Vladimir Nazlymov

Vladimir Aliverovich Nazlymov (born November 1, 1945) (Владимир Аливерович Назлымов) is a Soviet-born former sabre fencer, and coach for the USSR and later the United States, to which he moved in 1991. As a colonel in the Soviet Red Army, he won three team Olympic sabre gold medals, and was the head coach of the Soviet Union Military Fencing Team for 14 years. He then coached in the United States, notably for Ohio State University, from which he retired in lieu of termination during an NCAA investigation that found him guilty of aggravated level I violations, sanctioned him, and vacated a number of records of the team and its members. He now serves as a coach at the Nazlymov Fencing Foundation, which was founded by his son and daughter-in-law.

Early years
Nazlymov was born in Makhachkala, Daghestan, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. He said in an interview that when he was a child, he was "not a nice kid," and was constantly in trouble. In an interview in New York, Russian two-time Olympic sabre champion and coach Mark Rakita discussed his long-time feud with Nazlymov, his teammate at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics, stating: "As far as I'm concerned, he no longer exists!"

He graduated from the Faculty of Physical Education of the Dagestan State Pedagogical Institute in 1969 as a teacher.

Nazlymov served 25 years in the Soviet Red Army, where he was a colonel. He was in a special regimen where he was able to fence with the CSKA Moscow Central Army Sports Club team in Moscow, a department of the Russian Defense Ministry.

Competitive years; Olympics and awards


Nazlymov began fencing in Makhachkala. Competing for the Soviet Union, he was a three-time Olympic team gold medalist (1968, 1976, 1980), team silver medalist (1972), and individual silver and bronze medalist (1976, 1972). In addition, he was an 8-time team world champion, and twice won the individual world championship (1975, 1979). He was a world championship silver medalist in 1977, and bronze medalist in 1970 and 1973. In the 1970s, he was the USSR individual sabre champion six times. The Soviet Union awarded him the title of Master of the Sport of the USSR (fencing) in 1968. He twice was named the world's best sabre fencer by the International Fencing Federation (FIE; 1975, 1977). Nazlymov also was awarded two civilian medals by the Soviet Union (Medal "For Labour Valour", Medal "For Distinguished Labour").

Coaching career in the USSR
Nazlymov's coaching career began in Moscow as the head coach of the Soviet Union Military Fencing Team from 1976 to 1990. He said the team had the best facilities, as "Army is army. They have everything." The Central Army Sports Club (ЦСКА) in Moscow was a Soviet training facility. From 1970 to 1980, Nazlymov served as the captain of the fencing team of the Soviet Union at the Olympics. His students won two Olympic gold medals and 12 world championships, as well as eight European Championship crowns. From 1986 to 1988, Nazlymov served as the head coach of the Soviet National Fencing Team. The USSR won a gold medal at the 1986 World Championships and silver medals at the 1987 Worlds and 1988 Olympics.

Move to USA
Nazlymov moved to the United States with his family in 1991. Years later, commenting on his allegiance to Russia, he said: "I didn’t even change my passport. I lived in the States for many years, but never left Russia." From 1991 to 1999 he was a fencing coach at Central High School, an inner-city high school in Kansas City, Missouri. He captained the USA team at the World Championships from 1995 to 1997 and at the 1995 and 1997 World University Games. Nazlymov also served as the sabre coach for the U.S. National Team from 1994 to 1999. Nazlymov guided US teams to a ninth-place finish at the 1996 Olympics, third place at the 1997 Junior World Championships, and 12th place at the Senior World Championships. He was named a coach for the US 1999 Pan American Games and 1999 Senior World Championships teams. His US Junior Team finished in second place in the overall medal count at the Junior Worlds in 2001. In 1999, he was named Coach of the Year by the United States Fencing Association. In 2019, Nazlymov became the sabre coach of the Uzbekistan national fencing team.

NCAAs; Ohio State University fencing coach
In the end of 1999, Nazlymov was hired by Ohio State University (OSU), after spending eight years as the fencing coach for the Kansas City, Missouri School District and establishing a private club in the Kansas City area (KCFC). In the 2003–04 and 2007-08 seasons, Nazlymov guided Ohio State Buckeyes to the NCAA Fencing Championship, and produced a number of individual NCAA champions (Adam Crompton, Boaz Ellis, Andras Horanyi). Two of his students, Jason Rogers and Louise Bond-Williams, qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and OSU fencing team member Siobhan Byrne participated in 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. At OSU as of 2005, Nazlymov's fencers had a combined record of 292-148 (.614), but after a subsequent NCAA investigation many of his later wins were vacated by the NCAA. In 2015-16, he was paid $223,693 for coaching at OSU. He retired from coaching at OSU in Spring 2018.

