Valentina Prudskova

Valentina Prudskova

Prudskova at the 1960 Olympics
Personal information
Born	(1938-12-27)27 December 1938 Yershov, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died	23 August 2020(2020-08-23) (aged 81)[1] Saratov, Russia
Height	1.59 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight	51 kg (112 lb)
Sport
Sport	Fencing
Club	Burevestnik Saratov[2]
Coached by	Mikhail Sazonov[3]
Retired	1968[3]
Medal record Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1960 Rome Foil, team 1964 Tokyo Foil, team World Fencing Championships 1958 Philadelphia Foil, team 1961 Turin Foil, team 1965 Paris Foil, team 1966 Moscow Foil, team 1959 Budapest Foil, team 1962 Buenos Aires Foil, team 1965 Paris Foil, individual

Valentina Aleksandrovna Prudskova (Russian: Валентина Александровна Прудскова; 27 December 1938 – 23 August 2020) was a Soviet fencer.^[4] She won gold in the women's team foil event at the 1960 Summer Olympics and a silver in the same event at the 1964 Summer Olympics.^[5][6]

Prudskova's mother, Zinaida Nikolaevna Prudskova, was a farmer and housewife. Her father, Aleksandr Petrovich Prudskov, worked at railways and fought in the Winter War and World War II; he died of pneumonia in 1950, aged 40. Shortly after that, his family moved from Yershov to Saratov, where Prudskova started training in fencing, together with her cousin. Her career advanced in 1954 when she won her first national title.^[3]

Prudskova was a member of the Soviet foil team from 1957^[3] to 1966. During those years she won four gold and two silver team medals at the world championships, as well as one individual bronze.^[2] In 1962 she graduated from Saratov State Technical University with a degree in metal processing and then until 1969 worked at a metalworking plant in Saratov. After that she coached fencing at a sport school.^[3] She was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honour and Medal "For Labour Valour".^[7]

Prudskova had a daughter, Marina, who worked as an arts teacher.^[3]

References

1. Simonova, Olga (23 August 2020). "Умерла олимпийская чемпионка по фехтованию Валентина Прудскова". saratov.kp.ru. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
2. Прудскова Валентина Александровна. Olympic Encyclopedia (2006)
3. Syachinova, Svetlana (5 October 2015) Победить и быть как все. Obschestvennoe Mnenie (interview in Russian)
4. "Valentina PRUDSKOVA – Olympic Fencing | USSR". International Olympic Committee. 12 June 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
5. "Olympics Statistics: Valentina Prudskova". databaseolympics.com. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
6. "Valentina Prudskova Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
7. Прудскова Валентина Александровна. Saratov State Technical University