Russia has competitions at the international level in fencing. Now one Ukrainian world champion fencer has died in the war.
Ukrainian fencer died. Illustration picture. PDO
The Ukrainian Fencing Federation informs that the country’s 34-year-old fencer Denis Borejko fell in the war in early July. Borejko, who volunteered for the army in March 2022, used to be one of the country’s most promising athletes, as he won the World and European Fencing Championships in the youth category.
Borejko also won the Ukrainian championships in his career.
Borejko fought, among other things, on the Dnieper river, which flooded after Russia destroyed the Kav’ovka dam in the Kherson region.
Russians competing
Ukrainians understandably do not want to play sports with Russians. PDO
The Ukrainian’s death increases tensions in fencing. The International Fencing Federation FIE was one of the first federations to accept the Russians back into their competitions this year and allowed them to participate in the Olympic qualifiers with a neutral status. Belarusians were also allowed to come back.
The sports association’s decision caused a wide wave of boycotts, and the Finnish tournament was also canceled in protest. Russians are also allowed to participate in the Milan World Championships organized by FIE. Ukraine skips the games.
At the request of the Ukrainian Fencing Federation, Russians are not allowed to participate in tournaments under the European Sports Federation (EFC). EFC used to be led by a Russian four-time Olympic champion Stanislav Pozdnyakovwho lost his chairmanship after Russia started its war of aggression in Ukraine in March of last year.
Today, the association is headed by an Italian Giorgio Scarso.
Russian fencers may also be seen at the next Summer Olympics. At the end of March, the International Olympic Committee IOC published a policy according to which sports federations can decide for themselves whether they will accept individual Russian and Belarusian athletes to the games with a neutral status.
About a week after the announcement by the IOC, the chairman of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee Vadym Gutzeit announced that 262 Ukrainian athletes have died in the war. He urged Ukrainian athletes to avoid competing with Russians.
The IOC announced in July that it would announce its decision on the Olympics “at an appropriate time”. The races will start a year from now on July 26.