Vladimir Viktorovich Smirnov (russian: Влади́мир Ви́кторович Смирно́в, uk, Володимир Вікторович Смирнов; 20 May 1954 – 28 July 1982) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

foil fencer.

Biography

Smirnov won the gold medal in individual men's foil at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. He won the World Championships the following year. During the 1982 World Championships in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Smirnov was fencing

Matthias Behr Matthias Behr (born 1 April 1955 in Tauberbischofsheim, Baden-Württemberg) is a former German foil fencer. He won a gold medal and three silvers at three Olympic Games. Biography Matthias Behr attended the Kaufmännische Schule Tauberbischofs ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

on 19 July. Behr's blade broke during the action, and the broken blade went through the mesh of Smirnov's mask, through his eye orbit, and into his brain. Smirnov died nine days later. Smirnov's accident was the driving force behind the significant improvement of safety gear in fencing.

Maraging steel Maraging steels (a portmanteau of "martensitic" and "aging") are steels that are known for possessing superior strength and toughness without losing ductility. ''Aging'' refers to the extended heat-treatment process. These steels are a special clas ...

blades (instead of the

carbon steel Carbon steel is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states: * no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, cobalt ...

ones of the day),

kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

(or other

ballistic nylon Ballistic nylon is a thick, tough, nylon fabric with several uses. Ballistic nylon was developed by the DuPont corporation as a material for flak jackets to be worn by World War II airmen. The term ''ballistic nylon'' originates in the fabric's ...

) in the uniforms, and masks two to three times stronger than the one he wore, and other safety rules, all came about because of his death.

References

1954 births 1982 deaths People from Rubizhne Fencers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Sport deaths in Italy Soviet male épée fencers Ukrainian male épée fencers Ukrainian foil fencers Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in fencing Universiade silver medalists for the Soviet Union Soviet male foil fencers Sportspeople from Luhansk Oblast {{Ukraine-fencing-bio-stub