Ukrainian saber fencer Olga Kharlan was disqualified at the World Fencing Championship after a fight with Russian Anna Smirnova. The organizers of the tournament disqualified the Ukrainian athlete due to the fact that after the end of the starting round fight, she did not shake hands with an opponent from the aggressor country. The Ukrainian team tried to appeal the decision to disqualify Olga, but this was not possible. Harlan defeated a fencer from a terrorist country with a score of 15:7. After the end of the fight, the Ukrainian woman refused to shake hands with the Russian woman, who competed in a neutral status. Instead of a handshake, Olga suggested that her opponent “hit” with sabers, but Smirnova rejected this offer.. Athlete from Russia continued to stay on the fencing track for more than 50 minutes and filed a protest against the Ukrainian due to the lack of " It was reported that the judges rejected the protest of the Russian woman, but now this decision has been revised.

In the second round, Harlan was supposed to compete against Ioanna Ilieva from Bulgaria, but due to the disqualification of the Ukrainian, this fight will not take place. The representative of Bulgaria automatically advanced to the next stage of the tournament. Recall that on the eve of Ukrainian athletes changed the terms of the ban on participation in competitions where Russians and Belarusians are present.. 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.