Competitive Fencing Activities at Different Stages of Preparation:

Features and Consequences in the Context of COVID-19

V. A. Britskiy

and K. Yu. Simonova

Siberian State University of Physical Education and Sports, Omsk, Russian Federation

Keywords: Competitions, Fencing, Sports, Covid 19, Preparation, International Federation.

Abstract: This study addresses the content of fencers’ competitive activities, analyze the organization and conduct of

competitions, taking into account COVID-19, content of regulations of the International Fencing Federation,

Fencing Federation of Russia, Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation and others responsible

organizations for fencing competitions affecting all aspects of competitive activity. Problems of competitions’

holding changes nowadays related to restrictions COVID-19, athletes’ preparation for different levels

competitions are considered. Factors of COVID-19 extension, which radically influenced the structure

organization and content of competitive activities in fencing are revealed.

1 INTRODUCTION

Sports fencing is a dynamic, spectacular sport that has

long traditions, fights are held in three types of

weapons, competitions in each form are held in

personal and team competitions (Britsky, 2021).

Fencing is characterized by small and accurate

weapon movements and light maneuvers. From time

to time, long-term attacks are made with the force of

the blade on the enemy's weapons and subsequent

attempts at injection into the torso or leg, after which

close combat often ensues (Dakhnovsky, 2017). The

unpredictability of events associated with the

outbreak of COVID-19 virus has affected all spheres

of life and sports, unfortunately, there was no

exception. Since March 2020, and to date, we have

seen an avalanche-like phenomenon of the

cancellation or transfer of sporting events of various

levels from interregional competitions to the Olympic

Games. Outbreak of new and dangerous virus raised

important questions for sports industry on its

adaptation to current realities. Finding and

developing solutions to overcome all the

consequences: practical, how we will prepare in terms

of the content and organization of the training

process, competitive activities, socio-economic

consequences that inevitably arose, as well as legal

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6762-6049

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7489-2318

and legal aspects of the pandemic. Sports fencing in

the modern world is characterized by constant growth

of popularity both in traditional "fencing" countries

and in new ones, which, starting especially from the

21st century and to the present, firmly occupy a

prominent place in competitive at the same time, we

must note several significant factors: fencing is

expensive from the point of view of ammunition and

equipment and at the same time inexpensive as a

commercial project, sport. Also international fencing

is a good global project where international starts of

different levels take place around the world. Sports

peak of fencing world are Olympic games, as

quintessence of all sports confrontation. It is the

paralysis of the entire international sporting

movement, which has particularly painfully affected

fencing, which has affected the competitive activity

of all its sides. This makes our study important and

relevant.

2 RESEARCH METHODS

The main research methods were:

 analysis of literature on the problem of research

and sources devoted to the study of the

Britskiy, V. and Simonova, K.

Competitive Fencing Activities at Different Stages of Preparation: Features and Consequences in the Context of COVID-19.

DOI: 10.5220/0011119800003439

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Scientiﬁc and Practical Conference "COVID-19: Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals" (RTCOV 2021), pages 311-316

ISBN: 978-989-758-617-0

311

structure of modern international sports

fencing;

 analysis of materials, regulatory acts that

regulate the content and regulation of

competitive activities.

3 STUDY RESULTS AND

DISCUSSION

Olympic and university sports are organically

integrated into the general social space, which implies

the most active interaction with all phenomena,

processes and trends characteristic of society as a

whole (Mikhalev and Recutina, 2014). In the field of

the sports industry, in March 2020 there was a

"perfect storm," all sports events were consistently

canceled... "The Ministry of Sports of Russia

recommends that all-Russian sports federations and

executive authorities of the constituent entities of the

Russian Federation in the field of physical culture and

sports cancel or postpone all official sports

competitions in the Russian Federation from March

21, 2020 until a special order. The Ministry of Sports

of Russia also recommends excluding the

participation in all physical and sports events of

athletes, coaches and other specialists from the

constituent entities of the Russian Federation, in

which... " (The official website of the fencing

federation of Russia).

At the moment, in connection with the current

situation of COVID-19, the authorities of an

increasing number of countries are making

appropriate decisions. These decisions include

cancellation/postponement of competitions, entry

restrictions, mandatory quarantines, flight

cancellations, etc. FIE (International Fencing

Federation) in March 2020 stated the impossibility of

holding international competitions and holding the

Olympic selection "thus, March 11 and 12, 2020...

