After winning at the World Championships in Milan, Olga Harlan was disqualified for refusing to “‘greet’ a fencer from Russia. The next fight between Harlan and Ilieva did not take place, and the Bulgarian representative was automatically recognized as the winner.
by Y0urCat
12 comments
**UPDATE**: *National Olympic Committee overturns disqualification of Olga Harlan.*
*Olga Kharlan will continue to play in the tournament.*
***
Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan started victoriously at the World Championships in Milan. In the 1/32 finals the winner of the Olympic “gold” in Beijing-2008 defeated Russian Anna Smirnova, after which she refused to shake her opponent’s hand. In response, the representative of the aggressor country made a real circus, refusing to leave the track.
Our compatriot dominated throughout the whole fight and confidently took the upper hand with the score 15:7. Immediately after the end of the duel, the Russian went to shake hands with her opponent, but Olga refused.
The 32-year-old Ukrainian decided to use the covid protocol and greeted her opponent by putting her sword forward, and then said something to the athlete from Russia and left the track. This act of Harlan literally infuriated Smirnova. She refused to come down from the platform and defiantly sat on a chair on it.
The Russian decided that without a handshake the match could not be declared over, and Olga should be disqualified for refusal. The Russian fencer was approached several times by the referees, demanding that she stop playing the innocent victim.
As a result, Smirnova spent almost an hour on the track, and the jury declared Harlan the winner of the bout. The Russian is expected to file a protest against this decision.
It should be noted that Olga became the first Ukrainian to fight with a representative of the Russian Federation in fencing, after the lifting of the ban of the Ministry of Sports on bouts against aggressors. The day before, Igor Reizlin withdrew from the duel with Vadim Anokhin.
As reported by OBOZREVATEL, the International Fencing Federation, which is headed by Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, became the first to allow representatives of the Russian Federation and RB to participate in international tournaments.
*Edit:* >!Lost update!<
Update: “*Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan was disqualified at the World Fencing Championships for refusing to shake hands with a defeated Russian woman. The next fight between Harlan and Ilieva will not take place, and the Bulgarian representative will be automatically recognized as the winner.*”
The fact that russia is even allowed to participate in international competitions is the real scandal here.
[The Russian fencer (whom Olga refused to shake hands with) with her bro.](https://imgur.com/bzsw5u7)
[Here’s another photo of the Russian fencer’s bro.](https://imgur.com/cJkFcbd)
She seems to be a proper Vatnik and it’s even more understandable why Olga refused to shake hands with her.
What the fuck are Russians doing at a sporting event?
We know who really won
Olga comes from Mykolaiv, that’s my regional city (I live in Voznesensk, the Mykolaiv region) and we are very much proud of her!
**UPDATE**: National Olympic Committee overturns disqualification of Olga Harlan.
Olga Kharlan will continue to play in the tournament.
Don’t think she wasn’t disqualified at all, she went to the next match though she lost to the Bulgarian athlete ILIEVA Yoana
[https://imgur.com/a/GaCdP9y](https://imgur.com/a/GaCdP9y)
see [https://www.fencingworldwide.com/en/2983-2022/direct/2](https://www.fencingworldwide.com/en/2983-2022/direct/2)
And maybe the Bulgarian doesn’t want to win that way? Fencing is an honour sport. No honour in this win.
Luckiest Bulgarian
Sad that the potential price and price money goes to someone else, but important and impressive statement.
And everyone know who the real winner was anyways. 💙💛
There should be paragraph in any sport, like this “If countries are at war, then an athlete from these countries reserves the right to refuse a handshake”