Fencing-Russian Egorian wins gold at world championships as neutral athlete
Egorian, a gold medallist in both the individual and team sabre events at the Rio Olympics, claimed a 15-11 victory over Poland's Zuzanna Cieslar in the final in Tbilisi.
Russian Kirill Borodachev won silver in the men's individual foil earlier in the competition, also as a neutral athlete.
"I'm very happy. Today was very difficult, especially when I fenced with Lisa Pusztai (round of 64)," Egorian said.
"I spoke with my coach, and he understood what I didn't do right, and after that I fenced better. Now I want to win the (next) Olympic Games."
The decision by the sport's global governing body (FIE) to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals at the event sparked a backlash from Ukraine's fencing federation, which said it was considering legal action over the inclusion of athletes with Russian military ranks.
More than 440 fencers from 40 countries signed an open letter urging the FIE to reinstate rigorous background checks on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing under neutral status.
The FIE has said its decision "underscores the Federation's commitment to peace, fairness, and the global unity of sport".
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Swimming-Canada's McIntosh hungry for more after world championship success
Swimming - World Aquatics Championships - Women's 800m Freestyle Final - World Aquatics Championships Arena, Singapore - August 2, 2025 Canada's Summer McIntosh in action REUTERS/Edgar Su (Reuters) -Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh fell just short in her quest to match Michael Phelps's feat of winning five individual gold medals at a single world championships but that has given her the motivation to improve even more. McIntosh won the 400 metres individual medley (IM) title on the final day of the world championships in Singapore on Sunday, adding to her 200 IM, 200 butterfly and 400 freestyle golds that saw her named the best female swimmer of the meeting. The three-times Olympic champion's only failure to stand atop the podium in an individual event came in the 800 freestyle, in which she finished with bronze as American great Katie Ledecky took the victory. "I think it was very obvious that my goal was five golds. Time just didn't matter. I just wanted to get my hand on the wall the first five times," McIntosh said of her campaign. "I fell short of that but I think it's just going to keep me hungry and push, and keep moving forward. "I think this meet, I learned more than any other meet ever. And that says a lot. The thing I'm learning from the most is the bronze and 800 freestyle. And that's going to keep me hungry moving into next season and into LA (Los Angeles Olympics)." McIntosh has plenty to be proud of, however, as she became just the third swimmer to win five individual medals at a world championships after Phelps and Swede Sarah Sjostrom. The 18-year-old, who also swam for Canada in the 4x100 medley relay on Sunday, said she had never had such a challenging programme, adding: "I've never done a double before, also doing five individual events. "I've never done that before, let alone one of them being the 800. My sleep has never been this good. I've never been a good sleeper during meets. I've been able to relax and have amazing sleep. "Overall, happy with my meet but always want more. I'm just going to celebrate my wins and kind of take a reset heading into next season. The negatives, I'm going to apply to next season." (Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Motor racing-Norris cuts Piastri's lead with Hungary win
Formula One F1 - Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary - August 3, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates after winning the Hungarian Grand Prix REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Swimming-Final day haul lifts Russia's neutral athletes to fifth at world championships
Swimming - World Aquatics Championships - Men 50m Backstroke Final - World Aquatics Championships Arena, Singapore - August 3, 2025 Gold medallist Neutral Athletes B's Kliment Kolesnikov celebrates on the podium REUTERS/Hollie Adams (Reuters) -Kliment Kolesnikov's gold in the men's 50m backstroke and a victory in the men's 4x100 medley relay on Sunday saw Russia's neutral athletes take fifth place in the medals tally on their return to the swimming world championships in Singapore. The Russian Olympic Committee was banned for violating the Olympic Charter in relation to Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but sports such as swimming have gradually welcomed more Russians back into the fold as neutrals. Some Russian athletes also competed as neutrals at last year's Paris Olympics, with California-based Evgenii Somov the only swimmer to do so. Kolesnikov, the world record holder in the 50 backstroke, was competing in his first long course world championships since the 2019 edition held in Gwangju, South Korea. No Russian athletes competed at last year's world championships in Doha. "It's been a tough (time) since my first world championships," Kolesnikov said. The 25-year-old stormed to the 50 backstroke title ahead of compatriot Pavel Samusenko and South African Pieter Coetze with a time of 23.68, just 0.13 off his world record. He was annoyed at not bettering the record, saying: "I was expecting my timing 23.9, or 23.8, and then you realise that you did 23.68 or something? "I was like 'come on, 12 thousandths of a second to my personal best', and it was like why couldn't I go faster?" Russian swimmers then combined to win a shock gold in the men's 4x100 medley in the penultimate event of the championships, giving the world record (3:26.78) a huge shake with a time of 3:26.93. "This win particularly means a step forward towards our goal, towards 2028 (Los Angeles Olympics) and this is another milestone," swimmer Andrei Minakov said. "We're happy to win. Unfortunately we missed the world record by just a tiny bit but, you know, I'm happy with our group and where we're at. I'm sure that we'll grow." Earlier this week, Dmitry Mazepin, President of the Russian Aquatic Sports Federation and Vice President of the ROC, told Reuters he hoped that Russian swimmers' participation in the world championships would pave the way towards ending the country's sporting neutrality. (Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
