FENCERS from Ukraine

Top 9

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Ukrainian Fencers of all time. This list of famous Ukrainian Fencers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Grigory Kriss (b. 1940)

With an HPI of 50.26, Grigory Kriss is the most famous Ukrainian Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.

Grigory Yakovlevich Kriss (Ukrainian: Григорій Якович Крісс, Russian: Григорий Яковлевич Крисс, born 24 December 1940) is a retired Soviet Olympic épée fencer who won four Olympic medals.

2. Valentina Rastvorova (1933 - 2018)

With an HPI of 44.64, Valentina Rastvorova is the 2nd most famous Ukrainian Fencer.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Valentyna Ksenofontivna Rastvorova (Валентина Ксенофонтовна Растворова; 17 July 1933 – 24 August 2018) was a Ukrainian who was a Soviet fencer who competed in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Olympics in the individual foil and team foil events. She won an individual silver medal and team gold medal in 1960, and a team silver medal in 1964. She also won six gold and two silver medals at the world championships of 1956–67.

3. Adam Papée (1895 - 1990)

With an HPI of 41.63, Adam Papée is the 3rd most famous Ukrainian Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Adam Stanisław Papée (21 July 1895 – 6 March 1990) was a Polish fencing champion, one of pioneers of fencing in Poland.Papée was not only a sportsman, but also an official, one of founders of the Polish Fencing Association (Polski Związek Szermierczy). Between 1926 and 1930, he was the director of this association. He was four times individual champion of Poland (1926, 1927, 1929, 1932), and four times took part in the Summer Olympic Games (1924–1936), winning two bronze medals in team sabre, in Amsterdam (1928) and Los Angeles (1932). He fenced for two clubs - AZS Kraków and Legia Warszawa. After retirement from active sports, he became a coach, also wrote memoirs Na białą broń, published in 1987.

4. Vadym Gutzeit (b. 1971)

With an HPI of 40.71, Vadym Gutzeit is the 4th most famous Ukrainian Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Vadym Gutzeit (Ukrainian: Вадим Маркович Гутцайт; also Vadym Guttsayt or Vadym Markovych Huttsayt; born 6 October 1971) is a Ukrainian Olympic champion sabre fencer, and former Ukraine's Youth and Sport Minister, as well as the president of the Ukrainian Fencing Federation and the President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. He was world junior sabre champion in 1989 and 1990, fenced in three Olympic Games, was sabre team Olympic champion in 1992, won a bronze medal in the 1991 World Fencing Championships, and was the 2005 Maccabiah Games sabre champion. Since March 2020, Gutzeit has been Ukraine's Youth and Sport Minister. He has been an international referee for the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) since 2002. Gutzeit was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the FIE in 2013.

5. Olha Kharlan (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 39.21, Olha Kharlan is the 5th most famous Ukrainian Fencer.  Her biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Olha Hennadiivna Kharlan (Ukrainian: Ольга Геннадіївна Харлан; born 4 September 1990), also known as Olga Kharlan, is a Ukrainian sabre fencer. She is a four-time individual women’s world sabre champion, and a four-time Olympic medalist. She has been ranked #1 in the world in women's sabre for five years: in 2012–14, 2017–18, and 2019–21.Kharlan is also a two-time team world sabre champion, six-time individual European champion, and two-time team European champion. Also a four-time Olympian, she is a 2008 team Olympic champion, 2016 team Olympic silver medalist, and two-time individual Olympic bronze medalist. Kharlan competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2012 London Olympics, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Kharlan was inducted in the hall of fame of the International Fencing Federation (Fédération Internationale d'Escrime; FIE). She briefly pursued a political career. Competing at the 2023 World Fencing Championships in Milan, Italy, on 27 July 2023, a key ranking event for Olympic qualifying, Kharlan defeated Russian Anna Smirnova 15–7. After her defeat Smirnova extended her hand to Kharlan, who in turn extended her sabre in an offer to the Russian to tap blades. Kharlan said her choice of salute was meant as a sign of respect for her opponent, while still acknowledging the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. After a long delay during which Smirnova protested, sat on the strip for 45 minutes, and refused to move, Kharlan was ultimately black-carded and eliminated from the championship by FIE officials. The Ukrainian delegation filed an appeal. The following day, in order to compensate Kharlan for her loss of an opportunity to earn Olympic qualifying points in the individual world championship and for the humiliation of the prior day's disqualification, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach wrote that the IOC would automatically qualify her for the 2024 Summer Olympics. In addition - after consultation with the IOC - the FIE reluctantly reversed its decision barring her from the competition, opening up the opportunity for her to compete in the team world championships. However, since the individual competition had already concluded at that point, the FIE's reversal came too late to allow Kharlan to pursue her fifth world individual championship.

6. Sergei Golubitsky (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 34.16, Sergei Golubitsky is the 6th most famous Ukrainian Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Sergei Golubitsky (Ukrainian: Сергій Віталійович Голубицький, Romanization of Ukrainian Serhiy Vitaliyovych Holubyts’kyy; Russian: Серге́й Вита́льевич Голуби́цкий, tr. Sergéy Vitál’evich Golubítskiy; born 20 December 1969) is a Ukrainian fencer. He won three straight world championships in men's foil. He now lives in United States, where he runs the Golubitsky Fencing Center in Tustin, CA. He designed a fencing blade for the Leon Paul company. He wrote his autobiography in 2004, Fencing Is My Life. The book was translated into French and published in France in 2013 under the title L'escrime dans la peau.

7. Yana Shemyakina (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 29.62, Yana Shemyakina is the 7th most famous Ukrainian Fencer.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Yana Volodymyrivna Shemyakina (Ukrainian: Яна Володимирівна Шемякіна; born 5 January 1986) is a Ukrainian right-handed épée fencer, three-time Olympian, and 2012 individual Olympic champion.Shemyakina competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the 2012 London Olympic Games, and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

8. Halyna Pundyk (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 26.56, Halyna Pundyk is the 8th most famous Ukrainian Fencer.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Halyna Vasylivna Pundyk (Ukrainian: Галина Василівна Пундик; born November 7, 1987) is a Ukrainian gold medallist in sabre fencing. She was a member of the team that won the gold medal in sabre at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Ukrainian women's team won gold in the sabre final, beating Russia during the 2009 and 2010 European Fencing Championships. At the 2009 World Fencing Championships Pundyk and her teammates beat France to win gold. The team won the title "Team of the Year" at the (Ukrainian) "Sports Heroes of the Year 2009" ceremony in April 2010.Halyna's brother, Dmytro, is also a high-performance fencer.

9. Olha Zhovnir (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 25.46, Olha Zhovnir is the 9th most famous Ukrainian Fencer.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Olha Bohdanivna Zhovnir (Ukrainian: Ольга Богданівна Жовнір; born 8 June 1989) is a Ukrainian fencer and member of the team which won the gold medal in sabre at the 2008 Summer Olympics.The Ukrainian team (she has stayed a member of) won gold in the Sabre final beating Russia during the 2010 European Fencing Championship. At the 2009 World Fencing Championships Zhovnir and her teammates beat France to win gold. The team won the title "Team of the Year" at the (Ukrainian) "Sports Heroes of the Year 2009" ceremony in April 2010.