Sergey Aleksandrovich Sharikov (, 18 June 1974 – 6 June 2015), also known as Serguei/Sergei Charikov, was a

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Olympic champion

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

fencer. In the Olympics he won two

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

s, a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

, and a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

Early life

Sharikov was born in Moscow, Russia, and was Jewish.

Fencing career

One of the best sabre fencers in the world, Sharikov began fencing at the age of 12. He was a protege of sabre fencer David Tyshler. Sharikov was on the Russian national fencing team from 1994 to 2005.

World University Games

At the

1997 Summer Universiade The 1997 Summer Universiade, also known as the XIX Summer Universiade, took place in the island of Sicily, Italy. The United States topped the medal table. Venues Catania * Stadio Angelo Massimino — closing ceremonies and athletics * Teatro ...

and

1999 Summer Universiade The 1999 Summer Universiade, also known as the XX Summer Universiade, took place in Palma, Majorca, Palma de Mallorca, Spain from 3 July to 13 July. Venues * Estadi Son Moix — athletics, football (finals), ceremonies * Palau Municipal d'Espor ...

, he won bronze medals at the World University Games in sabre. In 2001, while ranked second in the world in sabre, he won the 21st World University Games sabre championship and was part of the Russian team that won the team gold (beating Hungary, 45–37).

European Championships

He won the 2000 European Fencing Championships, and came in second at the 2002 European Fencing Championships, and third at the 2004 European Fencing Championships.">"Sergey Sharikov Bio, Stats, and Results" , Olympics at Sports-Reference.com
/ref> His team won the gold medal in 2000–02 and 2004.

World Championships and World Cup

In 1994, he won an individual

at the Junior World Fencing Championships. In 1995, he won a team silver medal at the

1995 World Fencing Championships The 1995 World Fencing Championships were held from 18 July to 23 July 1995 in The Hague, Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas terri ...

, and an individual silver medal at the

Fencing World Cup The Fencing World Cup is an international fencing competition held by the International Fencing Federation. In each weapon (Men's and Women's Épée, Sabre and Foil), three Grand Prix, five World Cup events and several satellite events are conte ...

. He placed third in the individual sabre events at the 1998 World Fencing Championships and 2000 World Fencing Championships, and third in the team sabre event at the

1999 World Fencing Championships The 1999 World Fencing Championships were held in Seoul, South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea a ...

. His team won the gold medal in 2001–03.

Olympics

He competed in three Olympiads for Russia, winning 4 medals (through 2011, that was the most medals won by any fencer for Russia). At the 1996 Atlanta Games, ranked as world # 4, he competed in both the individual and team events. In the team sabre competition, Sharikov and the Russians defeated Hungary in the final (45–25) to win the gold medal. In the individual competition, Sharikov easily advanced to the final before losing 15–12 to teammate Stanislav Pozdnyakov; he was awarded the

. Sharikov returned to the Olympics at the

2000 Sydney Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

and helped lead the Russian team to its second consecutive gold medal in the team sabre event; they easily defeated France in the final, 45–32. In the individual sabre, Sharikov entered the Olympics as the # 3 seed (he was also ranked # 3 in the world), but was eliminated in the third round of the competition, 15–14. Sharikov was seeded fourth in the individual sabre event in the 2004 Athens Games. The Russian lost a close match, 13–15 in the quarterfinal, to Italian Aldo Montano, who went on to win the gold. In the team event, Russia lost its semifinal encounter with Italy 42–45, but Russia won the bronze medal match.

Maccabiah Games

Sharikov competed for the Russian team at the

2001 Maccabiah Games The 16th Maccabiah Games (), the Opening Ceremony was held in Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium, while the re-building process of the Maccabiah bridge collapse, collapsed bridge and investigations into the collapse continued. The 16th Maccabiah attracted ...

in Israel. He won the

in the individual sabre over fellow Olympian, Vadim Gutzeit of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He also competed in the

2005 Maccabiah Games The 17th Maccabiah Games (), held in Israel, were an incarnation of the 'Jewish Olympics.' They attracted the largest attendance of any Maccabiah Games, including more than 900 representatives from the United States, almost 500 from Australia, and ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, this time winning the silver medal as Vadim Gutzeit beat him 15–13 for the gold medal.

Coaching and federation career

Sharikov coached the Russia fencing team at the

. After finishing his competitive career, Sharikov was a member of the executive committee of the

Russian Fencing Federation The Russian Fencing Federation (RFF; is the governing body for the sport of fencing (sport), fencing in Russia. It was created in 1992. FFR was formerly a member of the European Fencing Confederation, but its membership was suspended in 2023. It ...

, and in 2009 he became head coach of the Russian national sabre reserve team.

Hall of Fame

Sharikov was inducted into the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (IJSHOF) () is the international hall of fame for Jewish athletes and special contributors to the world of sport. The purpose of the IJSHOF is to honor Jewish individuals, worldwide, who have accompli ...

in 2003 and 2005.

Death

Sharikov died in the evening of 6 June 2015 in an automobile accident at the age of 40. While on vacation, he was driving an

all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike or quad (if it has four wheels), as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, has a seat ...

on the

Kaluga Kaluga (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census. Kaluga's most famous residen ...

Tarusa Tarusa () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Tarussky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Oka River, northeast of Kaluga, the administrative center of the oblast. ...

Serpukhov Serpukhov ( rus, Серпухов, p=ˈsʲerpʊxəf) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Oka River, Oka and the Nara (Oka), Nara Rivers, 99 kilometers (62 miles) south fro ...

highway south-west of Moscow as a part of a group of ATV drivers when he lost control of his vehicle and it changed into the opposite traffic lane and collided head-on with a car driving in the opposite direction. The other car's driver was hospitalized. Sharikov was rushed to the

district central hospital, but died there from his injuries.