Lyubov Andreyevna Shutova is a Russian fencer, World champion in 2009 and team World champion in 2013 and 2014.
Personal life
Shutova took up fencing at the age of twelve after being invited to watch a training session at her local club. She trained under the direction of Sergey Dovgosheya, a friend of her parents, who she describes as a second father and who remains her personal coach as of 2014. Shutova married sports journalist Nikolay Lukinskiy. They have a daughter, Anastasia.
Career
Shutova joined the national team for the 1998 World Youth Games in Moscow. In 2000, she earned a silver medal at the Junior European Championships in Antalya. The same year she won a teamgold medal at the Junior World Championships in South Bend. In the senior category Shutova earned a bronze medal in the 2002 European Championships in Moscow. She climbed her first World Cup podium with a silver medal in the 2008 Nanjing Grand Prix. The same year she competed at the Beijing Olympics in Women's épée and reached the quarter-finals, where she was stopped by eventual silver medal Ana Maria Brânză of Romania. Her 6th place allowed her to enter the WorldTop 10for the first time in her career. In the 2008–09 season Shutova won her first World Cup title in Saint-Maur. At the World Championships in Antalya she edged out France's Laura Flessel-Colovic in the quarter-final, then prevailed over Anfisa Pochkalova of Ukraine to meet Canada's Sherraine Schalm in the final. After a tight match Shutova struck the decisive hit on priority and won Russia's first World title in women's épée. She finished the season World No.6, a career best as of 2014. In the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was defeated in the second round by Ukraine's Yana Shemyakina, who eventually won the gold medal. In the team event Russia prevailed comfortably over Ukraine, then met No.3 seed China in the semi-finals. Shutova gave her team a slight advantage in her first bout, but China managed to even the score each time and Sun Yi eventually gave China the victory in overtime. Russia then fenced the United States in the match for bronze. Shutova entered her last relay with the score tied at 23, but was outscored 2–4 by Maya Lawrence. Anna Sivkova equalized in the last relay, but once again the decisive hit in overtime was against Russia, who exited the competition with no medal. In the 2012–13 season Shutova was replaced by Tatyana Andrushina in the national team. She was selected again the next season, as team captain Anna Sivkova was injured. At the European Championships she reached the quarter-finals, where she was defeated by France's Marie-Florence Candassamy. In the team event No.1 seed Russia edged out Poland in the quarter-finals, then crushed Estonia to meet Romania in the final. Shutova entered the last leg on a tie, but Simona Gherman struck four hits in a row to give Romania the lead in the last minute of the match. Compelled to desperate measures, Shutova launched into a series of flèches, to no avail: Russia was defeated 38–34 and came away with a silver medal. At the World Championships in Kazan, Shutova was edged out in the first round by Korea's Choi Eun-sook. In the team event, Russia prevailed narrowly over South Korea in the quarter-finals, then disposed of Hungary and crushed Estonia in the final to win the gold medal.
