The story has been made as part of the cooperation between the Nordic broadcasting companies , SVT and NRK.
In the media, they were described as the super couple of Russian sports.
When young fencers Konstantin Lohanov and Sofia Pozdnyakova the relationship became public, Russian sports circles were excited. Lohanov was a four-time junior world champion, Pozdnyakova was a prize winner and president of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov daughter.
The couple’s story unfolded like a perfect script. The fencers’ wedding was spectacularly celebrated in September 2020. Sports boss Pozdnjakov praised his son-in-law as a great man.
At the right moment, our breakup was leaked to the press and all the drama was taken away.
Both were chosen to represent Russia at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo 2021. Lohanov’s competitions ended in disappointment and he placed 24th in the individual fencing competition. Instead, Pozdnjakova celebrated Olympic gold in the women’s vault and team competition.
After the competitions, Pozdnjakova spoke about her dreams bigger than elite sports. He considered putting his sports career on hold because the couple was planning to have a family.
– When we get the prize money from the Tokyo Games, we use some of it for travel. We will save a part for our future children, so that they get a good education and a comfortable life, Pozdnyakova told the Russian media after the Olympics.
The divorce became a scandal in Russia
In the early morning hours of February 24, 2022, Lohanov was lying in bed in a hotel room trying to make sense of the flood of messages coming into his phone. Russia had invaded different parts of Ukraine.
Lohanov had traveled to Munich the day before for foot surgery. The injury that bothered me for a long time required another major operation within a short period of time. In Tokyo, Lohanov had fought with the power of painkillers and anesthetic spikes.
In Munich, an acquaintance from Kharkiv with a Ukrainian background helped Lohanov with treatment arrangements. Lohanov’s leg was operated, after which he watched from his hospital bed how his Ukrainian helper organized night and day the evacuation of Ukrainian civilians to Germany.
– My feeling was indescribably terrible. My acquaintance from Kharkiv traveled to the border every day to pick up people and accommodated them with German families. I followed it and tried to understand what was going on.
Lohanov talked to his wife on the phone every day and tried to persuade her to leave Russia. According to Lohanov, it was clear to him from the beginning that he could not accept the Russian attack. He didn’t want to go back home anymore.
– I did not want to be part of that system in any way.
For several months, the couple thought about what to do. Calls that lasted for hours gradually became shorter. Pozdnyakova finally came to the conclusion that she could not leave her home country and leave her parents.
– I went through the pros and cons of leaving for a long time. I woke up in the morning and imagined what it would be like to move to “Kostja’s”. I imagined how I would contact my parents or tell my father about it. I immediately started feeling sick, Pozdnjakova said last summer On the Bez Vody podcast.
When the information about the couple’s separation leaked to the public, the scandal was complete. Both members of the Russian Duma and former father-in-law Pozdnjakov commented on the matter. Sofia Pozdnyakova was described as a righteous patriot, Lohanov was portrayed as a weak and ill-bred individual.
– I feel that upbringing and love for the motherland made Sofia act differently than the frightened raspberry frappe drinkers, Stanislav Pozdnjakov referred to his ex-son-in-law when talking about the couple’s breakup in autumn 2022.
Lohanov says that it was impossible to take those comments seriously. He says that he was never particularly close to his father-in-law.
– Everyone who works in Russian politics calls others traitors. At the right moment, our breakup was leaked to the press and all the drama was taken away.
Chairman of the Russian Fencing Federation and head coach of the national team Ilgar Mamedov is diplomatic in his position. The two-time Olympic champion says in a telephone interview with Urheilu that he does not hold a grudge against Lohanov. According to Mamedov, everyone has the right to do what they want with their lives.
– Lohanov duly informed the Ministry of Sports and his club CSKA, who were his payers, of his departure. It shows that he is a person to be taken seriously who did not want to deceive anyone, comments the fencing boss.
– As for the reactions of the chairman of our Olympic Committee, it is a sensitive matter. They were family. We were all celebrating the wedding of Lohanov and Pozdnyakova. I think any father would be hurt when a daughter’s family falls apart.
“There was nothing more to talk about”
Lohanov has never wanted to talk bad about his ex-wife. He has emphasized that the details of the separation will remain between the couple. These days, the two have nothing to do with each other.
– We lived a good life as a young couple until the beginning of the war. After that, we saw life differently, says Lohanov.
– We discussed for half a year whether he would come to me or not. At some point the connection ended. He had made up his mind. After that, there was nothing left to talk about.
Half a hell of a year
The swordsman does not embellish his words when describing the darkest period of his life. He had experienced a crushing tragedy a few months before the start of the war in Ukraine, when his mother died suddenly of coronavirus at the age of 43.
Lohanov was then in Germany treating his sore hip and did not have time to say goodbye to his mother. He says he still cannot find words for the pain he experienced.
Half a year later, he no longer had a home country or a relationship. Lohanov said last year Russian site for Sports.ru that he had been deeply depressed in those days. He stayed up until six in the morning, woke up at lunch time and had panic attacks from time to time.
– There was nothing around me that felt good. There was no way to escape the dark thoughts. And how would that even have been possible? If you tried to watch stand-up, for example, countless messages flooded Telegram at the same time, where bombs had exploded everywhere, says the fencer now.
My father’s support and constant communication helped in dark moments. Shortly after the start of the full-scale war, Lohanov’s father moved to Kazakhstan, where Lohanov was also born. However, moving to Central Asia after my father was not an option.
– All our older relatives are in Kazakhstan. That’s why my father went there. However, I did not see a future for myself there. My father and I talked about world events and we agreed. He understood why I acted the way I did.
To the other side of the globe
In the summer of 2022, Lohanov traveled to his friend in the United States. The purpose was to take a breather and think about what to do next. The answer came unexpectedly and quickly.
Soviet fencing champion who moved to the USA in the 1990s Dmitri Gaj had founded a fencing school in California. Gaj was also a Lohanov family acquaintance. When a coaching position opened up at the school in 2022, Lohanov didn’t hesitate. He moved to San Diego and is still on that path.
Lohanov coaches young fencers at a school called La Jolla. Working with children brings much-needed joy to the days.
– The children help to take my thoughts elsewhere. They don’t think about war, life and death.
Lohanov says that he is having a great time in the USA. He emphasizes that he is now free.
– When I was a professional athlete in Moscow, I dyed my hair once. People asked if I had gone crazy. Especially in California, you feel like you can do whatever you want. You can go to the store in a dressing gown and slippers if you feel like it, and nobody cares. Such things bring a sense of freedom.
According to his words, Lohanov does not miss his homeland.
– Going to the theater in Moscow was the only thing I liked in Russia. Today, all the popular Russian actors are abroad because they did not accept the war. I see them in the US or other countries. Moscow and St. Petersburg are great cities, but if you go there now, all you see is the letters Z. It makes me feel bad.
Last year, Lohanov won the U.S. fencing championship. The US sports federation included Russian and Belarusian fencers, who have opposed the war in Ukraine, in the national competitions.
Lohanov’s hopes are to get American citizenship in the future and to fight at the top in the colors of the USA. The Paris Olympics will probably come too soon, but Lohanov is not ruling out the possibility of appearing at the Los Angeles Summer Games in 2028.
However, sports now appear in a different light. Life has taught me not to plan too far. It is safer to dream about small things, such as the academic success and development of your own students.
The losses have made the carefree boy next door more reserved and prone to worry.
– At the same time, it’s easier for me to make decisions now. Because what is there to fear anymore? It can hardly get any worse.