Tuesday Talk - Fencing No. 2 on Olympics, World Champs, Russia's Richest Man

(ATR) The secretary general of the International Fencing Federation tells Around the Rings his sport's Olympic competition is especially difficult from a psychological standpoint.

"It's a time for surprises," says Maxim Paramonov in this wide-ranging interview conducted earlier this month at FIE headquarters in Lausanne.

Around the Rings: How are preparations coming for the fencing competition at London 2012?

Maxim Paramonov: Everything is on track and everything is going on under the control of the FIE. We have discussed some small issues which should be solved in the near future. For the moment, I see nothing to disturb us.

ATR: Are you pleased with ExCeL as the Olympic venue?

MP: Of course, and we have a special group in charge to control everything. It’s our technical director, Mr. Ioan Pop, who is personally responsible for it.

Of course, we’re in close contact with [LOCOG director of sport] Debbie Jevans and [LOCOG competition director] Hilary Philbin. We all know Debbie, and Hilary’s from the British side to be responsible for all things concerning fencing.

We successfully organized a test event [in November], which clearly showed that everything will be done during the Olympic Games on a right level.

ATR: How are ticket sales coming for the Olympic fencing competition?

MP: Tickets sales are going great. It’s sold out.

We have two sessions each day – a morning session and an evening session – and both are sold out, so we will expect to have around 9,000 spectators, each day which is about the largest number ever for Olympic fencing events.

ATR: And what about qualification for the Games?

MP: It’s a question to be answered by athletes because it’s up to us to create all the conditions for them to be comfortable.

We are in the middle, let’s say, middle final of this qualification system. Our qualification system is complicated, to be honest, because we are really strict with our wishes to be presented fully during the Olympic Games. That means we should cut every time, according to the rotation rule, two of our six team events. It means that while we have 12 total events in our world championships, we only have 10 in Olympic Games.

But it looks like everything is going well. People are trying to get enough points to be selected. Of course, the final point will be put on March 31, and then the only chance to qualify is through a sole qualifying competition.

ATR: So are there any qualification spots up for grabs at next month’s world championships in Kiev?

MP: No, the 2012 worldchampionships are for those two weapons that don’t have the team event at the Olympic Games, so we have women’s team sabre and men’s team epee. And the last world championships counted fully with double points for Olympic qualification as well.

ATR: How are Kiev’s preparations coming for the world champs?

MP: To be a native of Kiev, for me it’s a personal honor to control and to guarantee they will be on the strongest and highest level.

I just arrived from a meeting in Kiev, one of our final meetings to see that everything looks good. All guarantees from the states are maintained. It’s not our first time for the Ukrainian people to welcome such a big event, so we could be considered experienced. And this time we will not let you down.

ATR:What else is FIE up to this year? Any major sponsorships on the horizon or developmentprojects in the pipeline?

MP: We have the pleasure to have an absolutely exceptional president, Mr. Alisher Usmanov, Russia’s richest person and No. 28 on the Forbes Billionaires list, so we have a lot of money, let’s say. But to be honest, we have enough money to spend but not enough money to waste.

We have some main sponsors who are aligned with Mr. Usmanov’s company – MegaFon, a telecommunications company, for example.

And we have a specially created International Charity Fund for Future of Fencing, a sort of instrument to put our assistance to each federation.

ATR: I know a lot of Italian fencers medaled at last year’s world champs. What countries look to be the favorites for London?

MP: For London, Italians as well, as you perfectly noticed.

Of course, French fencers are strong. Russia as well. Ukraine, I wish, but it’s not really our favorite Olympic Games because our hope is aligned with a female sabre team. We placed first in Beijing.

To be honest, more and more federations are able to struggle for the top positions – China, USA as well, even Africa. We have a girl in women’s sabre now – she’s really strong. She’s in the top eight in the world from Tunisia.

The efforts of spreading fencing all over the world are really proving to be successful.

The Olympic Games are a real place for surprises. From the technical point of view, it’s not more difficult than world championships, even easier, but from the psychological point of view, it’s something special, exceptionally special. It’s a time for surprises.

Interview conducted by Matthew Grayson

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