Sofiya Aleksandrovna Velikaya ( rus, Софья Александровна Великая, , ˈsofʲjə vʲɪˈlʲikəjə; born 8 June 1985) is a Russian

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. Velikaya is a former European champion (four-time individual, six-time team), world champion (two-time individual, six-time team), and two-time Olympic team champion. She competed in the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Olympics, and was a three-time individual silver medalist. She dedicated her team's 2016 Olympic gold medal to those Russians who had been banned for doping.

Career

Velikaya 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 ...

captain. Her fencing clubs are the Russian Central Sports Army Club and MGFSO. She placed fourth in the

2008 Beijing Games 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 ...

, after losing to American

Sada Jacobson Sada Molly Jacobson (born February 14, 1983) is an American Olympic fencer. She is the 2008 Olympic Individual Sabre silver medalist in women's sabre (one of three Olympic medals), the 2004 Olympic Individual Sabre bronze medalist in women's ...

11-15 in the semifinals, and then losing to American

Rebecca Ward Rebecca "Becca" Ward (born February 7, 1990) is an American sabre fencer. She won the gold medal at the sabre 2006 World Fencing Championships after beating Mariel Zagunis 15–11 in the final, and took bronze in both individual and team s ...

14-15 in the bronze medal match. On 12 October 2011, she became the world champion after beating two-time Olympic champion American

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 final. One year after, she took part in the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

in London, where she advanced to finals after defeating Olga Kharlan of

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 ...

. She lost however to South Korea's

Kim Ji-yeon Kim Ji-yeon (Hangul: 김지연; or ; born 12 March 1988) is a South Korean left-handed sabre fencer. Kim is a five-time team Asian champion and four-time individual Asian champion. A three-time Olympian, Kim is a 2021 team Olympic bronz ...

, 9-15, and received silver. Velikaya then took a break in her career. She gave birth to a son, with Olympic wrestler Aleksey Mishin. She came back to international competition in March 2014 at the Antalya World Cup, where she was defeated in the second round by Hungary's Anna Várhelyi. 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 was stopped in the second round again, this time by Italy's

Rossella Gregorio Rossella Gregorio (born 30 August 1990) is an Italian sabre fencer, bronze medallist in the 2014 European Fencing Championships. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in sabre. Career Gregorio discovered fencing thanks to family friends wh ...

. In the team event, Russia met France in the final, and won the gold medal. 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 Velikaya made her way to the quarter-finals, where she met reigning World champion Olga Kharlan of Ukraine. Velikaya was defeated 9–15. In the team event, Russia met France in the quarter-finals. Russia suffered a shock 41–45 defeat. In the 2014–15 season, Velikaya won the first event in Cancún after defeating France's Charlotte Lembach in the final. She placed second with Russia in the team event. In Orléans, she put an end to the invincibility of the world no.1 Olga Kharlan, who had not taken part in the Cancún tournament. Velikaya proceeded to the final where she defeated Italy's

and earned her second gold medal in a row. In the team event, Russia saw off the United States in the final to win team gold. Velikaya reached again the final in the New York Grand Prix. She met Kharlan, who defeated her 15–12, dooming her the silver medal. The same scenario played out in Athens at the first World Cup event of 2015, Velikaya losing by a single hit that time. In the team event, Russia fenced Ukraine in the final. Russia lost ground in the penultimate relay, which ended on 33–40. Velikaya lost 2–5 the final relay against Kharlan and came away with a second silver medal. At the Ghent World Cup, she defeated Kharlan 15–3 in the semi-finals, then Zagunis 15–10 in the final, to take her third gold medal of the season. Velikaya qualified for the

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 ...

in Rio de Janeiro. In women's sabre in the table of 32 she defeated

Bogna Jóźwiak Bogna Jóźwiak (born April 15, 1983 in Poznań) is a Polish sabre fencer. Jozwiak represented Poland at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she competed in two sabre events. For her first event, the women's individual sabre, Jozwiak fi ...

from Poland. In the table of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, she prevailed over Charlotte Lembach,

Cécilia Berder Cécilia Berder (born 13 December 1989) is a French right-handed sabre fencer, 2018 team world champion, two-time Olympian, and 2021 team Olympic silver medalist. Career Berder was born in 1989 in Morlaix, and grew up in the nearby city of Quim ...

and

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 ...

of France, respectively. She eventually lost 14–15 to her teammate

Yana Egorian Yana Karapetovna Egorian (russian: Яна Карапетовна Егорян, hy, Յանա Կարապետովնա Եգորեան; also spelled Yegoryan, born 20 December 1993) is a Russian left-handed sabre fencer, six-time team European champ ...

in the finals, winning her second consecutive silver medal at the Olympics in the individual women's sabre. Velikaya finally managed to claim Olympic gold a few days later in the team event. Russia defeated Mexico (45–31) in the quarter-finals, prevailed over the USA (45–42) in the semi-finals and met the Ukrainians in the final. Velikaya and her teammates came away with the gold medal, defeating Ukraine 45–30. Velikaya dedicated her squad's 2016 Olympic gold medal to those Russians who had been banned for doping. On 17 November 2016, Velikaya was elected the head of the Russian Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission. In April 2022, she said she would boycott the Olympics if she is not allowed to compete under the Russian flag and anthem.

Medal record

Olympic Games

World Championship

European Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

Honours and awards

* Russian

Order of Merit for the Fatherland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

1st class (13 August 2012) – for outstanding contribution to the development of physical culture and sports, high achievements at the 30th Olympic Games in London, United Kingdom. * Russian Athlete of the Year (2015) * Russian Order of Honour (25 August 2016) – for high achievements at the 31st Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the will to win and goal-oriented approach. * Russian Medal of Military Valour (2016) – 1st class.

Personal life

At the age of 15, Velikaya moved from the city of

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

to Moscow to train in fencing.

Velikaya is married to 2004 Olympic champion wrestler Aleksey Mishin. They have two children together: a son named Oleg, born on 30 November 2013, and a girl named Zoya, born in 2018.

References

External links

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archive
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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Velikaya, Sofiya 1985 births Living people 21st-century Russian military personnel Sportspeople from Almaty Russian female sabre fencers Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers of Russia Olympic silver medalists for Russia Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Russia Universiade medalists in fencing Universiade gold medalists for Russia Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Russian Olympic Committee athletes Olympic silver medalists for the Russian Olympic Committee athletes