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 medalist in individual and team sabre competitions who previously served as 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 ...

from 2018 to 2024. He is also a ten-time individual and team world champion, in 1994–2007. In 2022, he was removed from his position as

European Fencing Confederation The European Fencing Confederation (EFC; , CEE) is an international body created in 1991, charged with the promotion and development of fencing in Europe. It organises the European Fencing Championships annually at several levels: cadets (U17), jun ...

(EFC) president at an Extraordinary Congress following a unanimous

vote of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

in Pozdnyakov, due to his conduct 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 ...

Personal

His daughter Sofia Pozdniakova is also a fencer. She won the gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Women's Individual Sabre event. Her clubs are the Russian Central Sports Army Club and the Novosibirsk Regional Fencing Sports School of Olympic Reserve. Pozdnyakov's former son-in-law Konstantin Lokhanov won two world junior championships in sabre, and fenced in the

Tokyo Olympics Tokyo Olympics may refer to: * 1940 Summer Olympics, Games of the XII Olympiad, cancelled due to World War II * 1964 Summer Olympics, Games of the XVIII Olympiad * 2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an ...

in 2021. His son-in-law emigrated to the United States in the wake of the

, however, as he was against the war, and at the end of the day the couple divorced. Describing her decision to not accept her husband's request that she join him in the United States, Sofia 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.'" Pozdnyakov called his daughter’s decision "the most important gift for Father’s Day." After Lokhanov moved to the United States, his father-in-law – in what ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called an apparent swipe at Western frivolousness—referred to him obliquely as having "the sad fate of frightened lovers of raspberry frappé and yellow scooters." When asked about the remark, Lokhanov said he found it funny and unsurprising, even though he was not quite sure why it had been made, and then added with a smile: "I never had a scooter. I'm a big coffee lover, but not frappé."

Russian Army

Pozdnyakov has been a lieutenant colonel in 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 September 2022, Pozdnyakov urged Russian athletes to fight for Russia in Russia's war against Ukraine, saying the athletes should feel honored to do so. He said: "From the point of view of the

(ROC), we, being citizens of the country, consider service to the motherland is an honourable duty and an honourable duty of every citizen, including members of national teams." In April 2023, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pozdnyakov announced that the ROC had awarded CSKA (the Russian Central Army Sports Club, which is a department of the Russian Defence Ministry, and which is also Pozdnyakov's own club) with the ROC's Badge of Honor "For Merits in the Development of the Olympic Movement in Russia," and he attended a special presentation to present the award to Russian military officers.

Fencing career

Pozdnyakov was one of the most successful Olympic fencers of his time. At the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

in Barcelona, Spain, as a member of the Unified Team he received a team gold, though he lost the only bout he fenced, to Canadian

Jean-Paul Banos Jean-Paul Banos (born 27 January 1961) is a Canadian former fencer, who lives in Montreal, Canada. He competed in the individual and team sabre events at four consecutive Olympic Games between 1984 and 1996. At the 1992 Summer Olympics, he def ...

. In

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, now competing for

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, he again won gold in the team event, and added his third gold in the individual event. His third Olympics was in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, where he won his third consecutive team gold (his fourth gold overall), though in the individual competition he was knocked out with a defeat in his second bout. At the

2004 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 ...

, Pozdnyakov again competed as part of the Russian men's sabre team, which beat the USA 45-44 for the bronze medal. At his fifth and last Olympics in

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 ...

, Pozdnyakov lost his only bout in the individual competition. He then finished without a medal in team as well, as Russia was defeated in the semi-finals by the USA 45–44, as Pozdnyakov failed to win a bout against the Americans. The United States had been losing to Russia 40-35 going into the last bout, but in that match American

Keeth Smart Keeth Thomas Smart
''The New York Times'', 27 May 2007. (born July 29, 1978) is an American

Russia then also lost its bronze medal match. Pozdnyakov subsequently retired. In his career, Pozdnyakov won the

World Fencing Championships The World Fencing Championships is an annual competition in fencing organized by the International Fencing Federation. Contestants may participate in Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre events. History The FIE first organiz ...

individual event five times, and the team event five times. He also won three individual and two team silver medals, and two team bronze medals.

Sports administrative career

2008–14

In 2008 Pozdnyakov became head coach for the Russian national team in all weapons. In 2009 he was appointed first deputy president 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 ...

2015–19

In June 2016 he was elected President of the European Fencing Confederation (EFC). All Confederation Presidents are members of the Executive Committee of the

International Fencing Federation The International Fencing Federation (''Fédération Internationale d'Escrime'') commonly known by the acronym FIE, is the international Sport governing body, governing body of Olympic Games, Olympic fencing. Today, its head office is at th ...

