Almost 30 years ago, the tight-knit sport of fencing suffered a tragic accident with the horrific death of world and Olympic champion Vladimir Smirnov.
While the Soviet fencer’s death at the Rome World Championships in 1982 shocked the sport to its core, the fatal accident proved to be a turning point in making fencing safer.
Smirnov was fencing West Germany’s Matthias Behr in Rome. Both stood over 1.82m tall and were described by coaches and teammates as massively strong and fast, their attacks akin to an oncoming locomotive.
Photo: Reuters
They attacked each other simultaneously in an attempt to establish an advantage, or what is known in fencing as the “right of way,” Smirnov’s former coach Alexander Perekalsky, 87, said in a recent telephone interview from Moscow.
“Smirnov tried to block Behr’s blade with an upward parry, that Behr avoided. Both collided and Behr’s blade broke on Smirnov’s chest and by inertia he continued forward,” Perekalsky said.
“The broken blade hits a brand new mask and goes through, hitting him above the left eye and into his brain,” he added.
Smirnov died about 10 days later after being taken off life support, his death mourned by the entire fencing world.
Behr left fencing in the aftermath of the accident, but returned to win the foil silver at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and headed Germany’s national fencing training center in Tauberbischofsheim.
Ioan Pop, the international technical director for fencing’s governing body (FIE), said the current standard of safety in the sport owed much to the accident 30 years ago.
“It was absolutely the accident and the death of Smirnov in 1982, in Rome,” said Romanian Pop, who won two Olympic team bronze medals in saber.
Pop is responsible for making sure fencing at the London Olympics is safe as well as enjoyable to watch.
While safety is paramount, the real challenge is to make sure spectators can see the action, no easy task given the tip of a fencing blade is believed to be the second-fastest moving object at the Olympics after the marksman’s bullet.
Massive floor lights wrapping around the fencing area will flash when the wireless electronic scoring equipment is set off by a touch, either on or off the valid target.
Slow-motion instant replay for judges, and new for Olympic spectators this year, makes decisions more transparent. That is a big improvement from the past, when national interests very often hid behind the subjective reasoning of the referee.
And in foil, the lightest of the three weapons that include epee and saber, the bib — or area below the chin — is now a valid target, increasing the pace of a bout.
In an era of ballistic-grade fabric for uniforms, stronger steel, more rigid masks that stand up to 12kg punch tests and the banning of the running attack in saber, safety has improved and injuries severe enough to knock a competitor out of competition remain low.
Despite the dramatic images of blistering clashes with swooping metal weapons and ear-piercing screams of aggression, the sport is significantly safer than American football, soccer or basketball, according to a five-year study by the United States Fencing Association published in 2008.
When compared with a database of collegiate sports injuries, the association’s study, led by chief medical officer Peter Harmer, found injury rates 50 times greater in soccer than in fencing.
Between 1995 and 2005, fatal injuries because of participation in US high school and collegiate football reached 143,63 deaths for basketball and 20 for soccer. In the past 100 years there have been no reported deaths in US fencing.
Worldwide since Smirnov, Harmer said there are just seven confirmed fatalities.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS