Vladimir Lapitsky (born 18 February 1959) is a Soviet‑born fencer who specialized in foil. He competed for the Soviet Union and earned a silver medal in the men’s team foil event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
Early life
Lapitsky was born in Grodno, then part of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (now Belarus).
Fencing career
- World Championships: He was a member of the Soviet team that won the world title in team foil in 1979.
- Olympic Games: At the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Lapitsky, together with teammates Vladimir Smirnov, Alexander Romankov, Sabirjan Ruziyev and Ashot Karagyan, secured the silver medal in the men’s team foil competition.
- Coaching: One of his coaches was Mikhail Zolotaryov.
- Notable incident: During a bout with Polish fencer Bogusław Zych, Lapitsky suffered a serious injury when Zych’s foil broke and penetrated the soft tissue of his back, passing close to his heart without causing fatal damage.
Later reports
A 2017 interview with fellow fencer Alexander Romankov mentioned that Lapitsky had been killed in Rostov; however, no independent verification of this claim is available, and his current status remains uncertain.
Legacy
Lapitsky is remembered as part of the Soviet fencing contingent that achieved significant success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, particularly at the 1980 Olympic Games.
Sources
- Wikipedia entry “Vladimir Lapitsky,” accessed via Jina AI mirror of the English Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lapitsky).