- Mark Rakita
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Mark Rakita Personal information Born 22 July 1938
Moscow, RussiaSport Sport Fencing Medal recordMens' fencing Competitor for 
Soviet UnionOlympic Games[1][2] Gold 1964 Tokyo Team sabre Gold 1968 Mexico City Team sabre Silver 1968 Mexico City Individual sabre Silver 1972 Munich Team sabre Mark Semenovich Rakita (Russian: Марк Семенович Ракита; born July 22, 1938, in Moscow, USSR) is a famed Russian sabreur and coach from the Soviet era.
Contents
Fencing career
Rakita started fencing at 14. He practiced daily for between three – six hours a day.[2] A 1969 graduate of The Daghestan State Pedagogical Institute, Rakita earned the title of Master of the Sport (Fencing) in 1964. He trained at the Armed Forces sports society.
World championships
Rakita was one of the Soviet Union's top sabre fencers in the 1960s. As a member of the Soviet National team, he won the world championship in the team sabre in 1965, 1967, 1969, and 1971.
Rakita was also the world champion in individual sabre in 1967, and finished second in 1970.[3]
Olympics
One of the best sabre fencers in the world in the 1960s, Rakita competed in 3 Olympiads for the Soviet Union.
At the 1964 Tokyo Games, he competed in both the individual and team events, and helped the Soviets capture the gold medal in the team competition (one of his teammates was Yakov Rylsky). In the individual sabre, Rakita was eliminated from the competition in the 3rd round by eventual gold medalist Tibor Pezsa (10–6).
Four years later at the 1968 Mexico City Games, Rakita returned to the Olympics and again competed in the individual and team sabre events. In the individual competition he captured the silver medal. In the team competition, the Soviets repeated as champions by defeating the Italians for the gold medal.
Rakita's final Olympic appearance occurred in 1972 at the Munich Games when he won his 4th Olympic medal. Competing exclusively in the team event, Rakita took the silver medal; one of his teammates in 1968 and 1972 was Eduard Vinokurov.
World championships
- 1967 Individual Sabre (Gold)
- 1967 Team Sabre (Gold)
- 1971 Individual Sabre (Silver)
Coaching career
After he stopped fencing, he spent 17 years coaching the country’s up-and-coming talent, helping four Russians to Olympic medals.[4]
Hall of Fame
In 1988 Rakita, who is Jewish, was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[3]
Feud with Vladimir Nazlymov
In an interview in New York, Mark Rakita discussed his long time feud with former friend/teammate turned nemesis Vladimir Nazlymov. Rakita: "As far as I'm concerned, he no longer exists!" Interview (in Russian)
See also
References
- ^ "Olympics Statistics: Mark Rakita". databaseolympics.com. http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=RAKITMAR01. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
- ^ "Mark Rakita Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ra/mark-rakita-1.html. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
- ^ [1]
External links
Categories:- 1938 births
- Living people
- Soviet fencers
- Russian Jews
- Jewish fencers
- Olympic fencers of the Soviet Union
- Fencers at the 1964 Summer Olympics
- Fencers at the 1968 Summer Olympics
- Fencers at the 1972 Summer Olympics
- Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union
- Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union
- Olympic medalists in fencing
- Sportspeople from Moscow
- Soviet Jews
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