Boris Grigoryevich Onishchenko (Russian and uk, Борис Григорьевич Онищенко, links=no, ; also transliterated as Onyshchenko, Onishenko, Onischenko; born 19 September 1937) is a former
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
modern pentathlete
The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...
who competed at the
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Januar ...
,
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
and
1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
.
He was a member of the Soviet gold medal team in
the 1972 Olympics. From 1967 to 1974, he competed in six
World Modern Pentathlon Championships
The UIPM Senior World Championships is an annual global international competition in modern pentathlon. It was first held in 1949 under the organization of the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM).
Editions
Note: The years in which champ ...
, winning gold five times as an individual or as part of the Soviet squad. He is best known for his disqualification from the
1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
and subsequent lifetime ban for cheating by means of an illegally modified épée.
Life and career
Onishchenko was born in 1937 in a village of
Khorol Raion
Khorol Raion ( uk, Хорольський район) was a raion (district) in Poltava Oblast in central Ukraine. The raion's administrative center was the town of Khorol. The raion was abolished and its territory was merged into Lubny Raion o ...
,
Poltava Oblast
Poltava Oblast ( uk, Полта́вська о́бласть, translit=Poltavska oblast; also referred to as Poltavshchyna – uk, Полта́вщина, literally 'Poltava Country') is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine. The administrative ...
,
Ukrainian S.S.R. He was a strong swimmer early on and taught at the
Dynamo Sports Club
Dynamo, also Dinamo, (; , Belarusian: Дынама, ka, დინამო) was a sports and fitness society created in 1923 in the Soviet Union. The society was an association of multi-sport clubs whose members were drawn from the NKVD and, a ...
.
His first world competition was at the
1967 World Modern Pentathlon Championships where he competed with
Stasys Šaparnis
Stasys Šaparnis (born 2 October 1939) is a former Lithuanian modern pentathlete and Olympic medalist. He competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games ...
and
Edvard Sdobnikov
Edvard is a form of Edward and may refer to:
* Edvard Askeland (born 1954), Norwegian jazz musician
* Edvard Befring (born 1936), Norwegian educationalist
* Edvard Beneš (1884–1948), Czech politician
* Edvard Christian Danielsen (1888–1964 ...
. The Soviet team won a bronze medal at the event. The following year, he took a silver medal at the
1968 Mexico City Olympics with Šaparnis and
Pavel Lednyov
Pavel Serafimovich Lednyov (russian: Павел Серафимович Леднёв; 25 March 1943, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia – 23 November 2010, Moscow, Russia) was a Russian modern pentathlete and Olympic Champion. He won a total of seven ...
. He went on to win gold five times at the world championships, one as an individual. In 1971, he was awarded the
Merited Master of Sports and in 1972, he received the
Order of the Red Banner of Labour
The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...
.
In the
1972 Olympics in Munich, he competed with the Soviet team of Lednyov and
Vladimir Shmelyov
Vladimir Konstantinovich Shmelyov (31 August 1946 – 14 June 2023) was a Soviet modern pentathlete and Olympic Champion. He competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, where he won a gold medal in the team competition (together with Boris Oni ...
that captured the gold. Onishchenko himself took an individual silver medal in the event, finishing behind
András Balczó
András Balczó (born 16 August 1938) is a retired Hungarian modern pentathlete. He competed at the 1960, 1968 and 1972 Olympics in the individual and team events and won three gold and two silver medal; he missed only one medal, finishing fourt ...
of Hungary.
1976 Olympics
In 1976, the 38-year old Onishchenko entered the Olympics as a three-time world champion but never having won the gold as an individual. Onishchenko was a top fencer and had won gold in the
1974 World Modern Pentathlon Championships in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. Although he was rated fourth, which would relegate him to being a reserve, Onishchenko won a preliminary tournament in the Soviet Union that pushed him onto the team.
After the first event of the pentathlon, the Soviet team found itself in fourth place, trailing closely behind
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
.
Fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...
was the next event: a one-touch
épée
The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains ...
tournament. During Onishchenko's bout with British team captain
Jim Fox, the British team protested that Onishchenko's weapon had gone off without actually hitting anything.
In fact, Onishchenko's épée was in the air away from Fox when the hit was registered.
Fox requested an examination of Onishchenko's weapon, which was found to be faulty, resulting in points being deducted from Onishchenko's score. However, the British team filed an official protest and demanded further examination.
[ The bout was allowed to continue, and despite using an unmodified weapon, he still won by a large margin.
In electric épée fencing, a touch is registered on the scoring box when the tip of the weapon is depressed with a ]force
In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be described intuitively as a p ...
of 750 grams, completing a circuit formed by the weapon, body cord
In fencing, a body cord serves as the connection between a fencer and a reel of wire that is part of a system for electrically detecting that the weapon has touched the opponent. There are two types: one for epee, and one for foil and sabre.
Des ...
, and box. It was found that Onischenko's épée had been illegally modified to include a switch that allowed him to close this circuit without actually depressing the tip of his weapon, so he could register a touch without making any contact on his opponent. Onischenko was ejected from the competition, which forced the Soviet Union to scratch from the team event. The British team that exposed Onishchenko went on to win the gold medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...
.
Newspapers decried him as "Disonischenko" and "Boris the Cheat". Two months later it was reported he had been called before Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gener ...
for a personal scolding. He was given a lifetime ban from the sport. He was expelled from the Communist party, stripped of his rank and his awards.[
]
Post-fencing life
After his lifetime ban from the sport, Onishchenko worked as a taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
driver in Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
.
External links
The story on Boris Onishchenko in Sports Illustrated 2020.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onishchenko, Boris
1937 births
Living people
Ukrainian male modern pentathletes
Soviet male modern pentathletes
Modern pentathletes at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Modern pentathletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Modern pentathletes at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Olympic modern pentathletes of the Soviet Union
Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union
Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union
Olympic medalists in modern pentathlon
Sportspeople from Kyiv
Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Soviet Army officers
Sportspeople banned for life
Cheating in sports