Alexander Glazunov is set to leave his post as senior coach of the Russian fencing épée team after Sergey Bida and his wife Violetta Khrapina Bida both moved to the US ©Getty Images

Alexander Glazunov is set to leave his post as senior coach of the Russian fencing épée team in response to two of the country’s athletes moving to the United States.

Sergey Bida and his wife Violetta Khrapina Bida moved to the US this year, with Sergey Bida and two of his compatriots competing in the ongoing National Championships & July Challenge (Summer Nationals) fencing event in Phoenix.

In a statement explaining Glazunov’s planned departure the Russian Fencing Federation told TASS, Russia’s official state news agency that: "Due to the flight of his athletes to the United States without the consent of the federation, including the current officer of the National Guard Bida and the current serviceman Khrapina, the head coach of Russian swordsmen Glazunov will be relieved of his post.

"The relevant documents have already been sent to the Sports Training Center."

Sergey Bida, Konstantin Lokhanov and Oleg Kynsh are all competing in Phoenix, and were only eligible to do so once they had met criteria provided by the USA Fencing Board.

The first requirement was that there was no physical presence of Russian or Belarusian affiliation within the venue, including but not limited to uniforms, warm-ups, equipment bags or accessories.

Konstantin Lokhanov, left, poses with the Ukraine flag on the podium at the USA Fencing Summer Nationals, alongside Darii Lukashenko ©Instagram
Konstantin Lokhanov, left, poses with the Ukraine flag on the podium at the USA Fencing Summer Nationals, alongside Darii Lukashenko ©Instagram

Russian fencers then had to meet one of the following two criteria - either that they had not held an International Fencing Federation licence indicating Russian or Belarusian nationality within the previous three years, or that they had not competed in USA Fencing competitions in the previous year and had declared they did not support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sergey Bida was part of the line-up that won the team competition at the event, while Lokhanov won the men’s sabre division I category, after beating William Morrill.

Afterwards Lokhanov posed on the medal podium with the Ukrainian flag, alongside Ukrainian Darii Lukashenko, who is based at the Manhattan Fencing Center.

Lokhanov is the ex-husband of the Olympic champion Sofia Pozdniakova, who is the daughter of the President of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov.

Speaking about his dismissal Glazunov told RBC Sport: “Ask the President of the federation [Ilgar] Mammadov - he fired me, not me. Once fired - that's all, what are the problems?"