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 modern pentathlete 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

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, Ukrainian S.S.R. He was a strong swimmer early on and taught at the Dynamo Sports Club. His first world competition was at the

1967 World Modern Pentathlon Championships The 1967 World Modern Pentathlon Championships were held in Jönköping, Sweden. Medal summary Men's events Medal table See also * World Modern Pentathlon Championship The UIPM Senior World Championships is an annual global international c ...

where he competed with Stasys Šaparnis 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 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 ...

with Šaparnis and Pavel Lednyov. 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. 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. 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. Fencing was the next event: a one-touch épée 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 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 driver in Kyiv.

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