MOSCOW, Aug 1 Ukrainian saber fencer Olga Kharlan stated that Russian Anna Smirnova provoked her with the intention to shake hands after a meeting at the World Fencing Championships in Milan.
Earlier, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) disqualified Harlan at the World Championships because the athlete did not shake hands with Smirnova after winning the 1/32 finals. According to the FIE rules, the fight is considered incomplete without a handshake. On Friday, the Ukrainian athlete was admitted to the saber team tournament, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) granted her a license to participate in the 2024 Games as an exception. According to La Repubblica, Harlan had the right not to shake hands with Smirnova, as the tournament has a protocol to combat coronavirus.
«»I behaved professionally, I honestly won this battle. But I told her that I would not shake hands. That's it. I said: «I will not shake your hand.» choice: either I get a disqualification — a black card, or I shake hands. I said that I would not shake hands in any case, that I could do it with sabers, as it was during covid. That's all. I resigned myself to this, that I disqualification, and my team also put up with it and supported me in this,» Harlan was quoted as saying by ua.tribuna.com.
«I said in an interview that I won't shake hands. There's no question of shaking hands. So I think they saw it and wanted to provoke me. They wanted to do it because the rules emphasize that everyone must shake hands. But they somehow changed, and no one canceled the covid rules until the last moment. Therefore, I think that they were ready for this, the installation was like this — it was a direct provocation on their part,» the Ukrainian woman added.
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