IOC intervenes to qualify Kharlan for 2024 Paris Olympics
Ukrainian fencer Olha
Kharlan will compete at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Ukraine’s Sports
Minister Vadym Gutzeit said in a Facebook post on July 28.
Kharlan was disqualified from the Fencing World Championships on July 27, after she refused to shake hands with her defeated Russian opponent Anna Smirnova.
Gutzeit posted a letter from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach to Kharlan, which confirms that Kharlan will have a spot at the 2024 Olympics.
“As a fellow fencer, it is impossible for me to imagine how you feel at this moment,” Bach wrote.
“The war against your country, the suffering of the people in Ukraine, the uncertainty around your participation at the Fencing World Championships in Milan, the difficult inner conflicts you and many of your fellow Ukrainian athletes may have and then the events which unfolded yesterday – all this is a rollercoaster of emotions and feelings.”
“Given your unique situation, the International Olympic Committee will allocate an additional quota place to you for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in case you will not be able to qualify in the remaining period. We make this unique exception also because the ingoing procedures will in no case make up for the qualification points you missed because of your disqualification.”
Previously, Ukrainian athletes and officials decried “shameful” decision to disqualify Kharlan from the Fencing World Championships.
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