Aida Khasanova

Aida Khasanova was an Uzbekistani champion in fencing who later became an international referee in the sport. Khasanova was a four-time women’s foil champion from 1998 to 2002 and was the Central Asian champion from 2001 to 2006. She competed in the individual foil at the 2006 and 2007 World Championships.

In 2014 Khasanova became a Fédération Internationale d’Escrime (FIE) referee and officiated at World and Asian Championships. In 2017 she spent some time in Lausanne to create a handbook about referee training, which the FIE later published on its website. Later the same year she became the chief referee of the Uzbekistan Fencing Federation. In 2019 Khasanova was selected to referee at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the only female fencing referee from Asia to attend the Tokyo Games. Khasanova died in tragic circumstances following a cosmetic surgery procedure that ultimately led to her death in intensive care after her health deteriorated. She was 39.