ZHEREBCHENKO Dmitry

Personal Information

Family Wife Viktoriya Kovaleva, son Vsevolod [2018]

Occupation Athlete

Languages English, Russian

Higher education Law - South West State University: Kursk, RUS

License number 27061989001

Club

Upcoming Events

Sport Specific Information

When and where did you begin this sport? He began fencing in 1997 in Kurchatov, Russian Federation.

Why this sport? He became interested in the sport through books and movies.

Club / Team Central Sports Army Club [RUS] / Khimki Fencing Sports School of Olympic Reserve [RUS]:

Name of coach Ilgar Mamedov, RUS, from 2016; Lidia Safiullina [personal], RUS

Handedness Left

General Interest

Nicknames Dima (sovsport.ru, 21 Aug 2017)

Hobbies Reading. (Athlete, 06 Jun 2019)

Memorable sporting achievement Winning gold in individual foil at the 2017 World Championships in Leipzig, Germany. (Athlete, 06 Jun 2019)

Awards and honours In 2019 he received the Peak Award as one of the 10 Best Athletes of the Year in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation. (kurskcity.ru, 28 Dec 2019)

In 2017 he received the title of Honoured Master of Sport in the Russian Federation. (minsport.gov.ru, 21 Dec 2017)

Famous relatives His wife Viktoriya Kovaleva has represented the Russian Federation in fencing, winning bronze in team sabre at the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. She also competed at the 2014 World Championships in Kazan, Russian Federation. (SportsDeskOnline, 08 Apr 2022; Viktoriya Kovaleva Instagram profile, 03 Apr 2021; rusfencing.ru, 18 Apr 2019; infosport.ru, 18 Apr 2017)

Ambitions To win gold at the Olympic Games. (Athlete, 06 Jun 2019)

Other information MOTIVATION
At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Russian men's foil team won a gold medal. Zherebchenko was part of the team but did not take part in a bout. He used the disappointment as motivation and went on to win gold in individual foil at the 2017 World Championships in Leipzig, Germany. "It was hard to survive that day. From that situation, I tried to extract the maximum benefit. I began to work more and harder. If I had continued to be upset because of the missed Olympic award, then it would have been better to finish the sport. On the other hand, I gained invaluable experience. What does not break us, makes us stronger." (sovsport.ru, 21 Aug 2017)

HIATUS
In 2012 doctors told him to take some time away from the sport due to digestion problems he had. He spent about 18 months in the United States of America working as a children's coach in a fencing club, before returning to competition in 2014. (sovsport.ru, 21 Aug 2017)

FURTHER EDUCATION
He has studied adaptive physical education at the Russian State Social University. (Athlete, 28 Jun 2017)