MOSCOW, June 7 /TASS/. Russia’s two-times Olympic fencing champion Sergei Sharikov, 40, has died in a car accident, a source aware of the situation told TASS.
Yelena Grishina, the spokesperson for the Russian Fencing Federation, and the Federation’s First Vice-President Stanislav Pozdnyakov have also confirmed the athlete’s death.
"Sergei Sharikov has died. We are shocked. We do not have full information so far," Grishina told TASS.
Sharikov was a member of the Russian national fencing team in 1994-2000. He won the Olympic champion title in sabre fencing in teams’ event in 1996 and 2000. He was the 1996 Olympic silver medalist in individual competitions and the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist in teams events. Sharikov won the world titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003 in team’s competitions and was the 2001 World Championships silver medalist in individual tournament. He won the 2001 World University Games both in teams and individual events. He won the Russian Championships in team’s events in 1997, 2003 and 2004.
Sharikov has been the senior coach of the Russian national team for reserve since December 2009.