Nikolay Anatolyevich Kovalev (Russian: Николай Анатольевич Ковалёв; born 28 October 1986) is a Russian former sabrefencer. He won a bronze medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and a gold medal in the 2014 World Championships in Kazan. He is three-times World team champion (2010, 2011 and 2013) and twice European team champion (2007 and 2012). He is now a coach in California in the United States.
Kovalev became European Junior champion in 2002 at Conegliano. He won the silver medal in the 2005 Junior World Championships at Linz, then a bronze medal in the 2006 Junior World Championships at Taebaek City.[citation needed]
In the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Kovalev advanced to the semi-finals, where he was defeated by Áron Szilágyi of Hungary. He then prevailed over Romania's Rareș Dumitrescu to come away with the bronze medal. He attributed his success to national coach Christian Bauer, who according to him introduced Russia to the world of modern fencing.[3] He received the title of "Honored Master of Sports" for his Olympic performance,[4] but did not particularly enjoy the attention it brought to him, describing the constant interviews and photo shoots as "a horror".[5]
In the 2013 World Championships in Budapest, Kovalev made his way to the semi-finals, where he defeated Áron Szilágyi. He then met teammate Veniamin Reshetnikov, who prevailed 15–13, dooming Kovalev to a silver medal. In the team event, Russia prevailed over reigning Olympic champion South Korea, then defeated Romania to take the gold medal. During the event Kovalev was also elected a member of the International Fencing Federation's athlete commission.[6]
As of 2024, he is a coach at West Coast Fencing Academy in Southern California in the United States.[7]
