Mark Rakita

Mark Rakita

Personal information
Born	(1938-07-22) 22 July 1938 (age 86) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Sport
Sport	Fencing
Medal record Men's fencing Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games[1][2] 1964 Tokyo Team sabre 1968 Mexico City Team sabre 1968 Mexico City Individual sabre 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 Moscow, 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.^[7] A 1969 graduate of The Daghestan State 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)

Later life

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

At the 2001 Maccabiah Games, Rakita coached Sergei Sharikov and Maria Mazina to gold medals.^[14]

In 2004, he was honorary president of Maccabi Russia.^[15]

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] Rakita also emphasized Nazlymov's Crimean Tatar heritage and called him a traitor for having moved to the United States.^[17]

Amid the ban on Russia at the 2024 Summer Olympics, which led to most Russian athletes not participating, Rakita remarked that "we should respon in a way that makes the Americans feel pain".^[17]

Hall of Fame

In 1988, Rakita was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.^[10]

See also

• List of select Jewish fencers
• List of Jewish Olympic medalists

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. Siegman, Joseph M. (March 7, 1992). The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. SP Books. ISBN 9781561710287 – via Google Books.
4. Skolnik, Fred; Berenbaum, Michael (March 7, 2007). Encyclopaedia Judaica: Nat-Per. Macmillan Reference USA. ISBN 9780028659282 – via Google Books.
5. Wechsler, Bob (March 7, 2008). Day by Day in Jewish Sports History. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. ISBN 9780881259698 – via Google Books.
6. Wigoder, Geoffrey (March 7, 1975). Everyman's Judaica: An Encyclopedic Dictionary. Keter Publishing House Jerusalem. ISBN 9780706514124 – via Google Books.
7. 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. "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. "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)
17. «Надо отвечать США так, чтобы они потели и чувствовали боль». Мнение олимпийского чемпиона. Глава тренерского совета сборной по фехтованию Ракита оценил Олимпиаду без россиян.

External links

• Jewish Sports bio
• Jewish Sports Legends bio
• International Jewish Hall of Fame bio
• "A Jewish Sporting Legend, 10/18/06