VELIKAYA Sofya

General
MOVIE
The story of her rivalry with another Russian fencer, Yana Egorian, who defeated her in the final of the women's individual sabre at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, served as a prototype for the Russian sports drama film 'On the Edge' that was released in 2020. "When I watched the film, emotions were at the limit. There was a feeling that I was re-experiencing all those events, memories came to life not only about the Olympics in Rio, I also remembered my silver [at the 2012 Olympic Games] in London, and even Beijing in 2008, where I took fourth place, and in general all my sports ups and downs for the whole sports career." (tass.ru, 26 Nov 2020)

POST-OLYMPIC PAUSE
She decided to take a break from fencing following the 2012 Olympic Games in London. She gave birth to her son and missed major international competitions in 2013. She did not compete for almost a year before returning at the 2014 World Cup event in Antalya, Turkey. She also missed the 2016/17 season after competing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (sovsport.ru, 08 Mar 2017; rusfencing.ru, 16 Mar 2014)

OTHER ROLES
She has served as head of the Athletes' Commission of the Russian Olympic Committee. (championat.com, 14 Jan 2021; teamrussia.pro, 13 Apr 2020)

FURTHER EDUCATION
She has studied at the Higher School of Cultural Policy and Administration at Moscow State University in the Russian Federation. (allsportinfo.ru, 24 Jun 2013)

She became the first athlete to be beaten in three Olympic finals in one specific fencing event [excluding team events] and the first fencer to claim three Olympic medals in the women's individual sabre when she won silver at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (SportsDeskOnline, 26 Jul 2021)