Ukrainian saber fencer Olga Kharlan successfully started at the World Fencing Championship in Milan. In the first bout, the Ukrainian defeated the Russian Anna Smirnova, who was admitted to the competition in a neutral status.. The fight ended with the score 15:7 in favor of Harlan. After the end of the fight, the Ukrainian woman refused to shake hands with the fencer from the aggressor country. Because of this, Olga risked getting disqualified.. The fact is that, according to the regulations of the International Fencing Federation, athletes after the fight must " Harlan, after the fight, put forward her weapon, offering to " However, Smirnova rejected such a gesture from the Ukrainian woman and began to wait for a handshake.. After that, Harlan left the track. While the Russian woman continued to stay on it for more than 50 minutes and filed a protest against the Ukrainian woman due to the lack of " But the judges after the meeting rejected the protest of Smirnova. Thus, Harlan avoided disqualification and advanced to the next round, where she will compete against Ioanna Ilieva from Bulgaria..

Recall that on the eve of Ukrainian athletes changed the conditions of the ban on participation in competitions where there are Russians and Belarusians. The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine allowed Ukrainians to compete in tournaments where athletes from Russia and Belarus compete in a neutral status.