Sergey Aleksandrovich Sharikov (russian: Сергей Александрович Шариков, 18 June 1974 – 6 June 2015), also known as Serguei/Sergei Charikov, was a

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Olympic champion

sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

fencer. In the Olympics he won two gold medals, a silver medal, and a bronze medal.

Early life

Sharikov was born in Moscow, Russia, and was Jewish.

Fencing career

One of the best sabre fencers in the world, Sharikov began fencing at the age of 12. He was a protege of sabre fencer

David Tyshler David (also "Davyd") Abramovich Tyshler (russian: Давид Абрамович Тышлер; 13 June 1927 – 7 June 2014) was a Russian sabreur, part of the first generation of internationally successful Soviet fencers (Olympic bronze medalist ...

. Sharikov was on the Russian national fencing team from 1994 to 2005.

World University Games

At the 1997 Summer Universiade and

1999 Summer Universiade The 1999 Summer Universiade, also known as the XX Summer Universiade, took place in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Venues * Estadi Son Moix — athletics, football, ceremonies * Arena Son Moix — volleyball * Pavelló Son Hugo — swimming, diving ...

, he won bronze medals at the World University Games in sabre. In 2001, while ranked second in the world in sabre, he won the 21st World University Games sabre championship and was part of the Russian team that won the team gold (beating Hungary, 45–37).

European Championships

He won the

2000 European Fencing Championships The 2000 European Fencing Championships were held in Madeira, Portugal. The event took place from 3 to 9 July 2000 at the Madeira Tecnopolo in Funchal. It gathered competitors from 31 countries. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Meda ...

, and came in second at the

2002 European Fencing Championships The 2002 European Fencing Championships were held in Moscow. The event took place from 3 to 8 June 2002. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table References Resultsat the European Fencing Confederation {{European Fencing Cham ...

, and third at the

2004 European Fencing Championships The 2004 European Fencing Championships were held in Copenhagen. The event took place from 29 June to 4 July 2004. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table References Resultsat the European Fencing Confederation {{European Fe ...

.">"Sergey Sharikov Bio, Stats, and Results" , Olympics at Sports-Reference.com
/ref> His team won the gold medal in 2000–02 and 2004.

World Championships and World Cup

In 1994, he won an individual gold medal at the

Junior World Fencing Championships The World Cadets and Juniors Fencing Championships are an annual international fencing competition held by the International Fencing Federation. History Junior World Fencing Championships for athletes up to 20 years old. Also at the same time an ...

. In 1995, he won a team silver medal at the

1995 World Fencing Championships The 1995 World Fencing Championships were held from 18 July to 23 July 1995 in The Hague, Netherlands. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table ReferencesFIE Results{{World Fencing Championships World Fencing Championships I ...

, and an individual silver medal at the

Fencing World Cup The FIE Fencing World Cup is an international fencing competition held by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime. In each weapon (Men's and Women's Épée, Sabre and Foil), three Grand Prix, five World Cup events and several satellite events ...

. He placed third in the individual sabre events at the

1998 World Fencing Championships The 1998 World Fencing Championships were held in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such a ...

and 2000 World Fencing Championships, and third in the team sabre event at the

1999 World Fencing Championships The 1999 World Fencing Championships were held in Seoul, South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilit ...

. His team won the gold medal in 2001–03.

Olympics

He competed in three Olympiads for Russia, winning 4 medals (through 2011, that was the most medals won by any fencer for Russia). At the

1996 Atlanta Games 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, ...

, ranked as world # 4, he competed in both the individual and team events. In the team sabre competition, Sharikov and the Russians defeated Hungary in the final (45–25) to win the gold medal. In the individual competition, Sharikov easily advanced to the final before losing 15–12 to teammate

Stanislav Pozdnyakov Stanislav Alekseyevich Pozdnyakov ( rus, Станислав Алексеевич Поздняков, , stənʲɪˈslaf pəzʲnʲɪˈkof; born 27 September 1973) is a Russian former fencer, a five-time Olympian (1992–2008) and five-time Olymp ...

; he was awarded the silver medal. Sharikov returned to the Olympics at the 2000 Sydney Games and helped lead the Russian team to its second consecutive gold medal in the team sabre event; they easily defeated France in the final, 45–32. In the individual sabre, Sharikov entered the Olympics as the # 3 seed (he was also ranked # 3 in the world), but was eliminated in the third round of the competition, 15–14. Sharikov was seeded fourth in the individual sabre event in the

2004 Athens Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. The Russian lost a close match, 13–15 in the quarterfinal, to Italian Aldo Montano, who went on to win the gold. In the team event, Russia lost its semifinal encounter with Italy 42–45, but Russia won the bronze medal match.

Maccabiah Games

Sharikov competed for the Russian team at the

2001 Maccabiah Games The 16th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה16 ישראל תשס"א), the Opening Ceremony was held in Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium, while the re-building process of the Maccabiah bridge collapse, collapsed bridge and investigations into the collap ...

in Israel. He won the gold medal in the individual sabre over fellow Olympian,

Vadim 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 ...

of the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. He also competed in the 2005 Maccabiah Games in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, this time winning the silver medal as Vadim Gutzeit beat him 15–13 for the gold medal.

Coaching and federation career

Sharikov coached the Russia fencing team at the

. After finishing his competitive career, Sharikov was a member of the executive committee of the

Russian Fencing Federation The Russian Fencing Federation (russian: Федерация Фехтования России (ФФР), translit=Federatsiya Fekhtovaniya Rossii (FFR); french: Fédération d'escrime de la Russie) is the governing body for the sport of fencing in ...

, and in 2009 he became head coach of the Russian national sabre reserve team.

Hall of Fame

Sharikov was inducted into the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere arou ...

in 2003 and 2005.

Death

Sharikov died in the evening of 6 June 2015 in an automobile accident at the age of 40. While on vacation, he was driving an

all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

on the Kaluga-

Tarusa Tarusa (russian: Тару́са), also known as Tarussa (), is a town and the administrative center of Tarussky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Oka River, northeast of Kaluga, the administrative center of th ...

- Serpukhov highway south-west of Moscow as a part of a group of ATV drivers when he lost control of his vehicle and it changed into the opposite traffic lane and collided head-on with a car driving in the opposite direction. The other car's driver was hospitalized. Sharikov was rushed to the

district central hospital, but died there from his injuries.