"We will never shake hands with them": after her disqualification against a Russian opponent, the Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan assumes her gesture

Ukrainian saber Olga Kharlan experienced a day as historic as it was turbulent on Thursday, July 27. For the first time since the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops in February 2022, a confrontation between two athletes from the two countries at war – excluding tennis since the players are not part of an official delegation on the circuits ATP and WTA – took place.

The opposition at the Fencing Worlds in Milan between Kharlan and the Russian Anna Smirnova was made possible after the Ukrainian authorities authorized, in the morning, their athletes to face Russians and Belarusians if the latter compete under a neutral banner. . The day before, Wednesday, the swordsman Igor Reizlin, compatriot of Kharlan, had not been able to enter the track against the Russian Vadim Anokhin.

The new provision of the Ukrainian sports ministry is in line with the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) implemented by several international federations, including that of fencing (FIE), to reintegrate Russians and Belarusians into world sport, one year from now. of the Paris Olympics.

‘Absolutely outrageous’ disqualification

There was therefore a scent more than an ordinary match, Thursday, in the Milan convention center, where about twenty members of the Ukrainian delegation pushed Kharlan loudly, multiplying the “Slava Ukraïny” (“Glory to Ukraine”).

But, after having outclassed her Russian opponent, the four-time individual world champion refused to shake her hand, shaking her head, and presented her saber so that the blades clash, a gesture that was common in the halls of weapons at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Faced with this refusal with a handshake, Anna Smirnova protested and refused to leave the track for almost an hour after the end of the match. The refusal to salute being punishable by disqualification in the regulations of the International Fencing Federation (FIE), she won her case. The referee having already awarded the victory to Kharlan, the Russian was not drafted.

This “absolutely scandalous” disqualification angered Mykhaïlo Podoliak, a close adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr. Podoliak tweeted an undated photo of Smirnova making a V for victory with a man in military fatigues: “As you can see, [Smirnova] openly admires the Russian army, which kills Ukrainians and destroyed our cities. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba meanwhile demanded, on X, that Olga Kharlan be reinstated in the competition.

“I acted with my heart”

“My message today is that we Ukrainian athletes are ready to face the Russians on the sports fields or on the tracks, but we will never shake hands with them,” said later in the face of the press Olga Kharlan.

“They will never force us to peace. This is what they are doing right now in my country, they are forcing us to lay down our arms and make peace. We will never make peace. We can face them with respect on the track, but we will never shake hands with them”, justified the quadruple Olympic medalist, who thought “to be safe” from any disqualification after having had the “word” of the Greek president of the FIE, Emmanuel Katsiadakis.

In a video posted to her Instagram page later Thursday, the swordswoman returned to the incident. “I didn’t want to shake hands with this athlete, and I acted from my heart. So when I found out they wanted to disqualify me, it killed me so much I was screaming in pain,” she says, before explaining that she “came back to life” thanks to the messages. of public support, “especially the support of our fighters who defend us”.

“I think I understand, like everyone in this world, in a healthy world, that the rules have to change because the world is changing,” said the one whose disqualification greatly jeopardizes her chances of participating in the Paris Olympics, the individual points acquired at the Worlds count double. Hence the claim made by his federation to allow his reinstatement.

Big names retconned

Fencing was the first sport to reopen the door to Russians and Belarusians in March. Table tennis, canoeing and even rowing had notably followed suit following the recommendations of the IOC, which had advocated their return in March under a neutral banner and on an individual basis.

In fencing, 30 Russian fencers and 51 Belarusian fencers were granted “neutral individual athlete” status in April after reviewing their respective files by an e-reputation company, then by a law firm before the approval of the FIE Executive Committee. But no big name in the discipline among them: was dismissed, for example, the reigning Olympic champion in individual and team saber Sofia Pozdniakova, also daughter of Stanislav Pozdniakov, himself a former saber champion and president of the committee Russian Olympic.

In response to Olga Kharlan’s disqualification, the IOC called for “sensitivity” towards Ukrainian athletes. But Thursday’s incident is likely to be part of a long series of tensions in the various sporting arenas.