The FIE also reported to have changed the rules. The handshake at the end of a fight is now no longer mandatory. The turnaround was triggered by IOC chief Bach, who promised Olha Charlan an Olympic spot.
The ban on Ukraine’s Olha Charlan, who refused to shake hands with her Russian opponent at the World Fencing Championships in Milan and was disqualified for doing so, has been lifted.
This was announced by the International Fencing Federation (FIE) on Friday. This means that the two-time Olympic champion, who had clearly defeated her opponent Anna Smirnova 15-7, can participate in the team competition from Saturday.
The FIE also reported to have changed its rules. The handshake at the end of a fight is now no longer obligatory, explained Bruno Gares, member of the FIE Executive Committee, during a press conference.
“Given your particular situation, the International Olympic Committee will allocate you an additional quota place for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games”
– Thomas Bach –
IOC-CHef
The suspension of the four-time world champion and best Ukrainian for the entire competition would have obviously affected her country’s chances in the team competition of the World Championships, where points count double in the fight for Olympic qualification.
The deciding factor in the fencing federation’s unexpected about-face was apparently the attitude of IOC chief Thomas Bach, who promised Olha Charlan an Olympic spot.
“Given your particular situation, the International Olympic Committee will allocate you an additional quota place for the Paris 2024 Olympics if you fail to qualify in the interim,” Bach wrote in a personal letter to the sabre fencer on Friday. Vadym Gutzeit, the sports minister from Ukraine, published the letter.
Also not quite correct: Smirnova’s sit-down strike
The 32-year-old Olha Charlan had been disqualified at the World Championships in Milan on Thursday after her victory against Russia’s Anna Smirnova (23), who competed under a neutral flag.
Smirnova, for her part, also showed behavior not quite in accordance with the rules: She remained seated in protest after the fight and could not be persuaded to leave the lane for the next fight for many minutes, delaying the start of the subsequent bouts.
The International Fencing Federation has disqualified Ukrainian sabre fencer Olga Harlan.
Harlan refused to shake hands with Russian Anna Smirnova as required after her victory in the 1/32 final of the World Championships in Milan. Thus, the fight is considered not finished & she is out pic.twitter.com/7k9IQApr1S– Laempel (@Iaempel) July 27, 2023
The first competition between a Ukrainian athlete and a “neutral” Russian athlete since the start of the full scale war went exactly as you’d imagine.
Ukraine’s Olha Kharlan defeated “neutral” Anna Smirnova in fencing. Despite Kharlan clarifying before the match that she… pic.twitter.com/nmzhfSZF8b
– Bad Baltic Takes (@BadBalticTakes) July 27, 2023
The International Fencing Federation had initially insisted on the handshake rule as a gesture of respect in fencing and was criticized for this from many sides, including the German Fencing Federation.
After more than 24 hours, then suddenly the FIE backtracked. The interim president Emmanuel Katsiadakis, quoted in a press release, explained that this had been decided “after consultation with the International Olympic Committee”. In other words, IOC chief Bach made the submission.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Sport had decided only the day before the Charlan duel that athletes from Ukraine would again be allowed to participate in competitions with Russians and Belarusians.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had welcomed the decision and called on international sports federations to treat situations involving Ukrainians and neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus “with the necessary degree of sensitivity.” In other sports, such as tennis, Ukrainian professionals also do not shake hands with Russians and Belarusians.
Precedent for Olympics
Bach wrote to Charlan that they were also making this one-time exception because in no way could she make up for the qualification points she would have missed out on due to your disqualification.
Important qualification points are awarded at the World Championships. “Of course,” Bach said, “as with all other Olympic Games, the other participation criteria must also be met.
At the World Championships, fencers from Russia and Belarus were allowed to compete as neutral athletes in the individual events, but they are not allowed in the team events.
The spectre of a Ukrainian boycott of the 2024 Olympic Games has been eliminated for the time being.