(FIE). From 2016-18 Pozdnyakov was First Vice-President of the Russian Olympic Committee. In 2017 he received the "

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 * ...

” classe II for "the successful preparation of athletes who have achieved high sporting achievements at the XXXI Olympic Games in 2016." In February 2018, he managed the " Olympic Athletes from Russia" neutral delegation at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

PyeongChang Pyeongchang ( , ; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seo ...

, South Korea, after Russia's team was banned for doping. He was questioned by the press as to how it could be that he was managing the team, given that the Russian Olympic Committee had been suspended from the Winter Games, and he was the ROC's vice president. Pozdnyakov responded: "The IOC decision says that the Russian Olympic Committee is suspended. The president and the general secretary for the Russian Olympic Committee are not able to participate in these games. But (there's) nothing about the vice president or other staff members of the Russian Olympic Committee." Since he was elected in May 2018, as

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 ...

's choice, Pozdnyakov has served as the President of the

. He was re-elected in 2022. In December 2019, after the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...

(WADA) banned Russia from all major sporting events for four years for tampering with laboratory data on doping, Pozdnyakov opined that the sanctions were inappropriate and excessive. WADA imposed the sanctions after its executive committee concluded that Russia had planted fake evidence, and deleted files linked to positive

doping test A drug test (also often toxicology screen or tox screen) is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs o ...

s in laboratory data that could have helped identify drug cheats.

2020–present

In June 2022, he was removed from his position as

(EFC) President at an Extraordinary Congress following a unanimous

in Pozdnyakov that March, due to his xenophobic conduct in the wake of the

which had commenced in late February 2022. In February 2023, Vadym Gutzeit, Ukraine's Youth and Sport Minister as well as the president of the Ukrainian Fencing Federation (and former Olympic champion sabre fencer) and the President of the

National Olympic Committee of Ukraine National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, who had competed with Pozdnyakov when they were teammates from Russia and Ukraine on the post-Soviet Unified Team at the 1992 Olympics, said he had only contempt for Pozdnyakov. Gutzeit blames Pozdnyakov for vocally supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Gutzeit said: "I don't want to talk to him. I don't want to know him at all. He is my enemy, who supports this war, who considers it an honor for athletes to take part in the war against Ukrainians, to kill Ukrainians. Therefore, for today and forever, this person does not exist for me.” In April 2023, Pozdnyakov expressed surprise that there was talk of Russian athletes losing motivation during their continued ineligibility to compete in major international events, as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In July 2023, a Russian effort to have Ukrainian three-time world sabre champion

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

black-carded at the

2023 World Fencing Championships The 2023 World Fencing Championships were held from 22 to 30 July 2023 in Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-mo ...

backfired dramatically. Kharlan had offered her defeated Russian opponent a tapping of blades at the end of their bout, a pandemic substitute for handshakes, rather than a handshake. Kharlan was briefly black-carded by the FIE, an hour after the Russian's protest was lodged, but upon the event being reviewed by the IOC its president granted Kharlan an automatic berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics, expressed empathy for what she had gone through, and had the FIE reverse itself. Pozdnyakov railed against what he called the "duplicity" of the IOC, and accused it of picking a sides in a political conflict. In December 2023, Pozdnyakov directly threatened any Russian athlete who may choose to participate as a "

neutral Neutral or neutrality may refer to: Mathematics and natural science Biology * Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity Chemistry and physics * Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction in ...

" at the 2024 Olympics, saying: "As the head of the ROC, I voice a clear position: ... We live in a free state... But... we strongly recommend that you thoroughly understand ... the extent and consequences of the personal responsibility assumed." In June 2024, top Russian Olympic official and

's lieutenant

Dmitry Chernyshenko Dmitry Nikolayevich Chernyshenko (; born 20 September 1968) is a Russian businessman and politician serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Russia for Tourism, Sport, Culture and Communications since 2020. Previously, he was the President of the So ...

stated that Russian athletes would not violate Russian law by competing in Paris as neutrals and encouraged them to participate. Pozdnyakov resigned as head of the ROC on 15 October 2024, citing "timely" reasons such as "geopolitical changes".

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pozdnyakov, Stanislav 1973 births Living people Fencers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics FISU World University Games gold medalists for Russia Olympic fencers for the Unified Team Olympic fencers for Russia Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team Olympic gold medalists for Russia Olympic bronze medalists for Russia Fencers from Novosibirsk Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1995 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade Presidents of the Russian Olympic Committee Russian male sabre fencers Summer World University Games medalists in fencing 21st-century Russian sportsmen 21st-century Russian military personnel 20th-century Russian sportsmen