Russia unveils national fencing team bound for Beijing Olympics

(BEIJING, July 11) -- The head coach of the Russian national fencing team on July 10 unveiled the competitors who have made the final cut onto the country's Olympic delegation.

The coach made the announcement following the European Championships.

Four fencers are on the women's foil list: Eugyenia Lamonova, Aida Chanaeva, Viktoria Nikichina and Svetlana Boiko. Four are on the women's sabre list: Elena Netchaeva, Sophia Velikaia, Ekaterina Diatchenko and Ekaterina Fedorkina. Two others are on the women's epee list: Tatiana Logounova and Lubov Shutova.

Four fencers have been recruited onto Russia's Olympic sabre squad: Stanislav Pozdniakov, Alexey Yakimenko, Nikolay Kovalev and Alexei Frossine. Anton Avdeev alone was selected to participate in the men's epee.

Russia won the championship in the women's team epee at the 2004 Athens Olympiad. Tatiana Logounova, a member of the 2004 Olympic fencing squad, will also take part in the women's epee in August.

According to the Chinese Olympic Committee, fencing events at the 2008 Olympics will include individual competitions in men's and women's epee, sabre and foil, along with team competitions in men's sabre and epee, and women's foil and sabre. The men's team foil and women's team epee competitions will not be included at the Beijing Games.

Russian fencers have qualified for eight competitions in the 2008 global Games. They failed to qualify for the men's team epee and men's individual foil.