Violetta Bida

She was born in Novokuibyshevsk, a small town in Samara, Russia. She began in ballet, ballroom dancing, and rhythmic gymnastics, before taking up fencing at the age of 12. She like fencing immediately. As she recalled later: "At the first training session, they showed me a fencing stance, and immediately put me in a match with my twin sister. I remembered all my childhood grievances, and threw them out on the path." "I really liked it,” she laughed. Within two years, she was competing on junior national teams. She initially met her husband, Olympic épée fencer Sergey Bida, when they were kids at fencing training camps. At the time she mostly found him annoying, and jokes now: "Some days, I remember how I hated him." They married in February 2023. ==Fencing career==

Russia 2010–15; World U-20 Championships gold medal She fenced in Russia with the Samara Fencing Club. In November 2010 she won the gold medal in the Grenoble Epee Women's U17 Team tournament in France. In November 2011, she won a silver medal in the Bratislava Fencing World Cup in Slovakia. In December 2012, she won a silver medal in the Uhlmann World Cup in Laupheim, Germany, losing only to Katrina Lehis of Estonia. In 2012/2013, she was ranked 5th in the world among juniors (U20). In June 2013, she won a gold medal in épée team at the European U-23 Championships. In May 2014 she won a bronze medal in the Warsaw U23 European Epee Women's Senior Individual tournament in Poland. Up until the time she left Russia, she was paid a salary for being a member of the Russian national fencing team. On December 27, 2023, the Russian state-run newspaper Pravda reported that she and her husband had been put on the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs "wanted list for escaping to USA." While Russia issued warrants for the couple's arrest, Pravda reported that it was unclear what Russian criminal code the Russian government had accused the Bidas of violating. At the same time, the Russian press wrote that the fencers faced up to 10 years in prison in Russia. 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." Soviet-Russian former four-time Olympic champion biathlete Alexander Tikhonov called the Bidas traitors to Russia. Other Russian officials also pledged that there would be consequences. The couple now lives in a one-bedroom apartment, as they await the birth of their first child, and teach children at the local fencing club. Commenting on the reception she and her husband have received at their fencing club in the United States, she said: "They created a baby shower for us. For me, it was really the first time that I understood how people can be generous to other people." In January 2024, asked in an interview by USA Today about the possibility of her and her husband representing the United States, she responded: "We're ready." Later in the interview she added: "When I stepped on American soil, I started feeling freedom." ==See also==