The Ukrainian Fencing Federation (Federation d'Escrime d'Ukraine; National Fencing Federation of Ukraine) commonly known by the acronym NFFU, established in 1992, is the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

of Ukrainian

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 ...

. Through 2022, Ukrainian fencers won 230 medals combined in the Olympic Games, World championships, and European championships.

History

Early years

The federation was established in 1992. It is headquartered 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 ...

, Ukraine. 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, ...

in Atlanta, Ukraine performed as an independent team for the first time. It included six athletes participating in individual competitions:

Sergei Golubitsky Sergei Golubitsky ( uk, Сергій Віталійович Голубицький, Romanization of Ukrainian ; russian: Серге́й Вита́льевич Голуби́цкий, tr. ; born 20 December 1969) is a Ukrainian fencer. He won ...

(foil),

Vadym Gutzeit Vadim Gutzeit ( uk, Вадим Маркович Гутцайт; also Vadym Guttsayt or Vadym Markovich Hutsayt; born 6 October 1971) is a Ukrainian Olympic champion sabre fencer, and current Ukraine's Youth and Sport Minister, as well as the ...

(saber),

Viktoriya Titova Viktoriya Titova (born 29 July 1971) is a Ukrainian former fencer. She competed in the women's épée event at the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and c ...

(épée),

Yeva Vybornova Yeva Vybornova (born 13 November 1974) is a Ukrainian fencer. She competed in the women's épée event at the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and common ...

(épée), and Oleksii Bryzghalov (foil). Golubitsky and Gutzeit took sixth place, and the Ukrainian team took 11th place with 2 points. At the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney, Ukrainian fencers were represented by three teams (foil (h), saber, foil (w), as well as one participant in individual competitions - Oleksandr Horbachuk (épée). Results: foil team (men) - 5th place, saber team - 6th place, foil team - 8th place Golubitsky took 6th place in the individual foil competition, while the rest of the Ukrainian fencers did not make it to the top. During 2004–08, Ukrainian athletes won seven medals. These are representatives of the young Ukrainian school of fencing: Vladyslav Tretiak (saber),

Volodymyr Lukashenko Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Lukashenko ( uk, Володимир Володимирович Лукашенко; often Vladimir as in Russian, born 14 February 1980) is a Ukrainian sabre fencer. He competed at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. Luk ...

(saber),

Oleh Shturbabin Oleh Shturbabin (in Ukrainian ; born 22 July 1984) is a Ukrainian sabre fencer, bronze medallist in the 2005 World Fencing Championships and silver team medallist in the 2006 World Fencing Championships. Career Shturbabin is the son of fencing ...

(saber),

Olha Kharlan Olha Hennadiyivna Kharlan ( uk, Ольга Геннадіївна Харлан; born 4 September 1990) is a Ukrainian right-handed sabre fencer. Kharlan is a two-time team European champion, six-time individual European champion, two-time team ...

(saber),

Olena Khomrova Olena Khomrova ( uk, Олена Хомрова; born May 16, 1987 in Mykolaiv) is a Ukrainian fencer and member of the team which won the gold medal in sabre at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Career The Ukrainian team (she has stayed a member of) won ...

(saber),

Dmytro Karyuchenko Dmytro Karyuchenko ( uk, Дмитро Миколайович Карюченко; born 15 January 1980) is a Ukrainian épée fencer. Career He was born in 1980 in Kharkov. Begin fencing in 1990 and was the first coach of the brother. Karyuchenk ...

(épée), and Dmytro Chumak (épée). At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Athens, Vladyslav Tretiak won a bronze medal in men's individual sabre. At the

, two types of weapons were supported: women's saber and men's épée. They took part in individual and team competitions and two athletes (

Olha Leleiko Olha Oleksandrivna Leleiko ( uk, Ольга Олександрівна Лелейко; born 21 July 1977) is a Ukrainian fencer. She competed in the women's foil events at the 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympi ...

- foil,

Yana Shemyakina Yana Volodymyrivna Shemyakina ( uk, Яна Володимирівна Шемякіна; born 5 January 1986)

Olga Kharlan won the gold medal, and the men's épée took 7th place. Kharlan won the sabre gold medal at the

2009 European Fencing Championships The 2009 European Fencing Championships was held at the International Fair Plovdiv in Plovdiv, Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situate ...