Immediate suspension of all international

competitions for a period of 30 days. The decision to

resume the competition will be made during this

thirty-day period (The official website of the fencing

federation of Russia).

The next XXXII Summer Olympic Games were

to be held in Tokyo from July 22 to August 9, 2020,

but, in connection with the incident of the COVID-19

coronavirus pandemic, they were forced to be

postponed for almost one year. The International

Olympic Committee (IOC) has approved new dates

of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo -

competitions will be held from July 23 to August 8,

2021 (The official website of the fencing federation

of Russia).

The postponement of the Olympic Games to 2021

significantly influenced the entire structure of

competitions in the international sports movement.

"For months, the world has been hit hard by the

COVID-19 pandemic. I encourage all fencers,

federations and the fencing family to continue to

follow the recommendations of WHO and your

countries After the International Olympic Committee

announced the new dates for the Tokyo Olympic

Games, the FIE Executive Committee made the

following decisions:

Given the global situation with COVID-19, it was

decided to cancel all competitions, scheduled for

April, May and June 2020, also as recommended by

the FIE Medical Commission.

Selection for the Tokyo Olympics and the results

and qualifications obtained until March 2020 are

preserved. Ratings are "frozen" and will be activated

as soon as we can hold the last subsequent

competitions included in the Olympic selection and

which have been postponed.” (The official website of

the fencing federation of Russia).

Thus, the pandemic by May 2020 stopped all

fencing competitions around the world. Competitions

were either postponed or canceled due to the

impossibility of holding. According to the

methodological recommendations of

Rospotrebnadzor (Russian Federal Service for the

Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare) and

the Ministry of Sports, the training process of fencers

in the Russian Federation took place in an online

format (in many youth sports schools until the

beginning of 2021). On June 10, the Federation of

fencing of Russia (FFR) Executive Committee stated:

"FEDERATION OF FENCING OF RUSSIA

COACHING COUNCIL Online conference in the

program" Zoom "June 10, 2020 where I.Ya.

Mammedov asked senior arms trainers to talk about

the training process as part of self-isolation. Senior

arms coaches and coaches from various regions

working with the Russian national team reported that

during the period of self-isolation they systematically

worked in the format of online training. As

restrictions are lifted in various regions of the

country, coaches and athletes gradually return to the

usual mode of work, observing anti-epidemic safety

measures. Rakita M.S. thanked everyone for their

participation and noted the convenience of holding a

meeting of the coaching council in the online format

"(The official website of the fencing federation of

Russia). For athletes not included in the national

teams, classes were held in an online format in

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accordance with the recommendations of the Ministry

of Sports and sports schools; especially this was

relevant for athletes in the initial stages of

preparation. The absence of a normal training

process, special training is especially important for

fencing "the most effective working poses and

dynamic models in modern fencing were formed by

centuries-old traditions, which culminated in a variety

of posture control, defense, attack and foot work

techniques (Rules of the sport "Fencing", 2019). No

home and online workouts can replace the training

and competitive process. The change in the planned

schedules of training and competitions affected

absolutely all fencer athletes around the world.

In July 2020, the International Fencing Federation

(FIE), the Executive Committee of this Federation,

adopted a number of measures, primarily of a

financial nature. An emergency plan of 1 million

Swiss francs has been adopted: " the

recommendations received and the potential risks in

order to develop a plan of further action and make

appropriate decisions were analyzed..." but protecting

the health of our athletes and all members of the

fencing family, as well as creating equal and

reasonable conditions for all parties, are priority over

all other arguments. Finally, I suggested that the

Executive Committee implement an unprecedented

support plan with a budget of SAR 1,000,000 francs

to help you overcome this crisis (The official website

of the fencing federation of Russia). It is worth noting

that the budget of the International Fencing

Federation for 3 terms of the presidency of Alisher

Usmanov increased 5 times. The amount of

investments of personal funds and funds associated

with A.Usmanov during this time, according to

various sources, is approaching $100 million. The

decision on emergency support can be called a rescue

from bankruptcy and other problems, since the FIE

was supposed to receive $16.3 million for

participating in the last Olympics, which is

approximately 75% of the entire budget of the

Federation. And naturally in 2020 FIE did not receive

this money (The official website of the fencing

federation of Russia). In fact, fencing, as one of many

Olympic disciplines, largely forms the budget for

money received from the IOC. Unfortunately, having

the opportunity to conclude commercially interesting

contracts and earn money on it. In this regard, we note

important aspects of the decision of the FIE Executive

Committee:

