Sofia Stanislavovna Pozdniakova (; formerly Sofia Lokhanova; born 17 June 1997) is a Russian right-handed

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, 2018 individual world champion, 2019 team world champion, 2021 individual

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

champion, and 2021 team Olympic champion. She is a

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...

athlete, and her clubs are the Russian Central Sports Army Club and the Novosibirsk Regional Fencing Sports School of Olympic Reserve. In January 2024, she was included in the list of proxies of presidential candidate

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

in the

2024 Russian presidential election Russian presidential elections, Presidential elections were held in Russia from 15 to 17 March 2024. It was the eighth presidential election in the country. The incumbent president Vladimir Putin won with 88% of the vote, the highest percentage ...

Early life

Pozdniakova was born in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

, where she was coached by Sergey Stepankin at the Fencing Center. Both of her parents were fencers: her father,

Stanislav Pozdnyakov Stanislav Alekseyevich Pozdnyakov ( rus, Станислав Алексеевич Поздняков, , stənʲɪˈslaf pəzʲnʲɪˈkof; born 27 September 1973) is a Russian former fencer, five-time Olympian (1992–2008), and five-time Olympic ...

, is a 4-time Olympic champion, 10-time world champion, and 13-time European champion in individual and team sabre, as well as the President of the

Russian Olympic Committee The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) is the National Olympic Committee representing Russia. Its current president during IOC suspension is Mikhail Degtyarev. The membership of ROC is currently suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC ...

since 2018. Her mother, Anastasia, is Master of Sports and secretary at the Fencing Federation of the

Novosibirsk Oblast Novosibirsk Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast) located in southwestern Siberia. Its administrative center, administrative and economic center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of N ...

. She decided to follow in her parents' footsteps at the age of 10, and abandoned swimming and

acrobatic gymnastics Acrobatic gymnastics is a competitive discipline of gymnastics where partnerships of gymnasts work together and perform routines consisting of acrobatic skills, dance and tumbling, set to music. The sport is governed by the International Feder ...

Fencing career

Pozdniakova made her international debut in 2017. is the 2018 individual women's sabre world champion, a 2019 team world champion, the 2021 individual

champion, and a 2021 team Olympic champion. She is a

athlete, and her clubs are the Russian Central Sports Army Club and the Novosibirsk Regional Fencing Sports School of Olympic Reserve.

Personal life

Pozdiakova studied Sport and Tourism at the Smolensk State Academy of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism, and as of 2018 she planned to become a sports journalist in the future. She moved to Moscow in 2015. Since 2016, she has competed for

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

. In September 2020, Pozdiakova married

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

-based two-time world individual junior sabre champion and Olympic fencer Konstantin Lokhanov. He emigrated to the United States in 2022 in the wake of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, however, strongly opposed to Russia's war. Lokhanov invited his wife to join him in America. She later said: "As for feelings, love, there was a moment when we did not understand where to go. I got up in the morning and thought: 'That’s it, I’m going to the States.' I was figuring out how I would communicate with my parents, how to explain all this to my dad... He would simply erase me from his life. Then the next day such thoughts: 'So, I’m staying here, my parents, my family - this is important to me.'" After many hours of telephone conversations in which she struggled with her decision, she declined and ultimately filed for divorce; they divorced in 2022. Her father called his daughter’s decision "the most important gift for Father’s Day." She said she was grateful to Lokhanov for many things, but that the two of them had gone in "different directions." In January 2024, the Russian state-owned new agency

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

reported that she was included in the list of proxies of presidential candidate

in the

. By law, self-nominated candidates such as Putin are allowed to have proxies who campaign in their favor. Proxies were expected to be people with high levels of public recognition who publicly supported Putin and Russia's war in Ukraine, and who were willing to spend time campaigning.

Medal record

Olympic Games

World Championship

European Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

References

External links

*
Instagram page of Sofiya Lokhanova
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pozdniakova, Sofia 1997 births 21st-century Russian military personnel Living people Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Russian female sabre fencers Fencers from Novosibirsk Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for Russia Olympic medalists in fencing Olympic gold medalists for the Russian Olympic Committee athletes 21st-century Russian sportswomen