Timur Safin
Timur Marselevich Safin is a Russian foil fencer, bronze medallist in the 2014 World Championships and 2016 Olympics.Career
Safin took up fencing when he was nine years old after a coach came to make a presentation at his school. He specialized in foil, the weapon of choice in Ufa. He quickly demonstrated talent, joining the junior Russian team in 2009. He earned an individual bronze medal and a team silver medal in the 2011 U23 European Championships in Kazan. He won a team silver medal in the 2012 Junior European Championships and was crowned Junior World champion the same year in Moscow. He finished the 2011–12 season no.4 in junior world rankings. In 2013 he won a double gold medal in the U23 European Championships in Torun.
In the senior category, he made his breakthrough in the 2013–14 season. He won the Challenge Revenu after defeating in the final team Olympic champion Andrea Baldini. At the 2014 European Championships in Strasbourg, he was defeated in the table of 16 by eventual gold winner James-Andrew Davis, but in the team event he helped Russia conquer a bronze medal. In the 2014 World Championships in Kazan he made his way to the semifinals, defeating along the way German champion Peter Joppich. He lost by a single hit to world no.1 Ma Jianfei of China and came away with a bronze medal. For this performance he was named breakthrough of the year by the Russian Fencing Federation.
