Mark Rakita

Mark Semenovich Rakita (; born July 22, 1938) is a two-time Olympic champion sabreur and coach from the Soviet era.

Early life Rakita was born in Moscow, USSR, and is Jewish.

Fencing career Rakita started fencing when he was 14. He would practice for three to six hours per day.

World championships Rakita was one of the Soviet Union's top sabre fencers in the 1960s. As a member of the Soviet national team, he won the world championship in the team sabre in 1965, 1967, 1969, and 1971. He won bronze medals with the team in 1962 and 1963. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, he won a silver medal in the individual event and won gold in the team event.

At the 2001 Maccabiah Games, Rakita coached Sergei Sharikov and Maria Mazina to gold medals.

In 2004, he was honorary president of Maccabi Russia.

In an interview in New York, Mark Rakita discussed his long-time feud with former friend/teammate turned nemesis Vladimir Nazlymov, stating, "As far as I'm concerned, he no longer exists!" Rakita also emphasized Nazlymov's Crimean Tatar heritage and called him a traitor for having moved to the United States.

Amid the ban on Russia at the 2024 Summer Olympics, which led to most Russian athletes not participating, Rakita remarked that "we should respon in a way that makes the Americans feel pain".

Hall of Fame In 1988, Rakita was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.