slightly different. 89 members were in favor of admission to individual starts, 46 were against. The command wanted to return 85 members, 51 – against. The third vote, with a difference of one vote, repeated the first (88 and 48).

Our athletes are eligible “under conditions of neutrality and individual eligibility”. What this means and how it will be prescribed is not yet known. Now we have to wait again: already the IOC meeting, which will be held at the end of March. All federations are waiting for him.

International qualifying starts for fencers begin in April and continue throughout the year. There are 10 competitions in total: five stages of the World Cup, three Grand Prix, European and World Championships. The European Championship will be held in June in Switzerland, the July World Championship in Italy.

At the congress, there was also a discussion that if one of the rivals refuses to go on the track with the Russians, he will be disqualified. It is clear that Ukraine is already raging, they are “deeply shocked and outraged” by the decision on admission. By the way, the President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, Vadim Gutzeit, is an Olympic champion in fencing. But to declare a boycott and to follow the words are different actions. Since the competitions are qualifying for the Games, many believe that boycotts are unlikely to follow.

Not everything for our athletes, however, is simple and without boycotts. Getting to the start is also an equation with many unknowns. For example, the first qualifying start of the women’s foil was in Poland. Our federation is going to submit documents for visas to the embassy, ​​but what will be the result? Mammadov says: we will participate wherever we get.

The strongest fencing countries are in Europe. Today, the Russians have a zero rating in all types of weapons, that is, we are starting from the bottom. But the position and attitude of the FFR is simple: it is better to come from nowhere than not to reach at all. And now, after the official permission to perform, the words of the two-time Olympic champion Sophia Velikaya can be repeated by each athlete of the national team: “That’s it, I went to train!”.

The Olympic rating in fencing will be formed based on the results of the performance at the World Championships, continental championships and World Cup stages until April 1, 2024. And in the second half of April next year, already at the finish line before the Games, the continental qualifying competitions will be held, after which the final composition of the fencing tournament of the Olympics in Paris will be formed.

However, the IOC recalls that we know the information about the decision of the International Fencing Federation, we continue to consult with the federations. And Russia’s participation in the Paris 2024 Olympics “is not part of the discussions that are focused on the upcoming international competitions.”