Mikhail Burtsev


Mikhail Ivanovich Burtsev was a Soviet sabre fencer. He won two gold medals and two silvers at three different Olympic Games.

Career

Burtsev began his fencing career in 1965; he originally fenced for Burevstnik, and later for CSKA Moscow. Burtsev was a graduate of the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism. He was named a Merited Master of Sport of the USSR in 1980.
Burtsev was one of the youngest Olympic fencing champions, being only 20 years old when he won his first gold medal in Canada in 1976. Burtsev was unable to compete at the 1984 Summer Olympics because of the Soviet boycott of those games, but went on to win the silver medal in men's team sabre in the 1988 Summer Olympics. At the 1992 Summer Olympics, he coached the Unified Team fielded by the former Soviet Union, which took the gold medal at men's team sabre.

Honours

Individual