Konstantin Lokhanov

Lokhanov was born in Aktobe, Kazakhstan. His father moved to Kazakhstan after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. ==Fencing career==

Russia; Four-time world junior champion, and Olympian (2014–21) Lokhanov began fencing when he was eight years old, inspired by watching the Soviet Musketeers and Star Wars to ask his mother to take him to learn to fence. He was ranked #1 in the world in cadet sabre in both 2014 and 2015. In 2014 he won a bronze medal at the European Cadet Championships in Jerusalem, Israel, and a bronze medal in the 2014 World Cadets Fencing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. In 2015 Lokhanov won a gold medal at the European Cadet Championships in Maribor, Slovenia, and a silver medal in the 2015 World Cadets Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Lokhanov won a bronze medal at the January 2016 Phoenix Fencing World Cup in Arizona, in the United States. Lokhanov also won a gold medal in team sabre at the 2016 World Junior Fencing Championships. That year he received the title of Master of Sport of International Class in the Russian Federation. In March 2017 he won a bronze medal in the European Junior Championships. Lokhanov won a gold medal at the October 2017 Sosnowiec World Cup in Poland, and won a bronze medal at the 2017 Plovidv World Cup in Bulgaria. Lokhanov repeated, and won the 2018 World Junior Fencing Championship in individual sabre, giving him a total of four junior world championships. He came in 7th in team sabre, and 24th in individual sabre (losing to 2018 world champion Kim Jung-hwan of South Korea). Used to winning gold medals, Lokhanov was devastated that he had not performed better at the Olympics, and upon arriving home he "lay in bed for a month, ordering food delivery." He also said "Fencing is a very small part of the life. Being human is way more." On the Fourth of July weekend, Lokhanov won the gold medal in the individual men's saber competition at the United States Summer National Championships, in which 155 competitors competed. Lokhanov said in a New York Times interview that he thought the Russian fencer might have set a trap for Kharlan, to seek the Ukrainian's disqualification. He said that on the one hand, the FIE had rules about shaking hands. On the other hand, he noted, the tapping of weapon blades—in lieu of a handshake—was the accepted acknowledgment of an opponent during the pandemic, and was still considered suitable by many fencers. Author Charlie Pierce wrote: "Both Olga Kharlan and Konstantin Lokhanov were warmly applauded for their stands in defense of Ukraine, and there certainly will be more of this as the 2024 Olympics approach." American writer Charlie Pierce described him as "living his own personal Chekhov short story for over a year." 2024–present; US Olympic Committee support for US citizenship The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and USA Fencing both wrote letters in support of Lokhanov and two other defecting Russian Olympic fencers, Sergey Bida and his wife Violetta Bida, being granted U.S. citizenship. Russian State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov called the fencers "cowards, traitors, and defectors" and "political rags." Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov said: "they were promised to be treated with some sweet cookies. The most important thing is that they don’t choke on them." Other Russian officials also pledged that there would be consequences. He says there are two main advantages to living in the United States, with one being the warm weather in San Diego. His aspiration and goal is to compete and win a medal in the Olympics for Team USA. Unless extraordinary United States government intervention is undertaken, The New York Times reported, it is unlikely that he will gain American citizenship before the 2024 Paris Olympics. Other possible alternatives are for him to find another country that will grant him citizenship in time for him to compete for the country in the 2024 Olympics, or for him to explore the possibility of competing in the 2024 Olympics for the Refugee Olympic Team. Longer-term would be the possibility of him competing in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics that will be held up the highway that runs from San Diego, where he now lives, to Los Angeles. He said: "I dream about to go for the Olympics, driving my own car." ==Personal life==

Views on Russian invasion of Ukraine Speaking about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Lokhanov said: Before the start of the war, political issues were not so pressing for me. Again, everyone will say that the war began in 2014, which is true. But I was 15 years old then. What policy? I had no time for this. There was a question about where to get chips and Coca-Cola. As an adult, I always had critical thinking, especially with regard to social issues..... Why didn't I publicly speak out against it? Because if you, for example, support Navalny, then you will not become a high-level athlete. In Russia it works like this. But with the beginning of a full-scale invasion, my worldview seemed to sharpen, everything became black and white. For me this war is unacceptable. You can't kill innocent people. She is a 2018 individual sabre world champion, 2019 team sabre world champion, and 2021 both individual sabre and team sabre Olympic champion. She is also a Russian Armed Forces athlete. He said of the Russian government: "They started the war, killing the peoples and thinking it’s normal." Her father called his daughter’s decision "the most important gift for Father’s Day." When asked about his ex-father-in-law's comment, Lokhanov said he found it both funny and unsurprising, while at the same time was not quite sure why it had been made. He then added with a smile: "I never had a scooter. I'm a big coffee lover, but not frappé." ==See also==