ACOG - News - IBM

(21 July 1996; Day 2)

Friends and Partners Shine on Sabre Medal Stand

Friends and training partners in their native Russia, Stanislav POZDNYAKOV and Sergey SHARIKOV found themselves together again half way around the globe in a most unusual place Sunday -- across the piste from one another with a gold medal at the Centennial Olympic Games hanging in the balance. As they took their positions, both knew that one would become the first Russian individual sabre gold medalist in 16 years.

A member of the gold-medal-winning Unified Team in sabre at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, POZDNYAKOV had expected to be here. The winner of 12 World Cup tournaments since 1994, he entered the competition ranked second in the world behind still another countryman, Grigoriv KIRIYENKO, who had been upset in the preliminaries. His focus has been squarely on these Games for several years.

"I was consistently focused on this title," POZDNYAKOV said. "All the titles that I have won before were preparatory to the Olympics."

SHARIKOV's rise through the ranks has been more recent. After a 63rd-place showing in the 1993 World Championships, he has been a finalist in nine World Cup events in the last three years. A first-time Olympian and nine months POZDNYAKOV's junior, he faced both the challenge and opportunity of a lifetime.

Both men were fully conscious of their opponent's strengths and weaknesses, and diligently searched for the moment to attack which makes sabre fencing distinct from the sport's other disciplines. Their familiarity with one another was both an advantage and a liability.

"We practice together so we know all our drawbacks and our good sides," POZDNYAKOV explained. "We were struggling to find the other's weakness so we could exploit it."

Back and forth the two men probed and attacked. POZDNYAKOV took the early lead 5-1 and appeared in command, but SHARIKOV kept within striking distance. Finally, with POZDNYAKOV leading 14-12, SHARIKOV lunged at his counterpart but missed and POZDNYAKOV made the golden touch.

At just 22, POZDNYAKOV is a youthful champion in a sport which places a premium on savvy and experience. Yet he refused to speculate on his future in the sport beyond Atlanta.

"The number one goal is to win the team competition," he said. "Then I'll see."

France's 21-year-old Damien TOURA joined the youth movement by beating Hungarian Josef NAVARETTE 15-7 for the bronze medal.

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by MARK VINSON


Return to Olympic News Menu

Select another day:
Pre July 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 August 1 2 3 4 Post


Olympic Factoid
More tickets were sold to the competitions of the 1996 Games than to any other Olympic Games or sports event in history. The 8.6 million ticket sales figures topped sales to the Los Angeles and Barcelona Games combined.