#Ukraine's fencer Olha Kharlan defeated Russia's Anna Smirnova & refused to shake her hand, putting the sword in front of her opponent when she approached her.

Olha was disqualified for refusing to shake hands. Despite the victory, the competition for the Ukrainian is over.

I wonder why Russian athletes are even allowed to participate in international competitions?

Olha, Ukraine is proud of you❤

Ukraine’s top fencer granted place at Olympics after disqualification for Russia handshake snub

The Ukrainian fencing champion banned from the world championships in Italy for refusing to shake hands with a Russian opponent has been readmitted to the tournament and given an automatic place at next year’s Paris Olympics.

Olga Kharlan, leader of Ukraine’s national fencing team, was earlier disqualified at the tournament after she refused to shake hands with the Russian rival Anna Smirnova she defeated. Smirnova then walked away before staging a sit-down protest for about 45 minutes.

An athlete’s refusal to shake hands after a contest results in a black card and expulsion, according to International Fencing Federation rules.

The symbolic move, made as her country fights back against Russia’s invasion, was risky for Kharlan because her disqualification looked set to also scupper the four-time individual world champion and four-time Olympic medalist’s chances of racking up enough points to qualify for Paris next year.

But the International Fencing Federation said on Friday that while it stands “fully behind the penalty’, it would allow Kharlan to participate in the women’s team sabre competition

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