NCAA investigation and sanctions
While Nazlymov had retired in 2018, in 2020 his departure was revised from "retired" to “retired in lieu of termination.” That year, as the NCAA was investigating the OSU fencing program for infractions, OSU self-imposed a 2020-21 postseason ban for its fencing program.

In April 2022, the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions panel, upon the conclusion of an investigation, found that Nazlymov had violated NCAA head coach responsibility rules, and was guilty of aggravated level I violations. Further, he violated ethical conduct rules, by ignoring several requests that had been made to him to cooperate with the NCAA investigation. The panel found that: "'The head fencing coach violated fundamental, well-known bylaws. Worse, the head fencing coach received relevant education on the exact areas of the violations as they were occurring, but continued to commit the same violations and, in some circumstances, concealed them from compliance staff.'" The NCAA said Nazlymov arranged, provided, or directed other coaches to give more than $6,000 in recruiting inducements to three fencers, primarily by giving them free access to the OSU fencing facility. Two of the prospects also received free meals and free private lessons from Nazylmov, which allowed OSU coaches to observe the fencers, and constituted impermissible tryouts, and received other inducements. It also found that under Nazlymov’s direction, in addition 18 student fencers also received impermissible benefits worth over $8,000 in the form of free access to his local fencing club, resulting in them competing while ineligible.

The NCAA sanctioned Nazlymov with a 10-year show-cause order. He was restricted from any athletically related duties by any NCAA school hiring him, unless that school could demonstrate why such restriction should not apply. If Nazlymov is hired after his show cause order ends, he will be suspended from 100% of his first season of employment.

The NCAA also meted out additional punishments to the school athletic department and fencing program. The Ohio State fencing team was placed on four years of probation for NCAA violations committed between 2015-19. In addition, the OSU athletic department was fined, and the OSU fencing program budget was reduced by 3%. The fencing program scholarship program was reduced by 10% for the 2022-23 academic year. Team wins and championships, and individual records for affected fencers, were vacated, including the 2016 and 2017 second-place finishes and a 2018 third-place finish in the NCAAs for the fencing team, and Midwest Fencing Conference championships in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Officiating
Nazlymov officiated sabre fencing at the 1988 Olympic Games. He was also a referee at the World Championships from 1981 to 1990.

Progeny
Nazlymov's son, Vitali, began fencing with the CSKA Moscow Central Army Sports Club. Vitali was bronze medalist in the USSR youth and junior nationals as well as a champion for the USSR of the Military Games. After moving to United States, Vitali attended Penn State University and won the 1991 individual NCAA saber championship.

His granddaughter Tatiana Nazlymov trains in saber at the Nazlymov Fencing Foundation founded by her father (Vitali) and mother, where Vladimir also coaches, with Fikrat Valiyev as her primary coach. In December 2023, Phil Andrews, the CEO of USA Fencing, wrote to the International Fencing Federation that there was “likely to be improper officiating” of bouts involving Tatiana Nazlymov, and that video evidence indicated that calls made by two referees in bouts involving her demonstrated “a likely favoritism” toward her; in addition, in a letter to Tatiana that month he informed her that "we are aware of this alleged manipulation of the sport." Her mother, Vladimir's daughter-in-law, wrote that "Tatiana is absolutely innocent and the cheating/matchfixing accusation is ridiculous." Vitali Nazlymov said that he himself behaved according to the rules, but that “fencing is a small world and conflicts exist everywhere.” Tatiana has qualified for Team USA in the 2024 Olympics.

Clubs
Nazlymov owned a club in Columbus, Ohio, called the Fencing Alliance of Ohio. The club disbanded in 2018.

In 2016 in Russia, an order was given in the Republic of Dagestan, Makhachkala, by region Governor Ramazan Abdulatipov to create a fencing school named after Nazlymov.

In 2018 his son Vitali and daughter-in-law established Nazlymov Fencing Foundation in Bethesda, Maryland. He joined it that year as a coach after leaving Ohio State University, joining coach and referee Fikrat Valiyev and coach and former Russian national team member Alex Filatov, along with his son who is also a coach and referee. His son is the principal officer. Most of its fencers are saber fencers.

Writing
Nazlymov wrote the foreword to Foil, Saber, and Épée Fencing: Skills, Safety, Operations, and Responsibilities (1994) by Maxwell R. Garret, Guglielmo Pezza, and Emmanuil G. Kaidanov.