Latest news with #Tbilisi
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kiefer wins gold at World Fencing Championships
Take a look at American fencer Lee Kiefer earning her first gold medal at the 2025 World Fencing Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, routing Frenchwoman Pauline Ranvier 15-4 in the final bout.
Russia Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- Russia Today
Russian athlete takes fencing world title
Russia's two-time Olympic fencing champion, Yana Egorian, has won sabre gold at the World Championships in Georgia. She was competing under a neutral banner, as the participation of Russian athletes has reportedly sparked protest, following the widespread international bans placed on them following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022 Having been recently permitted to compete in events the Russian fencing team has faced street protests and gestures from Ukrainian athletes throughout the championships in the Georgian capital Tbilisi at the weekend. Egorian however, defeated Poland's Zuzanna Cieslar in Sunday's final, and subsequently told the Russian sports channel Match TV: 'Russia, this is for you!' During the day, protesters with Ukrainian and Georgian flags held an anti-Russian rally in front of the Olympic Arena in the Georgian capital. They chanted slogans targeting athletes such as Egorian and other Central Army Sports Club (CSKA) members with military ranks under Russia's Defense Ministry, according to Interpress news. Protesters displayed provocative banners, lit firecrackers near the Russian team's hotel, and burned a Russian flag. The Russian Interests Section at the Swiss embassy in Georgia issued a statement on Telegram on Saturday in which it denounced the protests as 'Russophobic' which were intended to mobilize radicals and damage Tbilisi's reputation a host. Egorian, 31, was granted neutral competitor status in early July. She told Match TV she had been waiting six years for the competition, since her last international appearance at the 2019 world championships. Alongside Egorian, Russian fencer Kirill Borodachev and the female skewers team won silver medals. Ukrainian medalists Vlada Kharkova and Alina Komashchuk boycotted a medal photo shoot that included Borodachev and Egorian. In the run-up to the championships Ukrainian 2024 Olympic sabre champion Olga Kharlan – who did not attend the championships – demanded stricter rules for Russian neutral athletes, in an open letter published in her social media which was reportedly signed by 447 fencers. Kharlan was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for refusing to shake hands with Russia's Anna Smirnova. Moscow has repeatedly objected to restrictions placed on Russian athletes. President Vladimir Putin slammed them as 'ethnic discrimination' and a 'violation of the Olympic Charter principles against politicizing sports.'
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
World champion fencer Ryan Choi arrives home to hero's welcome in Hong Kong
World fencing champion Ryan Choi was welcomed by the press at Hong Kong International Airport on July 28, 2025 after winning the men's individual foil title at the FIE Fencing World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia on July 23.
France 24
3 days ago
- Sport
- France 24
Russia's Egorian wins world fencing gold as neutral athlete
Egorian defeated Poland's Zuzanna Cieslar 15-11 in the final in the Georgian capital. The 31-year-old, who won both the individual and team titles at the 2016 Rio Olympics, won her first world championship individual gold medal. Egorian is among the Russian and Belarusian fencers allowed to compete under a neutral banner, despite being a member of CSKA Moscow, a club historically linked to the Russian military. On Sunday, dozens of demonstrators gathered in front of the Olympic Palace in Tbilisi to protest at the participation of fencers from both countries, some of whom "are military personnel", protesters told the Interpressnews agency. In July, the International Fencing Federation (IFF) decided to simplify its procedure for granting Neutral Individual Athlete (NIA) status, allowing the return of certain fencers who had been excluded from competition following the Kremlin's Ukraine offensive. That decision sparked debate both before and during the world championships. In the other final of the day, Japan's Koki Kano, Olympic epee champion in Paris, won the title, defeating Hungary's Gergely Siklosi.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Olympic champion Kiefer finally claims world title as Georgian Bazadze makes history
July 25 (Reuters) - Local hero Sandro Bazadze made history in Tbilisi on Friday, winning Georgia's first-ever World Fencing Championships gold medal in the individual sabre event, while Olympic champion Lee Kiefer secured the United States' first gold in women's foil. Bazadze sent the home crowd into raptures as he secured a commanding 15-9 victory over France's Jean-Philippe Patrice in the final. The two-time European champion earlier dispatched Egypt's Ahmed Hesham, who upset several top seeds on his way to the semi-finals, with a 15-10 win. Meanwhile, three-time Olympic gold medallist Kiefer captured her long-awaited first individual world title with a dominant 15-4 win over France's Pauline Ranvier. She previously overcame third seed Martina Favaretto of Italy 15-10 in the semi-finals. Kiefer, 31, is aiming to become the first woman to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in foil at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The championships have been steeped in history-making performances. Earlier in the week, Hong Kong's Choi Ryan became his country's first world champion by defeating Russia's Kirill Bordodachev, competing as a neutral athlete, 15-9 in the men's foil final on Wednesday. Ukrainian Vlada Kharkova added to the drama by claiming the women's epee title in a nail-biting 15-14 victory over two-time Olympic medallist Katrina Lehis of Estonia.
