Julia Beljajeva

Julia Beljajeva
Beljajeva at the 2013 World Fencing Championships
Personal information
Born	(1992-07-21) 21 July 1992 (age 31) Tartu, Estonia
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
Sport	Fencing
Weapon	Épée
Hand	Right-handed
Club	Tartu Kalev
Head coach	Natalja Kotova
FIE ranking	current ranking
Medal record Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo Team épée World Championships 2013 Budapest Individual épée 2017 Leipzig Team épée 2014 Kazan Team épée 2017 Leipzig Individual épée European Games 2015 Baku Team épée European Championships 2013 Zagreb Team épée 2016 Toruń Team épée 2015 Montreux Team épée 2012 Legnano Team épée 2017 Tbilisi Individual épée 2018 Novi Sad Individual épée 2018 Novi Sad Team épée

Julia Beljajeva (born 21 July 1992) is an Estonian right-handed épée fencer.^[1]

Beljajeva is a two-time team European champion, 2017 team world champion, and 2013 individual world champion.

A two-time Olympian, Beljajeva is a 2021 team Olympic champion.

Beljajeva competed in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.^[2]

Career

Beljajeva took up fencing when she was ten years old at the suggestion of her aunt.^[3] Her first significant award was a bronze medal in the Nordic Cadet Championships, followed in 2008 by a silver medal, then a gold medal in 2009 in the Cadet European Championships.

In the senior category, she was a member of the Estonia team that won the bronze medal in women's team épée at 2012 European Championships in Legnano and the gold medal at the 2013 European Championships in Zagreb. Ranked 69th in the International Fencing Federation's rankings, she created an upset by defeating 15–14 world No. 1 Ana Maria Brânză in the quarter-finals of the 2013 World Fencing Championships. She then prevailed 14–13 world over No.5 Emese Szász and defeated 15–14 world No.4 Anna Sivkova to win the gold medal and Estonia's second world title in épée.^[4] She finished the 2012–13 season ranked 9th, a career best as of 2014.

In the 2013–14 season Beljajeva climbed her first World Cup with a silver medal in the Doha Grand Prix, followed by a quarter-finals placing in Barcelona. At the European Championships in Strasbourg, she lost in the second round to Switzerland's Tiffany Géroudet. In the team event, Estonia were defeated by Russia in the semi-finals, then by Italy and finished 4th. At the World Championships in Kazan she was overcome in the table of 16 by teammate Erika Kirpu, who eventually earned a bronze medal, and could not defend her title. In the team event, Estonia took their revenge against Italy in the semi-finals, prevailing 42–32, but lost to Russia in the final and ended up with a silver medal. Beljajeva finished the season No. 16.

Medal Record

Olympic Games

Year	Location	Event	Position
2021	Tokyo, Japan	Team Women's Épée	1st[5]

World Championship

Year	Location	Event	Position
2013	Budapest, Hungary	Individual Women's Épée	1st[6]
2014	Kazan, Russia	Team Women's Épée	2nd[7]
2017	Leipzig, Germany	Individual Women's Épée	3rd[8]
2017	Leipzig, Germany	Team Women's Épée	1st[9]

European Championship

Year	Location	Event	Position
2012	Legnano, Italy	Team Women's Épée	3rd[10]
2013	Zagreb, Croatia	Team Women's Épée	1st[11]
2015	Montreux, Switzerland	Team Women's Épée	2nd[12]
2016	Toruń, Poland	Team Women's Épée	1st[13]
2017	Tbilisi, Georgia	Individual Women's Épée	3rd[14]
2018	Novi Sad, Serbia	Individual Women's Épée	3rd[15]
2018	Novi Sad, Serbia	Team Women's Épée	3rd[16]

Grand Prix

Date	Location	Event	Position
2017-03-24	Budapest, Hungary	Individual Women's Épée	3rd[17]
2019-01-25	Doha, Qatar	Individual Women's Épée	1st[18]

World Cup

Date	Location	Event	Position
2014-01-17	Doha, Qatar	Individual Women's Épée	2nd[19]
2017-02-10	Legnano, Italy	Individual Women's Épée	1st[20]
2017-10-20	Tallinn, Estonia	Individual Women's Épée	3rd[21]

References

External links

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