Russia's fencing coach resigns over meagre medal haul

Alexey Cheremisinov of Russia looks on after losing to Peter Joppich of Germany during the Men’s Foil Team Fencing quarterfinal

London - The head coach of Russian fencing has submitted his resignation over the team’s meagre medal haul at the London Olympics.

Vladislav Pavlovich told reporters Sunday that he had offered to step down after the country won just three medals, half of their pre-Olympic target.

“I have submitted my resignation in writing,” said Pavlovich, who as a fencer won gold in the men’s team foil at Sydney 2000.

“I don’t know if the federation will accept it or not. I did it yesterday, because we failed to fulfill our Olympic plan.”

Russia’s medal winners were Sofya Velikaya, who took silver in the women’s individual sabre; Nikolay Kovalev, who took the bronze in the men’s event; and the women’s team, who took silver in the foil.

On the ninth day of competition, Russia has just three golds overall, with 15 silver and 10 bronze, and appears increasingly unlikely to reach sports ministry targets of 25 gold.