Yakov Anufrievich Rylsky (25 October 1928 – 9 December 1999) was an Olympic champion and three-time world champion Russian sabre fencer who competed for the Soviet Union. He took part in three Olympic Games and won two medals in the team events.

Early life

Rylsky was born in Aleksandrovka, Russian SFSR to a Russian mother and Jewish father.

Fencing career

Rylsky began fencing in 1949. He was a member of the USSR national team between 1953 and 1966. Rylsky was the Soviet sabre champion from 1954 to 1958. In 1963, he won the Dantzer Cup in Paris. Rylsky achieved the title of the Russian Merited Master of Sport, the highest honour given to Soviet athletes. Rylsky trained at Dynamo in Moscow.

World championships

Rylsky had won three gold medals in the individual sabre at the World Fencing Championships (1958, 1961 and 1963).

Olympics

Rylsky competed in the individual and team sabre events at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. In the team competition, the Soviet team lost to Poland (7–9) and Hungary (7–9) in the final pool, and subsequently won the bronze medal by beating France in the third-place match. Rylsky was eliminated in the second round of the individual competition. He participated in individual and team events at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. The Soviets finished fifth in the team event, and Rylsky reached the finals in the individual competition, finishing eighth overall. In Rylsky's final Olympiad appearance, at 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo, he won the gold medal in the team sabre event. Rylsky then finished fourth in the individual event.

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