2023-07-28 21:08:37
Ukrainian Olga Kharlan did not shake hands with Russian Anna Smirnova following the match at the World Fencing Championship. The saber fencer from Ukraine was suspended, but the next day the disqualification was suspended. About this – in the material “RBC Sport”
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(Photo: EPA/Tibor Illyes/TASS)
How it all started
Olga Harlan (Photo: Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS)
In the 1/32 finals of the World Fencing Championship in Milan (Italy), the Olympic champion in Beijing in team saber, Ukrainian Olga Kharlan defeated Russian Anna Smirnova with a score of 15: 7, but contrary to the rules, she refused to shake hands with her opponent, instead putting her saber forward and leaving the track . Smirnova remained to wait for the decision of the judges and spent almost an hour on the track.
At the same time, only the day before, Ukrainian athletes were allowed to compete with the Russians if they perform in a neutral status. Due to the ban in force since April, the bronze medalist of the Tokyo Games in the sword Igor Reyzlin on July 26 withdrew from the fight once morest the Russian Vadim Anokhin.
Harlan was later disqualified by the International Fencing Federation (FIE). Head of the Russian Fencing Federation Ilgar Mammadov informedthat the Ukrainian was given a “black card”, which implies a disqualification for 60 days.
However, on July 28, the FIE Executive Committee suspended the disqualification. Thus, the athlete will be able to compete in the team tournament at the World Championships in Milan, which is decisive for qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. In addition, the head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, said that Harlan will receive an additional quota for the 2024 Olympics in Paris if he is not selected there.
Harlan is the champion of the 2008 Games in team saber, a three-time Olympic medalist and a six-time world champion.
Reaction Harlan
Olga Kharlan (Photo: Artem Korotaev / TASS)
After the disqualification, Harlan stated that the head of the FIE, Emmanuel Katsiadakis, had previously assured her that following the fights it would be possible not to shake hands, but instead to offer to touch sword blades.
“I thought I had his word to be safe, but apparently I didn’t. This federation will never change. In any case, I don’t know if I’ll still be alive if this eventually happens. I hope the fencing world understands this. Not only that something is wrong, but something needs to be done to change it. Because guys, today it’s me, tomorrow it might be you,” Harlan said.
According to Harlan, Ukrainian fencers will never shake hands with Russian rivals, although they are ready to compete with them. “We, Ukrainian athletes, are ready to meet the Russians on the sports ground, but we will never shake hands with them,” she said.
The reaction of the federations
Olga Harlan (Photo: Tadashi Miyamoto / AFLO / Global Look Press)
The Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the head of the National Olympic Committee of the country, Vadim Gutzeit, said that the Ukrainian side had warned the FIE in advance regarding refusing to shake hands with the Russians at the World Championships in Milan, and called Smirnova’s actions a provocation.
“Yesterday there was a meeting [украинской] federation – president, head coach – with members of the international federation. They also stressed that our athletes will not shake hands, they will give a salute, congratulate and leave the track. What we saw was a provocation by an athlete under a neutral flag,” Gutzeit said.
According to Gutzeit, Smirnova “came up, made a provocation, held her hand for a long time, waited.” Gutzeit cited the example of an alternative ending to the duels between the Israelis and representatives of the Arab countries: “They do not shake hands, strike the blade and disperse.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), amid the scandal, called on international federations to respond “with the necessary degree of sensitivity” to situations related to Ukrainian athletes and Russians and Belarusians playing in a neutral status. The IOC also declared “full solidarity with Ukrainian athletes and the Olympic community of Ukraine.”
The President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Stanislav Pozdnyakov believes that the statement of the head of the IOC “clearly showed all the duplicity of the so-called recommendations, criteria and parameters.”
“But, most importantly, it revealed the true attitude to what is happening in the sports world on the part of the parent Olympic organization. One athlete, instead of shaking hands, pokes another with a saber, and for this the IOC president demands to show sensitivity and delicacy to her. On another athlete, who acted nobly and according to the rules, despite the demarche of her rival, at this time threats to life and insults begin to pour in, humiliating her honor and dignity. But the IOC does not find reasons to show sensitivity and delicacy to it.”
Pozdnyakov noted that sensitivity and delicacy have nowhere to come from, because “before that, thousands of citizens of Russia and Belarus were expelled from world sports by Olympic officials without the slightest hesitation.”
Now we have unwittingly, but clearly shown the attitude that absolutely any Russian will face at international competitions following all the eliminations on a national basis, ”Pozdnyakov wrote in his Telegram channel.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova also criticized IOC reaction. “We need to ask the question of the IOC, directly to Bach and sports officials: do the rules exist for them at all or not? Or will we have teams and players who will be outside the rules? <...>. The further, the more. There is no sport without rules. Without rules, this is an amateur game, creativity, maybe some kind of creative leisure, but not a sport. In sports there is a single concept of rules, regulations and standards. Without it, there is no sport! The Ukrainian fencer did not invent anything new. <...>. We need to decide whether we are still preserving the sport, which we called the sport of achievements, the world, the Olympic movement, or we are moving to a hybrid, ”said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
After the incident, the presidium of the Ukrainian Fencing Federation decided to ban the athletes from “any actions that can be perceived as a manifestation of solidarity” with the Russians and Belarusians, who act in a neutral status. What kind of actions can be perceived as a manifestation of solidarity, the release does not specify.
Expert opinion
Olga Kharlan (Photo: Artem Korotaev / TASS)
Dmitry Svishchev, head of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports
“The question is what prompted Harlan not to shake hands. Or it is a fear of her sports leaders who sent her to competitions: the ministry, the federation, the coaches, who are afraid that a Ukrainian woman would shake hands with a Russian woman. Or she is afraid of the same public reaction as her compatriots who have already shaken hands with Russians and Belarusians, took pictures with them, and then received a negative, accusations of betrayal and all mortal sins. But all these reasons violate the norms of the regulations. It’s just fear. Harlan is a respected, respected athlete. She was a contender and one of the iconic athletes of the tournament, and this is the final. Therefore, unfortunately, with the sports component, it is a pity to accept her disqualification, ”Svishchev told RBC Sport.
Pavel Kolobkov, former Minister of Sports of Russia, Olympic champion in fencing
“You need to look at the regulations in order to be able to say for sure whether the refusal to shake hands will affect the outcome of the fight, because we had cases when, following the fight, in a storm of emotions, there was no handshake, but the fight was considered over. In fact, sport is sport, you must respect your opponent, respect such a concept as fair play. Unfortunately, we see the unworthy behavior of the Ukrainian athlete. I remember Olga Harlan for a long time, she came to the training camp as a child. This act does not paint her at all, it is unworthy to do so. But, most likely, this is not the will of Ukrainian athletes, but the requirement of the Ministry of Sports of Ukraine. Athletes now decide little, ”- quotes the words Kolobkov “Match TV”.
Galina Gorokhova, three-time Olympic fencing champion
“Smirnova had to immediately leave the track, and not wait for Harlan, why humiliate herself in front of her? They have no culture, no brains. It’s time to hand over everyone to ward number 6, so that they stay there, and not go to competitions. What can you take from uncultured people? Harlan understands that in Ukraine they will not give her a piece of bread if she shakes the hand of a Russian woman. She used to be completely different, she communicated, talked with me, and now they were all given the installation. These are the rules, a handshake is included in the rules of the duel. If she didn’t shake hands, she should be removed from the competition, the only way to educate them, ” said Gorokhov “Match TV”.
Author: Alvina Tsakanyan.
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