Viktor Alexandrovich Sidyak (russian: Ви́ктор Алекса́ндрович Сидя́к; born 24 November 1943) is a Russian former left-handed

sabre fencer The sabre (US English: ''saber'', both pronounced ) is one of the three disciplines of modern fencing. The sabre weapon is for thrusting and cutting with both the cutting edge and the back of the blade (unlike other modern fencing weapons, the ...

, a pupil of Mark Rakita and

David Tyshler David (also "Davyd") Abramovich Tyshler (russian: Давид Абрамович Тышлер; 13 June 1927 – 7 June 2014) was a Russian sabreur, part of the first generation of internationally successful Soviet fencers (Olympic bronze medalist ...

. He was known for his aggressive style and the "one-and-a-half tempo attack".

Biography

Sidyak was born in Anzhero-Sudzhensk in Kemerovo Oblast, but spent most of his childhood in Donetsk. He started fencing at age fifteen. In the 1960s, while training in Lvov, he represented Ukraine on the internal Soviet circuit. He was part of the winning team at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

in Mexico City. In 1970, he moved to Minsk and joined the Belarusian fencing lobby which had produced

Elena Belova Elena Dmitriyevna Novikova-Belova (Russian: Елена Дмитриевна Новикова-Белова, née ''Novikova'', born 28 July 1947) is a retired Russian foil fencer. She competed at the 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980 Olympics in the in ...

Alexandr Romankov Alexandr Anatolyevich Romankov ( be, Аляксандр Анатольевіч Раманькоў, tr. ; russian: Александр Анатольевич Романьков, tr. ) is a former Belarusian fencer from the former Soviet Union, ...

, and

Nikolai Alyokhin Nikolai or Nikolay is an East Slavic variant of the masculine name Nicholas. It may refer to: People Royalty * Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), or Nikolay I, Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855 * Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918), or Niko ...

.По золоту с каждых Игр
. peoples.ru At the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

in Munich, Sidyak became the first Soviet sabreur to win individual gold. At the same Olympics, he fenced in the team final with his right eye bandaged over after having a fragment of the Italian Michele Maffei's blade removed from his eye the previous day. Besides Sidyak, the team consisted of

Vladimir Nazlymov Vladimir Nazlymov (born November 1, 1945) (russian: Владимир Аливерович Назлымов) (Daghestan, USSR) - Sabre fencer and coach for USSR and later United States, to which he moved in 1991. Born in Makhachkala, Daghestan. ...

, Eduard Vinokurov, and Viktor Bazhenov. The Soviet and Italian teams met again in the finals, Italy taking gold, and USSR silver. In 1994, Maffei's 1972 teammate

Mario Aldo Montano Mario Aldo Montano (born 1 May 1948) is an Italian fencer. He won a gold and two silver medals in the team sabre at three Olympic Games. He is the son of fencer Aldo Montano who competed for Italy at the 1936 and 1948 Summer Olympics. His son ...

invited Sidyak to coach the young fencers, including his own son, at his club in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

. At the world championships Sidyak's won an individual title in 1969 and team titles in 1969–1971, 1974, 1975 and 1979. At present, Sidyak is the chairman of the professional boxing association of Belarus.

References

External links

Biography from the Russian Fencing Federation (RUSSIAN)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidyak, Viktor 1943 births Living people People from Anzhero-Sudzhensk Soviet male sabre fencers Russian male sabre fencers Ukrainian male sabre fencers Olympic fencers of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in fencing Fencers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Armed Forces sports society athletes Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in fencing Universiade gold medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1970 Summer Universiade Sportspeople from Kemerovo Oblast

Biography

See also

References

External links