Bohdan Serhiyovych Nikishyn (; born 29 May 1980) is a Ukrainian right-handed

épée The (, ; ), also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains a ...

fencer, 2015 team world champion, and three-time Olympian. Nikishyn competed in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the

2008 Beijing Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

, and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Nikishyn won a bronze medal in the team men's épée event at the

2006 World Fencing Championships The 2006 World Fencing Championships were held at the Oval Lingotto in Turin, Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, ...

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, a silver medal in the team men's épée event at the

2013 World Fencing Championships The 2013 World Fencing Championships were held at Budapest, Hungary from 5–12 August. Schedule Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's events Participating nations 827 fencers from 101 countries competed. * (1) * (13) * ...

Budapest, Hungary Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, a gold medal in the team men's épée event at the 2015 World Fencing Championships in

Moscow, Russia Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, a bronze medal in the individual men's épée event at the 2018 World Fencing Championships in Wuxi, China, and a silver medal in the team men's épée event at the 2019 World Fencing Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Nikishyn won a bronze medal in the individual men's épée event at the 2016 European Fencing Championships in Toruń, Poland, and a bronze medal in the individual men's épée event at the

2018 European Fencing Championships The 2018 European Fencing Championships was held in Novi Sad, Serbia from 16 to 21 June 2018 at the SPC Vojvodina. Schedule Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table Results Men Foil individual Épée individual Sa ...

in Novi Sad, Serbia. Between 2006 and 2019, Nikishyn won two FIE Men's Épée Grand Prix titles, in addition to two silver medals and four bronze medals. Between 2008 and 2020, Nikishyn won four FIE Men's Épée World Cup titles, in addition to four silver medals and three bronze medals.

Career

Nikishyn took up fencing at the age of ten after he came by chance to a fencing training. He won a team silver medal at the 1998 Junior World Championships in Keszthely and joined the senior national team for the 2001 World Championships in Nîmes. He took part in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, but was eliminated in the

preliminary round A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

by Romania's Alexandru Nyisztor. In the team event Ukraine was defeated in the first round by Hungary and finished 5th after the placement rounds. Nikishyn was excluded from the national team in the 2004–05 season, but he was reinstated the next season. He achieved his first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

podium with a bronze medal in the Doha Grand Prix. At the 2006 World Championships in Turin he was eliminated in the qualifications phase of the individual event. In the team event Nikishyn, Dmytro Karyuchenko, Maksym Khvorost and Dmytro Chumak were defeated in the semi-finals, then overcame Hungary to earn Ukraine's first world medal in team épée. At his second Olympics, Beijing 2008, Nikishyn was stopped in the second round by Switzerland's Michael Kauter. In the team event Ukraine was defeated in the first round by Poland and finished 7th. At the 2013 World Championships in Budapest Nikishyn lost in the first round to Spain's José Luis Abajo. In the team event Ukraine defeated Russia in the round of 16. After that they defeated the Czech Republic and France to meet Hungary in the final. Hungary won scoring 42–38 and Ukraine took a silver medal, the best result in Ukrainian history for men's team épée. Medal ceremony 2015 WCh EMS-EQ t200546

In the 2012–13 season Nikishyn won the Heidenheim Grand Prix and earned a silver medal in the Berne Grand Prix, which allowed him to enter the Top 10 for the first time in his career. In the next season he reached the final in the Doha Grand Prix, where he was defeated by Korea's Park Sang-young, but then he won the Heidenheim Grand Prix and the Buenos Aires Grand Prix. He made his way to the

quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the 2014 World Championships in Kazan, where he lost to Korea's Park Kyoung-doo. He finished the season as No.2 in world rankings. The 2014–15 season was more difficult with only a quarter-finals finish at the Heidenheimer Pokal. At the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in Montreux he lost in the round of 16 to France's Ronan Gustin. The Ukrainian team lost to world No.1 France in the semifinals, then to hosts Switzerland and finished fourth. At the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in Moscow, Nikishyn was eliminated again in the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

, losing to the eventual world champion Géza Imre. In the team event, Ukraine defeated Cuba, then Spain. They had a tight 34–33 victory over hosts Russia in the quarter-finals, then prevailed in the semi-final against Italy after a semi-final was marked by several non-combativity calls, which finished on the low score of 15–11. Passivity was also used on both sides in the final against South Korea. Nikishyn entered the match last when the score was 11–7 and, defending against Jung Seung-hwa's attacks, finished on 34–24, allowing Ukraine to win their first world title in men's fencing. In 2016 he won the bronze medal at the European Championships in the team and in the individual championships. In personal Bogdan defeated such rivals as: Bartosz Pisetsky (15:6), Gabor Boczko (10:9),

Paolo Pizzo Paolo Pizzo (born 4 April 1983) is an Italian right-handed épée fencer, two-time individual world champion, two-time Olympian, and 2016 team Olympic silver medalist. Biography In 1996, when Paolo Pizzo was 13, he was diagnosed with head canc ...

(15:6) and Géza Imre (15:11). Nikishin lost in the semifinals to the future winner - Yannick Borel (8:15).

Medal Record

World Championship

European Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

Personal life

Nikishyn was educated at the Prydniprovska State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture in Dnipropetrovsk. He is married and has two children: Anastasia and Maksym.

References

External links

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Profile
at the European Fencing Confederation {{DEFAULTSORT:Nikishyn, Bohdan 1980 births Living people Ukrainian male épée fencers Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for Ukraine Sportspeople from Dnipro European Games competitors for Ukraine Fencers at the 2015 European Games World Fencing Championships medalists Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century Ukrainian sportsmen