Ukrainian Olga Kharlan at the World Fencing Championships in Milan, instead of shaking hands with Russian Anna Smirnova, simply put her saber forward. For such actions, a black card and exclusion from the tournament participants are provided. However, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) did not care about the rules and gave the victory to the Ukrainian athlete. Later, Harlan was still awarded the defeat, but in the next fight. And then what about the Russian woman, who was deprived of the chance to fight for a medal?
Ukrainians were allowed to compete with the RussiansThe world championship in Italy is mired in conflicts. Seven Russian athletes were still allowed to compete. The FIE made the decision back in April, following recommendations from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). True, many famous fencers never got a chance to compete in the tournament. Among them, the Olympic champions Sofia Velikaya, Sofia Pozdnyakova and Yana Yegoryan flew past.
Therefore, the team arrived at the World Championships in a very weakened composition. Scandals began the day before, when the Ukrainian Igor Reyzlin refused to fight against the Russian Vadim Anokhin. Our athlete received a technical victory. Probably, Reislin followed the instructions of the Ministry of Sports of the country, which forbade Ukrainians to participate in competitions with Russian athletes.
Why, then, was their team even declared for the tournament? However, a day later, the ministry updated the order and still allowed the athletes to compete. This right was used today by Ukrainian Olga Kharlan, who entered the duel against Anna Smirnova in the 1/32 finals.
Harlan did not give a damn about the rules, but karma workedThe meeting ended with the victory of the Ukrainian with a score of 15:7. After the fight, Smirnova intended to approach her opponent, but Harlan put her saber forward and did not let the Russian woman in, and then hastily left the track. This is a gross violation of the rules. After the fight, the athletes must salute each other and shake hands. If one or both fencers refuse to follow the rules, the match will not be considered completed. This usually results in disqualification.
Smirnova was on the track for more than 50 minutes and waited for the decision of the judges. Then people approached her and asked her to leave the competition venue. It turned out that Anna tried to challenge the result, referring to the official rules. However, the judges did not satisfy the protest and awarded the victory to the Ukrainian saber fencer, who in the next round was supposed to meet Ionna Ilieva from Bulgaria.
It should be understood that in fencing a mandatory handshake is a documented part of the regulations. In tennis, for example, such a clause of the rules is not spelled out, which Ukrainians actively use. Moreover, this position was approved by the leaders of the WTA and ATP.
Here the situation is different. Harlan should have received a disqualification, not to mention ethical standards. The vile act of the Ukrainian woman was initially ignored. However, later the organizers nevertheless awarded her a defeat in the match against the Bulgarian.
Smirnova will not get any easier from this. She sat for almost an hour waiting for a decision and received nothing at all. The Russian Fencing Federation (FFR) said they would challenge the verdict. Indeed, in all respects, it was Anna who should have made it to the 1/16 finals. It looks like the FIE will have to explain their actions to a lot of people.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.