How an 18-Year-Old Fencer Knocked Out Oligarch Usmanov 0 9

Two-time Olympic champion in fencing Yana Egoryan told Ksenia Sobchak in an interview that oligarch Alisher Usmanov gifted her an apartment in Moscow.

31-year-old Egoryan admitted that when she was 18, Usmanov gifted her an apartment in the Kurkino district of Moscow. The athlete noted that this was her "first big gift" in life, and she "would never have earned" for such an apartment herself.

"The first such big gift — Alisher Burkhanovich gave me an apartment. It was, of course, incredible. I was very young, I was 18 years old. Of course, I would never have been able to earn it through my own work," Yana Egoryan said, emphasizing that this served as "motivation for many years to continue working."

According to the champion, the billionaire always called and congratulated her when she won various international tournaments.

After winning the world championship in Moscow in 2012, Usmanov not only congratulated her in person but also, through the president of the Federation Ilgar Mamedov, offered her to choose a new apartment from several options. Before that, the athlete had been renting accommodation, so when she saw the very first apartment "with normal furniture and a kitchen," she did not look any further and took it. Yana Egoryan moved there with her mother.

"I no longer had to worry about where to live. This immediately allowed me to devote even more time to training," Egoryan added. Yana Egoryan is a sabre fencer, two-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion, and six-time European champion, as well as an honored master of sports of Russia.

Alisher Usmanov (72 years old) is a billionaire, one of the richest businessmen in Russia, founder of the holding company "Metalloinvest," and a philanthropist. Since 2008, he has been the president of the International Fencing Federation. From 1992 to 2022, he was married to the former head coach of the Russian national rhythmic gymnastics team, Irina Viner.