Sofia Stanislavovna Pozdniakova (; born 17 June 1997) is a Russian right-handed

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, 2018 individual world champion, 2019 team world champion, 2021 individual

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

champion, and 2021 team Olympic champion. She is a

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

athlete, and her clubs are the Russian Central Sports Army Club and the Novosibirsk Regional Fencing Sports School of Olympic Reserve.

Early life

Pozdniakova was born in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...

, where she was coached by Sergey Stepankin at the Fencing Center. Both of her parents were fencers: her father, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, is a 4-time Olympic champion, 10-time world champion, and 13-time European champion in individual and team sabre, as well as the President of the

Russian Olympic Committee The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC; russian: Олимпийский комитет России (ОКР), Olimpiyskiy komitet Rossii (OKR); Full name: All-Russian united social union "Olympic Committee of Russia", russian: Общероссий� ...

since 2018. Her mother, Anastasia, is Master of Sports and secretary at the Fencing Federation of the Novosibirsk Oblast. She decided to follow in her parents' footsteps at the age of 10, and abandoned swimming and

acrobatic gymnastics Acrobatic gymnastics is a competitive gymnastic discipline where partnerships of gymnasts work together and perform figures consisting of acrobatic moves, dance and tumbling, set to music. There are three types of routines; a 'balance' routine ...

Personal life

Pozdiakova studied at the Smolensk State Academy of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism, and as of 2018 she planned to become a sports journalist in the future. She moved to Moscow in 2015. Since 2016, she has participated for CSKA Moscow. In September 2020, Pozdiakova married

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

-based two-time world junior sabre champion and Olympic fencer Konstantin Lokhanov. He emigrated to the United States in 2022 in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, however, and the couple divorced. She said she was grateful to Lokhanov for many things, but that the two of them had gone in "different directions."

Medal record

Olympic Games

World Championship

European Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pozdniakova, Sofia 1997 births 21st-century Russian military personnel Living people Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Russian female sabre fencers Sportspeople from Novosibirsk Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for Russia Olympic medalists in fencing Olympic gold medalists for the Russian Olympic Committee athletes