, both in the individual event and the team event with Team Ukraine, in which Ukraine overcame Russia. At the

2009 World Fencing Championships 2009 World Fencing Championships was held at the Antalya Expo Center in Antalya, Turkey. The event took place from September 30 to October 8, 2009. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table Results overview Men Foil individual ...

Anfisa Pochkalova Anfisa Serhiyivna Pochkalova ( uk, Анфіса Сергіївна Почкалова; born 1 March 1990) is a Ukrainian épée fencer. She is the 2009 world individual bronze medalist. Personal life Pochkalova was born 1 March 1990 in Lviv. She ...

won the bronze medal in the individual épée competition. Kharlan made her way to the women's saber final, only to be stopped by American two-time Olympic champion

Mariel Zagunis Mariel Leigh Zagunis (born March 3, 1985) is an American sabre fencer. She is a two-time Olympic champion in the individual sabre ( 2004 and 2008) and the first American to win a gold medal in Olympic fencing. She was Team USA flag bearer in t ...

. In the women's saber team event, Ukraine defeated France in the final to come away with the gold medal. For this performance the Ukrainian team was named team of the year and Kharlan was named athlete of the year at the Ukrainian Heroes of Sports Year ceremony held in April 2010. In the 2009–10 season Kharlan won her fourth Junior World Championship in a row. At the

2010 European Fencing Championships The 2010 European Fencing Championships was the 23rd edition and was held in Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the ...

Ukraine won gold in women's saber, after beating Russia in the final."Kharlan Olga,"
FIE.

2010–19

At the

2010 World Fencing Championships The 2010 World Fencing Championships were held at the Grand Palais in Paris, France 4–13 November. Medal table Men's events Women's events Participating nations A record of 110 nations competed, with many making their debuts including ...

in Paris,

won the silver medal in the individual women's saber competition, and

won the bronze medal. In the team competition, 13 female sabers received silver medals. Rostyslav Hertsyk won 7th place in the men's individual foil competition. At the

, Team Ukraine won a gold medal in women's sabre, defeating Russia in the final. In the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London, Kharlan won a bronze medal in the individual women's saber event.

Yana Shemyakina Yana Volodymyrivna Shemyakina ( uk, Яна Володимирівна Шемякіна; born 5 January 1986)

2012 European Fencing Championships The 2012 European Fencing Championships was the 25th edition and held in Legnano, Italy. The event took place from June 15–20, 2012. Schedule Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table Results overview Men Foil individual ...

, Kharlan won the gold medal. At the 2013 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Olga Kharlan won the gold medal in the women's individual saber fencing competition, her first individual world championship. The national women's saber team of Ukraine won the gold medal in the team competition, defeating Russia in the finals. At the

2014 European Fencing Championships The 2014 European Fencing Championships were held in Strasbourg, France from 7–14 June 2014 at the Rhénus Sport. Schedule Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table Results Men Épée individual Foil individual Sabre ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, France, Kharlan earned her fourth European gold medal in a row and the fifth of her career. At the

2014 World Fencing Championships The 2014 World Fencing Championships were held in Kazan, Russia, from 15–23 July. Schedule The schedule of the competition. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table References External links Official website {{World Fe ...

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

, Russia, Olga Kharlan became the world champion in the individual women's saber competition. The Ukrainian saber team took third place in the team event, winning a bronze medal.

Yana Shemyakina Yana Volodymyrivna Shemyakina ( uk, Яна Володимирівна Шемякіна; born 5 January 1986)

2016 Summer Olympics 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 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, Kharlan bested French competitor

Manon Brunet Manon Apithy-Brunet (born 7 February 1996) is a French right-handed sabre fencer, 2018 team world champion, two-time Olympian, 2021 team Olympic silver medalist, and 2021 individual Olympic bronze medalist. Personal life Brunet was born in ...

for the bronze medal, and Team Ukraine won the women's sabre silver medal. At the

2018 European Fencing Championships The 2018 European Fencing Championships was held in Novi Sad, Serbia from 16 to 21 June 2018 at the SPC Vojvodina. Schedule Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table Results Men Foil individual Épée individual Sa ...

