Great, but not absolute: Sofia Velikaya lost the third consecutive OI final in fencing, and Pozdnyakova became the champion

For the Russian saber fencer Sophia Velikaya, the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo became the fourth in her career.

She justified her sonorous surname many times at the world championships, but at the main starts of the four years she was pursued by an evil fate, which did not allow her to win personal gold.

Once she was fourth and twice lost in the finals to the Greek woman Vasilika Vuyuka, then to her compatriot Yana Yegoryan.

The question of whether the Great Olympic champion will become not only in the team, but also in individual competitions, has become one of the main issues in the entire fencing tournament. The answer to it was to be given by the third day of the competition in Tokyo.

Even before Velikaya and all the other Russians entered the track, a real sensation broke out at the saber tournament. Four-time and the current world champion in the individual competition Olga Harlan from Ukraine finished the fight in the 1/16 finals. She was abused by the Chinese woman Yang Hengyu, who is ranked 45th in the world ranking. Harlan confidently started the fight and took the lead with a score of 6: 2, when suddenly the opponent made six strikes in a row, and only a break between periods allowed the Ukrainian to take a break. She managed to regain the lead, but then Yang again pulled out so far ahead that it was too late to catch up with her. Harlan, who shared with the Great one dream of personal gold for the Olympics, parted ways with her for at least three more years.

Jan, after the surprise presented to the Ukrainian woman, was waiting for the winner of the meeting between Sofia Pozdnyakova and the Italian Rossella Gregorio. The Russian woman lost the first period with a score of 5: 8, although at first she herself looked much stronger. The three-point difference persisted when Gregorio had only three hits to win, but at that moment the daughter of four-time Olympic champion Stanislav Pozdnyakov launched a series of six excellent attacks and reached the 1/8 finals herself.

Simultaneously with this battle, Olga Nikitina and American Dagmara Wozniak fought.

Two saber fencers, primarily known as reliable team fighters, put on an incredible thriller.

Nikitina was in front almost all the time, until the battle began to come to an end.

At one point, Wozniak won six of seven draws.

Another effective blow brought her further.

The Russian woman was able to get out of this difficult situation as a winner, earning three points in a row.

The great one did not experience such problems - she gave only four hits to her first rival Renate Katone from Hungary.

In the 1/8 finals, the Russians again avoided losses.

Pozdnyakova was the first to win, not allowing Yang Hengyu to develop her success.

If at first there was still a tense exchange of points between them, then the 2018 world champion barely allowed her rival to raise her saber.

Nikitina, on the next path, again had hard times.

Now she was opposed by the Azerbaijani Anna Bashta, who two years ago represented Russia at international competitions.

In 2017, she even became the vice-champion of Europe along with Pozdnyakova.

Bashta made a start for herself early, Nikitina quickly recouped, but she herself could not come out ahead.

Fortunately, at the end of the fight, she again showed iron nerves and won the fight with a difference of two hits.

The great, in turn, met with the difficult Italian Irene Vecchi, Such a rival was just what she needed in order to get toned after a very easy fight with Katone.

She really put up more stubborn resistance, but only when the current vice-world champion was confident of her victory with a score of 15:12.

All three Russian girls reached the quarterfinals, and at the same time, the tournament grid did not force any of them to fight with each other, so they had a chance to all be on the podium together, as the American saber fencers did in 2008.

The great one, who took fourth place 13 years ago, just met with the triumphant of that Olympics Mariel Zagunis.

The two 36-year-old fencers walked on a par until the start of the second period, after which the Russian woman staged a solo show and won seven phrases in a row.

Pozdnyakova immediately followed her into the semifinals. She got another representative of China, Qian Jiarui, who was more powerful and patient. She did not give up trying to recoup, even when the Russian woman had six strikes of advantage, but still did not achieve her goal. But Nikitina still “broke down” after two nervous fights. She met with strong Frenchwoman Manon Brunet, who lost the bronze fight to Harlan five years ago. Brunet created an incredible ten point lead, after which the fight could have been finished ahead of schedule.

In the semifinals, the Russians again, to the delight of the fans, found themselves in different fights. Pozdnyakova was to take revenge for Nikitina from Brunet, and the Hungarian Anna Marton, who won the World Cup this season, became the Great's rival. In the most favorable case, the Russian fencers could play the final of the Olympic Games among themselves for the second time in a row.

Brunet powerfully started the fight with Pozdnyakova and took the lead with a score of 4: 1, but she did not repeat the fate of her friend. She set off in pursuit and delivered several brilliant blows, lighting only her own lantern. The initiative passed to her even before the end of the period. True, after the break, Pozdnyakova began to rush and made a false start when she already had a yellow card. But Brunet, having received a point for this, herself broke the rules in the same way. The Russian fencer stayed ahead and brought the bout to victory with a score of 15:10. The Frenchwoman went to fight for the Olympic bronze for the second time in a row.

The second dispute for the final began for the Russian fencer in the same way as the first.

Marton immediately led in three strikes, but the Great had no difficulty in catching up with her.

And after the Hungarian unsuccessfully tried to challenge one of the referee's decisions, it became very difficult for her to cope with the flawless attacks of her opponent.

The great one, although sometimes inferior in speed, was a cut above in technique.

She won with a score of 15: 8 and reached the final of the Olympic Games for the third time in a row.

Before her, only the Italian foil fencer Valentina Vezzali managed to do this.

And the fact that the representatives of one and the same country guaranteed themselves gold and silver for the second time, became generally a unique case in women's fencing.

In the final, Velikaya tried to take the initiative.

Often, the judge recorded mutual attacks that did not bring points to anyone, and yet the more experienced athlete took the lead with a score of 7: 4.

Only Pozdnyakova more than once during this day easily recouped in such cases, which she repeated in the final.

After the break, the daughter of the president of the ROC struck three strikes in a row.

Now it was the Great's turn to recoup, but when she spent all the video replays, it turned out to be too difficult a task.

Fight until the last injection, as it was five years ago, has already failed.

Pozdnyakova prevailed with a score of 15:11 and won gold.

Great for the third time in a row became the silver medalist in the individual competition.

Both girls will now take part in the team tournament on July 31st. The last time the Russian team had new winners of gold and silver, it helped her to win.