- FIE Global Assistance Plan for COVID-19 The

assistance plan, which has a budget of one million

Swiss francs, will be implemented as follows:

Assistance to all federations and confederations: A

one-time grant of 4.000 Swiss franc paid to all

federations and confederations to compensate for the

potential loss of local subsidies; Cancellation of

payment of the annual fee for 2020, and, if the

federations have already paid it, postponement to

2021; Assistance to the organizers of the competition

in 2020-2021; Cancellation of payment of all

organizational fees for the 2020- 2021 season, as well

as for the period from January to March 2020; help

(in the amount of 1000 euros) to all judges appointed

by FIE for the 2019-2020 season. In addition, a

financial subsidy for 1 athlete from each federation,

intended for participation in the 2020 world

championship among juniors and cadets, will be

allocated for participation in the 2021 zonal junior

championship. This global plan is an addition to the

annual FIE assistance programs; transfer of World

Championships, as well as Olympic selection to 2021.

Note that the international season was resumed

from January 1, 2021. Prior to this, national

federations have held competitions since the fall of

2021, taking into account COVID-19 protocols and

the requirements of authorities in different countries.

This was done in order to ensure equal opportunities

for all athletes to be selected for the Tokyo Games.

The organization of competitive activities in the

current conditions in the Russian Federation is

regulated by the organization and conduct of official

physical and sports events in the Russian Federation

in the conditions of maintaining the risks of the spread

of COVID-19, approved by the Ministry of Sports of

Russia and Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service for the

Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare) on

July 31, 2020 (with changes and additions). In fact,

this act regulates the content and organization of

training and competitive activities, with the specifics

of each region (The official website of the fencing

federation of Russia). According to the rules of the

competition in the sport "fencing":... 1. Competition

doctor: - monitors compliance with sanitary and

hygienic standards established for competition

venues; - checks compliance with the requirements of

sports and technical applications submitted to the

mandate commission; - ensures the provision of first

aid to participants, trainers, representatives, judges,

maintenance personnel for injuries and diseases "(The

official website of the fencing federation of Russia).

However, these requirements since the fall of 2020

have been quite difficult to fulfill when organizing

training and competitive activities. Each region

introduced its own rules and restrictions. Let us give

a simple example when sports schools in Moscow in

fencing (not all) were able to accept children only in

February 2021, sports schools in other regions,

Competitive Fencing Activities at Different Stages of Preparation: Features and Consequences in the Context of COVID-19

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including the Moscow region, have already worked.

Competitions were held in different regions, national

teams since the summer of 2020, were at training

camps in different regions. For example, the

championship of Russia less than 15 years old, in the

city of Togliatti, from October 6-15, 2020, was

canceled due to the lack of equal conditions for the

competition. The Cup of Russia in Smolensk was also

canceled from December 20-26, 2020 and a number

of other competitions were canceled "due to the

worsening epidemiological situation..." For all

competitions rules of admission of athletes were

developed, which began to include some points: "An

information letter about the All-Russian sword

fencing competitions among men and women on

October 25 and 26, 2020. The mandatory requirement

for participating in competitions is the availability of

an FFR athlete's certificate, medical application and

insurance, as well as the availability of a certificate

(PCR, absence of COVID-19 virus) with results not

earlier than 3 calendar days. If they are absent,

athletes are not allowed to the tournament. PCR

certificates and individual protective equipment

(coverings and gloves) are also necessary for team

representatives, coaches, judges and spectators.

Contactless thermometry will be organized for all

those entering the sports facility "(The official

website of the fencing federation of Russia).

"RUSSIAN FENCING CHAMPIONSHIP AMONG

MEN AND WOMEN IN 2021. 3. The mandatory

requirement is the presence of a certificate (PCR,

absence of COVID-19 virus) with the results not

earlier than 3 calendar days or a certificate with the

results of quantitative analysis confirming the

presence of antibodies IgG in an amount of more than

15 OE/ml, obtained not earlier than two months. If

they are absent, athletes are not allowed to the

Russian Championship. PCR certificates (or

certificates with the results of quantitative analysis)