, Team Ukraine won the silver medal in women's sabre. At the

2019 World Fencing Championships The 2019 World Fencing Championships was held from 15 to 23 July 2019 in Budapest, Hungary. Schedule Twelve events were held. ''All times are local (UTC+2).'' Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's events References External l ...

in Budapest, Hungary, Kharlan won 15–14 against Russia's

Sofya Velikaya Sofiya Aleksandrovna Velikaya ( rus, Софья Александровна Великая, , ˈsofʲjə vʲɪˈlʲikəjə; born 8 June 1985) is a Russian sabre fencer. Velikaya is a former European champion (four-time individual, six-time t ...

in the women’s saber finals; it was Kharlan’s sixth world championship title. At the

2019 European Fencing Championships The 2019 European Fencing Championships was held in Düsseldorf, Germany from 17 to 22 June 2019 at the Messe Düsseldorf The Messe Düsseldorf is a trade fair ground and organizer, based in Düsseldorf, Germany. With a workforce of 1,459 em ...

, Kharlan won the gold medal in women's individual sabre.

2020–present

At the

2020 Summer Olympics 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 ...

in Tokyo, Japan,

Ihor Reizlin Ihor Dmytrovych Reizlin ( uk, Ігор Дмитрович Рейзлін, translit=Ihor Dmytrovyč Rejzlin; born 7 December 1984 in Bender, Moldavian SSR) is a Ukrainian right-handed épée fencer and 2021 individual Olympic Olympic or Olympi ...

won a bronze medal in individual men's epee. In July 2023 in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, at the 2023 US Summer Nationals, Ukrainian fencer Darii Lukashenko and tournament sabre champion

Konstantin Lokhanov Konstantin Lokhanov (Russian: Константин Игоревич Лоханов; born 10 November 1998; nicknamed Kostya) is a Russian sabre fencer living in San Diego, California, in the United States. Lokhanov was ranked # 1 in the world in ...

of Russia embraced and held the Ukrainian flag together to express support for Ukrainians during the Russian invasion. Later in July 2023, Ukrainian four-time individual world sabre champion Olga Kharlan was disqualified by the

Fédération Internationale d'Escrime The ''Fédération Internationale d'Escrime'' ( en, International Fencing Federation), commonly known by the acronym FIE, is the international governing body of Olympic fencing. Today, its head office is at the Maison du Sport International ...

(FIE) at the World Fencing Championships in Milan, Italy. Kharlan defeated Russian Anna Smirnova 15-7. Smirnova extended her hand to Kharlan, who in turn extended her saber in an offer to the Russian to tap blades. Kharlan said her choice of salute was meant as a sign of respect for her opponent, while still acknowledging the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. After a long delay during which Smirnova protested and sat on the strip for 45 minutes, Kharlan was ultimately black-carded and eliminated from the championship by FIE officials. The Russian had been allowed to compete as a neutral athlete. The National Fencing Federation of Ukraine filed an appeal. Russian Olympic fencer

, who had denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine and in reaction to it has defected to the United States, said in a ''New York Times'' interview that he thought the Russian fencer might have set a trap for Kharlan, to seek her disqualification. Lokhanov said that on the one hand, the FIE had rules about shaking hands. On the other hand, he noted, the tapping of weapon blades -- in lieu of a handshake -- was the accepted acknowledgment of an opponent during the

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

, and was still considered suitable by many fencers. Lokhanov said: "I support Olga. In my opinion she made the right decision. I understand why she made it. But I don’t see any reason why this Russian woman had to make that drama. She could have just touched blades; the bout was over.” On 28 July at the behest of the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

, the FIE's disqualification of Kharlan was cancelled by the FIE, making it possible for her to enter the team event on 29 July. Kharlan was also told by the IOC that due to the circumstances she was being granted automatic qualification into the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Duties of organization

NFFU, a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, is focused on developing fencing in Ukraine by involving broad circles of the population in classes, and increasing the skill level of fencers. The organization holds all-Ukrainian competitions for various ages and levels, and organizes official international fencing competitions in Ukraine and all-Ukrainian sports events, and represents Ukraine fencing at official international fencing competitions. Through 2022, Ukrainian fencers won 230 medals combined in the Olympic Games, World championships, and European championships.

References

External links

Federation website
{{Authority control 1992 establishments in Ukraine Fencing in Ukraine Fencing organizations Kyiv National members of the European Fencing Confederation Organizations based in Kyiv Sport in Kyiv Sports governing bodies in Ukraine Sports organizations established in 1992