UC San Diego

The 2025-26 season will be Konstantin (Kostya) Lokhanov's first at UC San Diego. He works with the saber squad.

Lokhanov is an Olympic saber fencer and 2023 U.S. Champion. He finished 24th individually and seventh in the team competition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. At the 2019 World Championships, he placed seventh individually and fifth in the team competition. Lokhanov has been a coach at La Jolla Fencing Academy since 2023.

Personal Fencing Career Highlights

• Olympian (2020 Tokyo Olympics)
• U.S. National Sabre Champion (2023)
• Quarterfinalist at Senior World Championships (2019)
• Two-time World Junior Sabre Individual Champion (2017 & 2018)
• Twice ranked World No. 1 Junior Sabre Fencer (2017 & 2018)
• Two-time World Junior Sabre Team Champion (2016 & 2017)
• Twice ranked World No. 1 Cadet Sabre Fencer (2014 & 2015)

Personal
Lokhanov was born in Kazakhstan. He and his parents later moved to Saratov, Russia. He began fencing when he was seven years old. Lokhanov was inspired by watching the Soviet Musketeers movies and being a big fan of Star Wars, so he asked his mother to take him to learn how to fence.

He studied at the Saratov State Academy of Law in Russia.

Lokhanov competed for Russia through the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. In 2022, he emigrated to the United States. After denouncing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he now competes in American competitions. His personal journey to the U.S. culminated in 2023 when he became a U.S. National Champion on Fourth of July weekend.

Media
New York Times: With War as a Backdrop, a Russian Fencing Drama Plays Out in the U.S. (7/11/23)
USA Today: Olympic fencers who fled Russia after invasion of Ukraine win support for U.S. citizenship (1/10/24)
CNN: Erin Burnett OutFront (2/27/24)