Karina Borisovna Aznavourian (russian: Карина Борисовна Азнавурян; hy, Կարինա Բորիսի Ազնավուրյան; born 20 September 1974 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR) is a Russian

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 contain ...

fencer. She won two gold medals in the team

event at the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

and 2004 Summer Olympics. Also won bronze medal at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Biography

Aznavourian was born in Baku in an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

- Azerbaijani family. In 1990, she and her family moved to Moscow. Having changed the type of weapon from the

rapier A rapier () or is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade that was popular in Western Europe, both for civilian use (dueling and self-defense) and as a military side arm, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Impo ...

to the

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 ...

, she began to train under the guidance of Alexander Kislyunin. She graduated from the Olympic Reserve School No. 3, then graduated from the

Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism (SCOLIPE) (russian: Российский государственный университет физической культуры, спорта, молодёжи и тур ...

. In 1996, as part of the Russian national team became the bronze medalist at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. In 1997, she won silver medals of the 19th

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referred ...

, both in team and individual competitions. Later in the Russian team won the Olympic Games in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004), then she won 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 2003 and Europe Championships in 2004. After completing her sports career in 2008, she headed the junior sports school of the Moscow Secondary Special School of Olympic Reserve No. 3, and in August 2012 she was appointed as a director of this school.

Awards

* Order of Honour (24 August 2005) *

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds ...

(19 April 2001) *

Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (russian: Медаль ордена «За заслуги перед Отечеством») was established on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree No.442. Its award criteria were modified on 6 ...

(6 January 1996)

References

External links

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archive
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aznavourian, Karina 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Baku Azerbaijani people of Armenian descent Azerbaijani emigrants to Russia Russian sportspeople of Armenian descent Russian sportspeople of Azerbaijani descent Russian female épée fencers Fencers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for Russia Olympic gold medalists for Russia Olympic bronze medalists for Russia Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in fencing FISU World University Games silver medalists for Russia Medalists at the 1997 Summer Universiade