Two World Cup medals in 2026, a back-to-back World Championship bronze, and a place in fencing's world top five — Kazakhstan's Ruslan Kurbanov has, almost without fanfare, joined the sport's elite. In an interview published on 24 April 2026, the two-time Olympian opened up on the years of grinding consistency that lifted him from regional contender to global headline.
Kurbanov's 2026 has rewritten the Kazakh record book. Gold in Heidenheim in February, the country's first-ever individual World Cup title, was followed by a silver-medal run on home soil in Astana in March. Across two seasons he has stockpiled two World Championship bronze medals, climbed to fourth in the world rankings and become the standard-bearer for a national epee programme in full ascent.
The rise, he insists, is the product of accumulation rather than breakthrough. "In reality, very few athletes can deliver consistent results across two consecutive competitions," Kurbanov said. "With experience, you gradually learn more about your body and how to prepare for competitions."
That philosophy framed his approach during the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he reached the latter rounds of the men's individual epee. Asked how he managed the pressure of competing for an entire country still searching for its first Olympic fencing medal, Kurbanov described a deliberate narrowing of focus.
"I lowered my gaze and forced myself to focus only on the fight, on my opponent and what was happening in that moment," he said.
The pressure intensifies on home soil, where expectation is no longer a distant rumour. "There is pressure," he acknowledged. "When you compete at home, people expect you to deliver your best result." In Astana in March, that pressure was matched by a deeper sense of purpose. "I wanted people, especially children, to feel inspired, to have that spark."
Kurbanov's coaching trajectory mirrors Kazakhstan's own internationalisation. He worked from 2019 to 2024 with Hungarian coach Ferenc Tóth, who guided several Eastern European epeeists into Olympic medals, before transitioning to Ukrainian Oleksandr Horbachuk for the LA28 cycle. The shift, he indicated, was driven less by a tactical overhaul than by a desire for fresh stimulus deeper into a long career.
Long careers in fencing are rarely solo projects, and Kurbanov is candid about the support architecture beneath his rise. "My wife, Yulia, is essentially my main support," he said. "She helps me get through difficult periods." That sentiment carried into a wider message for younger Kazakh athletes navigating losses and lulls. "Surround yourself with people who support you," he advised. "Otherwise, after repeated losses, you might start believing it's not your path."
The contemporary epee field is brutally crowded. The 2024-25 season produced 18 different World Cup individual medallists across just six events, and Kurbanov was clear-eyed about the depth he is contesting. "The entire top 100 in the world rankings consists of athletes who could potentially take first place," he said.
Looking forward, the LA28 Olympics frame the next phase of his career. Kazakhstan's men's team won team bronze at the 2025 World Championships, the first medal of its kind for the country, and qualified for Paris before that. The ambition, Kurbanov made clear, is to convert four years of cumulative results into the Olympic medal that has so far eluded the programme.
For now, the foundations are unmistakeable: world No. 4, two World Cup medals in a single calendar year, and a public profile, both for himself and for Kazakhstan's wider fencing programme, that no longer needs introduction on the European or American circuit.
