Sofiya Aleksandrovna Velikaya ( rus, Софья Александровна Великая, , ˈsofʲjə vʲɪˈlʲikəjə; born 8 June 1985) is a Russian

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. Velikaya is a former European champion (four-time individual, six-time team), world champion (two-time individual, six-time team), and two-time Olympic team champion. She competed in the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Olympics, and is a three-time individual silver medalist. She dedicated her team's 2016 Olympic gold medal to those Russians who had been banned for doping. In January 2024, Velikaya 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 ...

Career

Velikaya 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 ...

captain. Her fencing clubs are the Russian Central Sports Army Club and MGFSO.

2008–15

She placed fourth in the 2008 Beijing Games, after losing to American

Sada Jacobson Sada Molly Jacobson (born February 14, 1983) is an American Olympic fencer. She is the 2008 Olympic Individual Sabre silver medalist in women's sabre (one of three Olympic medals), the 2004 Olympic Individual Sabre bronze medalist in women's ...

11–15 in the semifinals, and then losing to American Rebecca Ward 14–15 in the bronze medal match. On 12 October 2011, she became the world champion after beating two-time Olympic champion American

Mariel Zagunis Mariel Leigh Zagunis (born March 3, 1985) is an American sabre fencer. She is a two-time Olympic champion in the individual sabre (2004 and 2008) and the first American woman to win a gold medal in fencing at the Olympics (which happened in 200 ...

in the final. One year after, she took part in the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

in London, where she advanced to finals after defeating

Olga Kharlan Olha Hennadiivna Kharlan (; born 4 September 1990), also known as Olga Kharlan, is a Ukrainian Sabre (fencing), sabre Fencing, fencer. She is a four-time individual women’s world sabre champion, six-time Olympic medalist and the most decorated ...

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 ...

. Velikaya lost however to South Korea's Kim Ji-yeon, 9–15, and received silver. Velikaya then took a break in her career. She gave birth to a son, with Olympic wrestler Aleksey Mishin. She came back to international competition in March 2014 at the Antalya World Cup, where she was defeated in the second round by Hungary's

Anna Várhelyi Anna Várhelyi (born 4 May 1991) is a Hungarian sabre (fencing), sabre fencing, fencer, and a member of the Hungarian national team. Career Várhelyi took up fencing at the age of seven after a coach did a presentation at her school. She earne ...

. 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 Strasbourg, she was stopped in the second round again, this time by Italy's

Rossella Gregorio Rossella Gregorio (born 30 August 1990) is an Italian sabre fencer, bronze medallist in the 2014 European Fencing Championships. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in sabre. Career Gregorio discovered fencing thanks to family friends w ...

. In the team event, Russia met France in the final, and won the gold medal. 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 Kazan Velikaya made her way to the quarter-finals, where she met reigning World champion

of Ukraine. Velikaya was defeated 9–15. In the team event, Russia met France in the quarter-finals. Russia suffered a shock 41–45 defeat. In the 2014–15 season, Velikaya won the first event in Cancún after defeating France's

Charlotte Lembach Charlotte Lembach (born 1 April 1988) is a French right-handed sabre fencer, 2018 team world champion, two-time Olympian, and 2021 team Olympic silver medalist. Lembach competed in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olymp ...

in the final. She placed second with Russia in the team event. In Orléans, she put an end to the invincibility of the world no.1

, who had not taken part in the Cancún tournament. Velikaya proceeded to the final where she defeated Italy's

and earned her second gold medal in a row. In the team event, Russia saw off the United States in the final to win team gold. Velikaya reached again the final in the New York Grand Prix. She met Kharlan, who defeated her 15–12, dooming her the silver medal. The same scenario played out in Athens at the first World Cup event of 2015, Velikaya losing by a single hit that time. In the team event, Russia fenced Ukraine in the final. Russia lost ground in the penultimate relay, which ended on 33–40. Velikaya lost 2–5 the final relay against Kharlan and came away with a second silver medal. At the Ghent World Cup, she defeated Kharlan 15–3 in the semi-finals, then Zagunis 15–10 in the final, to take her third gold medal of the season.

2016–19

Velikaya qualified for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in Rio de Janeiro. In women's sabre in the table of 32 she defeated

Bogna Jóźwiak Bogna Jóźwiak (born 15 April 1983, in Poznań) is a Polish sabre fencer. Jozwiak represented Poland at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of Chin ...

from Poland. In the table of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, she prevailed over

Cécilia Berder Cécilia Berder (born 13 December 1989) is a French right-handed Sabre (fencing), sabre Fencing, fencer, 2018 team world champion, two-time Olympic Games, Olympian, and 2021 team Olympic silver medalist. Career Berder was born in 1989 in Morlaix, ...

and

Manon Brunet Manon Apithy-Brunet (born 7 February 1996) is a French right-handed sabre fencer, 2018 team world champion, two-time Olympian, 2021 team Olympic silver medalist, and 2021 individual Olympic bronze medalist. She won the individual event in 202 ...

of France, respectively. She eventually lost 14–15 to her teammate

Yana Egorian Yana Karapetovna Egorian (, ; also spelled Yegoryan, born 20 December 1993) is a Russian left-handed sabre fencer, six-time team European champion, two-time team world champion, 2016 individual Olympic champion, and 2016 team Olympic champion. ...

in the finals, winning her second consecutive silver medal at the Olympics in the individual women's sabre. Velikaya finally managed to claim Olympic gold a few days later in the team event. Russia defeated Mexico (45–31) in the quarter-finals, prevailed over the USA (45–42) in the semi-finals and met the Ukrainians in the final. Velikaya and her teammates came away with the gold medal, defeating Ukraine 45–30. Velikaya dedicated her squad's 2016 Olympic gold medal to those Russians who had been banned for doping. On 17 November 2016, Velikaya was elected the head of the Russian Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission.

2020–present

In April 2022, she said she would boycott the Olympics if she is not allowed to compete under the Russian flag and anthem. Velikaya was not among the Russian athletes reinstated by the FIE in May 2023, due to her ties with the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

. 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 Velikaya 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. In February 2024, Velikaya commented on three fellow Russian Olympic fencers who had escaped from Russia to the United States, Tokyo Olympics épée silver medalist Sergey Bida, his wife Violetta Bida, and sabre fencer Konstantin Lokhanov. She said: "This is absolutely their right, this is their life. I'm sitting at home."

Medal record

Olympic Games

World Championship

European Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

Honours and awards

* Russian

Order of Merit for the Fatherland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

1st class (13 August 2012) – for outstanding contribution to the development of physical culture and sports, high achievements at the 30th Olympic Games in London, United Kingdom. * Russian Athlete of the Year (2015) * Russian Order of Honour (25 August 2016) – for high achievements at the 31st Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the will to win and goal-oriented approach. * Russian Medal of Military Valour (2016) – 1st class.

Personal life

At the age of 15, Velikaya moved from the city of

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

to Moscow to train in fencing. Velikaya is married to 2004 Olympic champion wrestler Aleksey Mishin. They have two children together: a son named Oleg, born on 30 November 2013, and a daughter named Zoya, born in 2018.

References

External links

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archive
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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Velikaya, Sofiya 1985 births Living people 21st-century Russian military personnel Sportspeople from Almaty Russian female sabre fencers Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for Russia Olympic silver medalists for Russia Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Russia Summer World University Games medalists in fencing FISU World University Games gold medalists for Russia Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Russian Olympic Committee athletes Olympic silver medalists for the Russian Olympic Committee athletes Military World Games gold medalists for Russia Military World Games medalists in fencing 21st-century Russian sportswomen