Yakov Rylsky

Yakov Anufrievich Rylsky ( _ru. Яков Ануфриевич Рыльский) (born October 25 1928, in the village of Aleksandrovka, Verkhubinsky District, East Kazakhstan Province - died December 9 1999, in Moscow) [ru icon [http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/default.asp?id=131827 Article on Yakov Rylsky] in Sovetsky Sport newspaper] was a Jewish sabre fencer of the Soviet Union. He competed in three Olympiads, and won two medals for the Soviet Union's fencing team.

Fencing career

Rylsky began fencing in 1950. He was a member of the USSR National Team between 1953 and 1966. [ru icon [http://www.rusfencing.ru/history.php?act=&txt_id=2140 Profile at the Russian Fencing Federation] ]

Rylsky was the Soviet sabre champion from 1954-1958. In 1963, he was the winner of the Dantzer Cup in Paris. He was a Merited Master of Sport in the Soviet Union.

Rylsky trained at Dynamo in Moscow.cite book|title=All about Olympic Games.|author=Boris Khavin|publisher=Fizkultura i sport|edition = 2nd ed.|pages=p. 576|year=1979|location=Moscow|language=Russian]

World Championships

Rylsky was a 3-time gold medalist in individual sabre at the World Championships (1958, 1961, and 1963). [http://sports123.com/fen/mw-sa.html]

Olympics

In his first Olympic competition, at the 1956 Melbourne Games, Rylsky competed in both the individual and team sabre events. In the team competition, in the final pool Rylsky and the Soviets lost to Poland (9-7) and Hungary (9-7), but then defeated France in the 3rd-place bout to capture the bronze medal. In the individual competition, Rylsky was eliminated in the 2nd round.

At the 1960 Rome Games, Rylsky again fenced in both the individual and team events. Although the Soviets finished 5th in the team event, Rylsky advanced to the finals in the individual competition. He won his pool in the first 3 rounds and then placed 3rd in the semifinals. In the final round, he finished in 8th place (one berth behind Soviet teammate David Tyshler).

Rylsky's final Olympiad came at the 1964 Tokyo Games, where he won a gold medal in the team sabre (one of his teammates was 1968 silver medalist Mark Rakita). In the individual event, in the finals he lost in direct elimination matches and finished in 4th place.

References

Link

* [http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=RYLSKYAK01 Olympic medals]
* [http://www.jewsinsports.org/Olympics.asp?sport=olympics&ID=256 Jews in Sports bio]