Sofia Stanislavovna Pozdniakova is a Russian right-handed sabre fencer, 2018 individual world champion, 2019 team world champion, 2021 individual Olympic champion, and 2021 team Olympic champion. She is a Russian Armed Forces athlete, and her clubs are the Russian Central Sports Army Club and the Novosibirsk Regional Fencing Sports School of Olympic Reserve. In January 2024, she was included in the list of proxies of presidential candidate Vladimir Putin in the 2024 Russian presidential election.
Pozdniakova in 2021
Pozdniakova with Vladimir Putin in 2021
Stanislav Alekseyevich Pozdnyakov is the Russian president of the Russian Olympic Committee. He is a former fencer, five-time Olympian (1992–2008), and five-time Olympic medalist in individual and team sabre competitions. He was also a ten-time individual and team world champion, in 1994–2007. In 2022, he was removed from his position as European Fencing Confederation (EFC) President at an Extraordinary Congress following a unanimous vote of no confidence in Pozdnyakov, due to his conduct in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The "Olympic Athletes from Russia" neutral delegation for the 2018 Winter Olympics that Pozdnyakov managed, with Vladimir Putin.