Vadim Gutzeit ( uk, Вадим Маркович Гутцайт; also Vadym Guttsayt or Vadym Markovich Hutsayt; born 6 October 1971) is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

Olympic champion sabre fencer, and current Ukraine's Youth and Sport Minister, as well as the president of the

National Fencing Federation of Ukraine 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 Sport governing body, governing body of Ukrainian fencing. Through 2022, Ukr ...

. He was world junior sabre champion in 1989 and 1990, fenced in three Olympic Games, was sabre team Olympic champion in 1992, won a bronze medal in the 1991 World Fencing Championships, and was the

2005 Maccabiah Games The 17th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה-17 ישראל תשס"ה), held in Israel, were an incarnation of the 'Jewish Olympics.' They attracted the largest attendance of any Maccabiah Games, including more than 900 representatives from the Un ...

sabre champion. Since March 2020, Gutzeit has been Ukraine's Youth and Sport Minister. He has been an international referee for the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) since 2002. Gutzeit was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the FIE in 2013.

Early life and personal life

Gutzeit was born in Kyiv. In 1993 he graduated from the Kyiv State Institute of Physical Culture. In 1993-2002 he served as a major in the

Armed Forces of Ukraine , imports = , exports = , history = , ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine , country=Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly known ...

. He is married to Ukrainian journalist, and radio and TV presenter, Oksana Gutzeit. They have two children.

Fencing career

Fencer

Gutzeit took up fencing at the age of nine. He won the Ukrainian national sabre championship when he was 15. He fenced for Dynamo (Kiev). In 1988 he became USSR Junior Sabre Champion. Gutzeit won the gold medal in the Junior Under-20 Sabre World Fencing Championships in 1989 and 1990. In 1991, he won a silver medal in the same event. That year he also won an individual bronze medal, and a Unified Team silver medal, in sabre at the 1991 senior World Fencing Championships. He competed at four Universiade competitions, winning five medals between 1991 and 1999, with gold medals in the individual sabre event in 1997 and 1999.

Olympic champion

Gutzeit is an Olympic champion, and has competed in three Olympics. He competed in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in Barcelona for the Unified Team (the former Soviet Union) at the age of 20, and won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

with the sabre team. He also competed in 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, this time for Ukraine, finishing 6th in the individual sabre event after being defeated 14–15 in the quarter-finals by Russia's Stanislav Pozdnyakov, who eventually won the competition. Gutzeit took part in his third Olympiad at the

2000 Sydney Games 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 ...

, for Ukraine. Seeded No. 13, he lost 10–15 in the table of 16 to 1998 world champion

Domonkos Ferjancsik Domonkos Ferjancsik (born 7 September 1975) is a Hungarian fencer. He competed in the individual and team sabre events at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. He won a silver and bronze medal at the 2003 World Fencing Championships The 2003 Wor ...

of Hungary."Gutzeit, Vadim,"
Jews in Sports. In the sabre team competition, he and Ukraine finished 6th.

Maccabiah Games

Gutzeit, who is Jewish, competed for Ukraine at the

1997 Maccabiah Games The 15th Maccabiah Games are remembered for being marred by a Maccabiah bridge collapse, bridge collapse that killed several participants. The Maccabiah had more than 5,000 athletes from 33 countries competing in 36 sports. New sports for the Game ...

in Israel. He competed in 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 collapsed bridge and investigations into the collapse continued. The 16th Mac ...

in Israel and won the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in individual sabre. He was defeated in the gold medal final by

Sergey Sharikov Sergey Aleksandrovich Sharikov (russian: Сергей Александрович Шариков, 18 June 1974 – 6 June 2015), also known as Serguei/Sergei Charikov, was a left-handed Russian Olympic champion sabre fencer. In the Olympics he w ...

of Russia. Gutzeit won the gold medal at the

, reaping revenge over Sharikov of Russia, as Ukraine also won the team sabre gold medal.

Coach, referee, and official

From 2002 to 2010 Gutzeit was the head coach of Ukraine's fencing team, which won an Olympic gold medal in 2008. Gutzeit became an international referee in 2002 in all weapons for the

International Fencing Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. He has since officiated in a number of major competitions, including the 2000, 2004, 2012, and 2021 Olympics. He was vice president of the Ukrainian Fencing Federation from 2000 to 2016, has been President of the Federation since 2017, and has been a member of the executive committee of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine since 2004. In 2014 he said: "I, an Olympic champion, want to appeal to all the people of Ukraine and Russia! ... I won the Olympic Games in 1992 as part of the CIS combined team .... We respected and loved each other! We were like brothers.... I ask all the politicians of the two countries! We must be friends and respect each other .... And each of us deserves to live happily in our own land." In 2010-20 Gutzeit was the executive director of the Ukrainian Olympic Training and Sports Center.

Honors

In 1997 Gutzeit was awarded the Ukrainian Order of Merit III, in 2008 he received the award "For Merit" II, and in 2012 he received the award "For Merit" I. In 2004 he received the honorary title of "Honored Worker of Physical Culture and Sports of Ukraine." In 2016 he received the Insignia of the President of Ukraine. He is also a Ukrainian Honored Master of Sports (1992) and Honored Coach of Ukraine. Gutzeit was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime in 2013.

Political career

On 26 June 2018, Gutzeit was appointed head of the Kyiv City Council's (

Kyiv City State Administration Kyiv City State Administration ( uk, Київська міська державна адміністрація, translit=Kyivska miska derzhavna administratsiia), is the national-level branch of the Government of Ukraine that administers Kyiv, t ...

) Department of Youth and Sports. He held the position until March 2020. On 9 June 2019 Gutzeit announced he would take part in the July

2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Ukrainian parliament were held on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, these elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolv ...

with the party Servant of the People. Three days later, however, he withdrew from the election.

Ukrainian Youth and Sports Minister

Since 4 March 2020, Gutzeit has been Ukraine's Youth and Sport Minister. In the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, Ukraine won 19 medals (up from 11 medals in the prior Olympics), 16th-most among nations (up from 31st), and 4th among nations per capita, while in addition 12 Ukrainians also won medals for other countries. Speaking in 2021 of his Russian former Olympic teammates with whom he represented the USSR, he said: "television really zombies people there." In December 2021, he announced that Ukraine had decided to apply to host the

2028 Winter Youth Olympics The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consiste ...

, and the

2030 Winter Olympics The 2030 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXVI Olympic Winter Games, is an upcoming international multi-sport event. The host city was initially set to be elected at the 140th IOC Session in Mumbai in 2023, but IOC officials declared in ...

. On 28 February 2022, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he wrote: "No one has the right to threaten our sovereignty and freedom... Sport carries the idea of peace. But if the enemy is on our land – .... We will surely win!""Вадим Гутцайт," Facebook, 28 February 2022.

References

External links

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Profile
at the European Fencing Confederation {{DEFAULTSORT:Gutzeit, Vadim 1971 births Living people Fencers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Jewish male sabre fencers Jewish Ukrainian sportspeople Maccabiah Games medalists in fencing Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Ukraine Maccabiah Games silver medalists for Ukraine Competitors at the 2001 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 2005 Maccabiah Games Merited Coaches of Ukraine Military personnel from Kyiv Olympic fencers of the Unified Team Olympic fencers of Ukraine Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Soviet male sabre fencers Universiade medalists in fencing Universiade gold medalists for Ukraine Universiade silver medalists for Ukraine Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 1st class Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class Servant of the People (political party) politicians Sportspeople from Kyiv Ukrainian male sabre fencers Ukrainian sportsperson-politicians Youth and sport ministers of Ukraine Medalists at the 1995 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1997 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade