Julia Beljajeva (born 21 July 1992) is an

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

right-handed

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 ...

fencer. Beljajeva is a two-time team European champion, 2017 team world champion, and 2013 individual world champion. A two-time Olympian, Beljajeva is a 2021 team Olympic champion. Beljajeva competed in the

2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

and the

2020 Tokyo Olympic Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

Career

Beljajeva took up fencing when she was ten years old at the suggestion of her aunt. Her first significant award was a bronze medal in the Nordic Cadet Championships, followed in 2008 by a silver medal, then a gold medal in 2009 in the Cadet European Championships. In the senior category, she was a member of the Estonia team that won the bronze medal in women's team épée at 2012 European Championships in

Legnano Legnano (; or ''Lignàn'') is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the north-westernmost part of the Metropolitan City of Milan, Province of Milan, about from central Milan. With 60,259, it is the thirteenth-most populous township in Lombardy. Le ...

and the gold medal at the 2013 European Championships in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

. Ranked 69th in the

International Fencing Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

's rankings, she created an upset by defeating 15–14 world No. 1

Ana Maria Brânză Ana Maria Popescu, formerly known as Ana Maria Brânză (, born 26 November 1984), is a Romanian left-handed épée fencer. Popescu is a four-time team European champion, 2013 individual European champion, and two-time team world champion. A f ...

in the quarter-finals of the

2013 World Fencing Championships The 2013 World Fencing Championships were held at Budapest, Hungary from 5–12 August. Schedule Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's events Participating nations 827 fencers from 101 countries competed. * (1) * (13) * ( ...

. She then prevailed 14–13 world over No.5 Emese Szász and defeated 15–14 world No.4

Anna Sivkova Anna Vitalyevna Sivkova (russian: Анна Витальевна Сивкова; born 12 April 1982) is a Russian épée fencer, 2004 Olympic team champion., three-time World team champion (2001, 2003, and 2013) and European team champion in 201 ...

to win the gold medal and Estonia's second world title in épée. She finished the 2012–13 season ranked 9th, a career best as of 2014. In the 2013–14 season Beljajeva climbed her first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

with a silver medal in the Doha Grand Prix, followed by a quarter-finals placing in Barcelona. At the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

in Strasbourg, she lost in the second round to Switzerland's

Tiffany Géroudet Tiffany Géroudet (born 3 September 1986 in Sion, Valais) is a Swiss épée fencer, European champion in 2011. She is currently 9th in FIE rankings. Biography Géroudet was born in Sion, Switzerland, in a family of three children. She pract ...

. In the team event, Estonia were defeated by Russia in the semi-finals, then by Italy and finished 4th. At the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Kazan she was overcome in the table of 16 by teammate

Erika Kirpu Erika Kirpu (born 22 June 1992) is an Estonia, Estonian right-handed épée Fencing, fencer. Kirpu is a two-time team European champion and 2017 team world champion. A two-time Olympic Games, Olympian, Kirpu is a 2021 team Olympic champion. Kir ...

, who eventually earned a bronze medal, and could not defend her title. In the team event, Estonia took their revenge against Italy in the semi-finals, prevailing 42–32, but lost to Russia in the final and ended up with a silver medal. Beljajeva finished the season No. 16.

Medal Record

Olympic Games

World Championship

European Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

References

External links

*
archive
* * * *
Julia Beljajeva
at ESBL.ee
in English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beljajeva, Julia 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Tartu Estonian people of Russian descent Estonian female épée fencers Fencers at the 2015 European Games European Games medalists in fencing European Games silver medalists for Estonia Olympic fencers of Estonia Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class World Fencing Championships medalists Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Estonia