Alexander Choupenitch
| File:Choupenitch v Trani 2014 CIP t101417.jpg Choupenitch at the 2014 Paris World Cup | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Czech |
| Born | 2 May 1994 Brno, Czech Republic |
| Home town | Brno |
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) |
| Weight | 90 kg (198 lb) |
| Fencing career | |
| Sport | Fencing |
| Country | File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic |
| Weapon | foil |
| Hand | right-handed |
| Club | Sokol Brno 1 |
| FIE ranking | current ranking |
Medal record | |
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Alexander Choupenitch (Czech pronunciation: [ˈalɛksandr̩ ˈʃupɛɲɪtʃ]; born 2 May 1994) is a Czech right-handed foil fencer, two-time Olympian, and 2021 individual Olympic bronze medalist.[1]
Early life
[edit | edit source]Choupenitch is the son of Belarusian-born opera singers who both worked at National Theatre Brno. The unusual form of his name – Choupenitch instead of Šupenič – is due to the fact that papers issued to his parents for travelling through Europe used a French spelling.[2]
His first sport, basketball, left him frustrated as he seldom got to touch the ball, so his mother took him to the fencing section of Sokol Brno when he was eight.[3] He later learnt that his step-grandmother, Tatyana Petrenko-Samusenko, was a three-time Olympic foil champion for the USSR.[4] Foil was the only option offered at the club, but he later explained that foil is indeed his favourite weapon, being the more realistic and striking the best balance between sabre's speed and épée's tactics.[5] His first coach was Dmitri Romankov, who also trained Belarusian fencer Siarhei Byk.[4]
Choupenitch's other favourite sports are association football and ice hockey.[6] He also plays the piano. Choupenitch interrupted his studies at the Masaryk University in Brno to focus on sport, and gained a sponsorship from Red Bull in 2015.[7]
Career
[edit | edit source]At the beginning of the 2013–14 season Choupenitch transferred from Sokol Brno to CS Fides in Livorno, Italy, to train under Paolo Paoletti.[8] He reached the final at the A Coruña World Cup before being defeated by China's Ma Jianfei and ended up with a silver medal.[9] His victory during the tournament over Olympic champion Andrea Baldini encouraged him to believe he could become a champion in his own right.[5] A few weeks later, he lost against Ma Jianfei in the Venice Grand Prix, this time in the semi-final, and took a bronze medal.[10]
In the 2014–15 season, Choupenitch won a silver medal at the Shanghai Grand Prix, losing in the final to the USA's Miles Chamley-Watson.[11] He also represented the Czech Republic at the 2024 Summer Olympics, earning a bronze medal.[12]
Personal life
[edit | edit source]Choupenitch can speak Czech, English, Italian, and Russian.[1] He also releases rap music apart from fencing.[13]
Medal record
[edit | edit source]Olympic Games
[edit | edit source]| Year | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Japan Tokyo, Japan | Individual Men's Foil | 3rd[14] |
| 2024 | France Paris, France | 3rd[12] |
European Championship
[edit | edit source]| Year | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Serbia Novi Sad, Serbia | Individual Men's Foil | 3rd[15] |
| 2024 | Switzerland Basel, Switzerland | 3rd |
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Grand Prix
[edit | edit source]| Date | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 March 2014 | Italy Venice, Italy | Individual Men's Foil | 3rd[16] |
| 15 May 2015 | China Shanghai, China | 2nd[17] |
World Cup
[edit | edit source]| Date | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 February 2014 | Spain A Coruña, Spain | Individual Men's Foil | 2nd[18] |
References
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External links
[edit | edit source]
- Alexander Choupenitch at the International Fencing Federation
- Alexander Choupenitch at the European Fencing Confederation (archive)
- Alexander Choupenitch at Olympics.comLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
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- Profile at Red Bull official website
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- 1994 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Brno
- Czech people of Belarusian descent
- Czech male fencers
- Olympic fencers for the Czech Republic
- Fencers at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics
- Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- European Games competitors for the Czech Republic
- Fencers at the 2015 European Games
- Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic
- Olympic medalists in fencing
- Fencers at the 2023 European Games
- Fencers at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- 21st-century Czech sportsmen