and individual protective equipment (masks and

gloves) are also necessary for team representatives,

coaches, judges and spectators. Contactless

thermometry will be organized for all those entering

the sports facility "(The official website of the fencing

federation of Russia). Information letter on the All-

Russian sword fencing competitions among men and

women on May 24-28, 2021. "The mandatory

requirement for participating in competitions is: -

availability of a certificate (PCR, absence of COVID-

19 virus) with obtaining results no earlier than 3

calendar days before the start of the competition; or -

a certificate confirming the presence of antibodies

IgG to SARS-COV-2 received two months before the

start of the competition; or having a vaccination

certificate confirming the administration of the two

vaccine components. If at least one of the above

documents is not provided, athletes are not allowed to

participate in the tournament "(The official website of

the fencing federation of Russia). Competitions held

at the end of 2021 include requirements for the

presence of antibodies obtained no earlier than a

month IgG or even some regions require participants

only over 18 years old to be allowed to have a

vaccination certificate (Krasnodar Territory).

Olympic Games and International Competitions

in 2021.

The international federation faced great

difficulties in holding the necessary competitions for

selection for the Olympic Games. Due to the inability

to hold in 2020, it had to be accommodated until April

2021, many countries and cities could not hold them

in 2021, but since the Olympic Games were not

canceled. Several factors dictated the change in

requirements for participants in competitions and the

conditions for admission of athletes: the

epidemiological situation in the country and regions,

the requirements of regional authorities and

Rospotrebnadzor. All training and competitive

activity has become a hostage to this situation, which

is constantly changing. Participation in the Olympic

Games and international starts required athletes and

the Federation to organize a training and competitive

process to complete the selection for the games,

organize medical control, test for the COVID-19,

isolate athletes and coaches for the preparation

period. So, the Russian Championship among juniors

in Vyborg and cases of infection of coronovirus

infection among its participants raised the issue of

participation of candidates from Russia for the World

Championship among cadets 2021 in Cairo. The next

competition in Suzdal was removed from the

selection system in order to minimize the risks for

potential candidates for the trip. Athletes applying for

a trip to Tokyo and an expanded team that

participated in the preparation of the team for the

Olympics were vaccinated and in fact the pre-

Olympic training was held in isolation and limited

contacts for potential participants. All athletes

underwent multi-stage testing on COVID-19 and at

the Olympic Games COVID-19 did not interfere with

the brilliant performance of Russian fencers. As

throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the process of

preparation and competition in Russia and in the

world has an element of unpredictability depending

on the pandemic situation. Sports schools and the

training process in them take place in conditions of

restrictions and recommendations of

Rospotrebnadzor, which imposes an imprint on the

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training process. Competitions at the regional level

face organizational and medical force majeure.

International competitions are held in accordance

with the recommendations and rules in these

countries. The 2021 World Fencing Championship

was postponed to 2022 and will be held as planned in

Cairo Egypt, the reason for the transfer was the

transfer of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Competitive activity, an important and integral part

of training athletes at all stages of preparation. The

pandemic COVID-19 caused paralysis in all the

sports industry, competitions around the world were

canceled, training in the usual format was banned

until the rules were developed and the "interaction"

with the new coronavirus infection was understood.

Fencing competitions of different levels are held

around the world and after the suspension of the

competition, then International competitions were

canceled until January 1, 2021. The postponement of

the Olympic Games, in addition to the sports one,

dealt a serious financial blow to FIE and a national

federation, since the financial stability of FIE depends

on IOC deductions. In many ways, FIE managed to

maintain financial stability and stability at the

expense of its president and emergency decisions and

financial assistance adopted by the executive

committee, which allowed to mitigate the effects of

the coronavirus.

COVID-19 made dramatic changes to the rules of

the competition. Admission of athletes and made

adjustments in particular medical admission and

control of athletes, spectators, judges. Changes occur

constantly depending on the current situation with

COVID-19, in a particular country and local

legislation. There is a constant adjustment of

requirements for athletes participating in

competitions and organizers. The uncertainty of the

rules for organizing the training and competitive

process, starting from the NP groups in the youth

sports school to the national teams, introduces

uncertainty in the slender process of training athletes.

In fact, vaccination, as for adult athletes, becomes the

main factors in admission to the opportunity to play

sports. However, the unpredictability with the spread

of COVID-19, the lack of study of this virus, the

inability to predict how this virus will behave further

in the human population, the jump in the number of

infections leads to a misunderstanding of how to

further plan and establish new "rules of the game" of

the functioning of the sports industry, including

fencing, taking into account COVID-19. This has

never happened in the history of world sports, when

the unpredictability of the virus and the inability to

take control of it became a huge challenge for

everyone.

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