At which event was Vladimir Smirnov killed whilst defending his Olympic gold medal
Vladimir Smirnov (fencer) Vladimir Smirnov (fencer) Vladimir Viktorovich Smirnov (, ; 20 May 1954 – 28 July 1982) was a Soviet foil fencer. Smirnov won the gold medal in individual men's foil at the 1980 Summer Olympics. He won the World Championships the following year. During the 1982 World Championships in Rome, Smirnov was fencing Matthias Behr of West Germany on 19 July. Behr's blade broke during the action, and the broken blade went through the mesh of Smirnov's mask, through his eye orbit, and into his brain. Smirnov died nine days later. Smirnov's accident was the driving force behind the significant improvement
Vladimir Smirnov (skier) km gold medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, the first Olympic gold medal for Kazakhstan. He was one of the leading characters of that Olympics, as his unending rivalry with home ever-winning Bjørn Dæhlie had gained him the affection of the Norwegian audience. He also became good friends with his rival Dæhlie, even participating with Dæhlie in several popular Norwegian TV shows. In 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, Smirnov was flag-bearer of Kazakhstan Olympic team and won the bronze medal in the 25 km pursuit event. Smirnov headed the bid committee to have Almaty, Kazakhstan, host the 2014 Winter