MOSCOW, July 31 Anna Bashta, a native of Tolyatti and representing Azerbaijan, explained her hugs with Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan at the Olympics in Paris by their long-standing friendship.
The 1/8 finals of the Olympic sabre tournament took place on Monday and ended with the Ukrainian winning with a score of 15:6. After the meeting, Kharlan saluted the judges and Bashta, after which she hugged her opponent.
«Olya and I have known each other since childhood, we have been fencing all our lives and are friends off the track. It seems to me rather stupid to communicate off the track and not shake hands, not congratulate each other on it. We are all very friendly, and not only with Olya. We spend time together at training camps and competitions,» Bashta said in an interview with Sputnik Azerbaijan.
In July 2023, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) disqualified Kharlan for refusing to shake hands with Russian Anna Smirnova after winning the 1/32 finals of the World Championships. Later, the Ukrainian was allowed to participate in the team sabre tournament, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) granted her an exception to participate in the 2024 Games. After this incident, the FIE relaxed the rules, canceling the requirement for a mandatory handshake at the end of the fight. The President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine Vadim Gutzeit spoke about the agreement with international federations on the absence of greetings between Ukrainians and Russians during the Olympic Games in Paris.