Mark Rakita

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Mark Rakita
Personal information
Born (1938-07-22) 22 July 1938 (age 85)
Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Sport
SportFencing
Medal record
Men's
fencing
Representing  Soviet Union
Olympic Games[1][2]
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo Team sabre
Gold medal – first place 1968 Mexico City Team sabre
Silver medal – second place 1968 Mexico City Individual sabre
Silver medal – second place 1972 Munich Team sabre

Mark Semenovich Rakita (Russian: Марк Семенович Ракита; born July 22, 1938) is a famed Russian two-time Olympic champion sabreur and coach from the Soviet era.

Early life

Rakita was born in

USSR, and is Jewish.[3][4][5][6]

Fencing career

Rakita started fencing when he was 14. He would practice for three to six hours per day.

Pedagogical Institute, Rakita earned the title of Master of the Sport (Fencing) in 1964. He trained at the Armed Forces sports society. He trained under Olympian David Tishler.[8][9]

World championships

Rakita was one of the Soviet Union's top sabre fencers in the 1960s. As a member of the Soviet National team, he won the world championship in the team sabre in 1965, 1967, 1969, and 1971.[10] He won bronze medals with the team in 1962 and 1963.[10]

Rakita was also the world champion in individual sabre in 1967, and finished second in 1971.[11][10]

Olympics

Rakita participated in three Olympic Games. At the 1964 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in team sabre and competed in the individual event.[12] At the 1968 Summer Olympics, he won a silver medal in the individual event and won gold in the team event.[12] At the 1972 Summer Olympics, he competed in the team event, and won a silver medal.[13][12]

World championships

  • 1967 Individual Sabre (Gold)
  • 1967 Team Sabre (Gold)
  • 1971 Individual Sabre (Silver)

Coaching career

Rakita coached the Russian fencing team for 17 years, and four of his students won Olympic medals.[7]

At the

Sergei Sharikov and Maria Mazina to gold medals.[14]

In 2004, he was honorary president of

Maccabi Russia.[15]

Hall of Fame

In 1988 Rakita, who is

Jewish, was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[10]

Feud

In an interview in New York, Mark Rakita discussed his long-time feud with former friend/teammate turned nemesis Vladimir Nazlymov, stating, "As far as I'm concerned, he no longer exists!"[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Olympics Statistics: Mark Rakita". databaseolympics.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
  2. ^ "Mark Rakita Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
  3. ISBN 9781561710287
    – via Google Books.
  4. ISBN 9780028659282
    – via Google Books.
  5. ISBN 9780881259698
    – via Google Books.
  6. ISBN 9780706514124
    – via Google Books.
  7. ^ a b Sherwood, Andrew (18 October 2006). "TotallyJewish.com". TotallyJewish.com. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Sport in the USSR". Soviet Union magazine. March 7, 1988 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ "Soviet Military Review". Krasnaya Zvezda Publishing House. March 7, 1984 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ a b c d "Mark Rakita". www.jewishsports.net.
  11. ^ "Sports 123: Fencing: World Championships: Men: Sabre". October 13, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-10-13.
  12. ^ a b c "Mark Rakita Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". April 17, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
  13. ^ "Rakita, Mark". Jews In Sports. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  14. ^ "The Maccabiah Games History and Information". www.jewishsports.net.
  15. ^ "Russian Jewish Olympic presence dwindles". July 25, 2004.
  16. ^ Interview (in Russian)

External links

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