(Paris) A final touch from Olga Kharlan on Saturday gave Ukrainian sabre fencers the Olympic team title and Ukraine its first gold medal at the Paris Games.
An icon in her country since her disqualification from the World Championships last year for refusing to shake the hand of a Russian opponent, Olga Kharlan has become the sportswoman who has brought the most Olympic medals to Ukraine with the sixth collected on Saturday by beating South Korea (45-42) in the final.
“We are competing in the Olympic Games while our country is at war. It is something unimaginable and at the same time it is always in our heads,” said the sabre fencer. “It follows us all the time. For two and a half years, we have had to get used to fighting against our emotions.”
Trailing 40-37, the native of Mykolaiv, pushed by a country and the “Olga” shouted by the 8000 spectators, erased the three touches of delay. The last brushstrokes of a final with the appearance of a masterpiece deserving exhibition in this Grand Palais des Beaux Arts: the quadruple world champion scored almost half of her team’s touches (22) for only ten conceded.
“I couldn’t believe the audience was shouting ‘Olga, Olga,'” she commented. “Thank you Paris and thank you for this incredible site.”
Falling to her knees, her face clasped between her two hands, she let out a few tears before wrapping herself in the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine, then jumping to the rhythm of the speakers and the din of the crowd. It was as if French sabre fencers had just won.
“Those who defend us on the front lines, they don’t make excuses. They fight and die for our freedom. That was my motivation,” she explained. “For me, there was no training that was too hard or no period that was too difficult. There are people who are going through hard times, they are the ones who are defending me. So there is no question of me giving up, I have no right to do so.”
Zelensky’s thanks
“I thank them for their result, and their spirit, to show that Ukrainians can win,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated them on social media.
This team gold medal, after her individual bronze, was far from being acquired. First, the most dominant sabre fencer of the decade saw her reign disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and then by the invasion of Ukraine.
“I wanted so much to prove something and win for my country, for my parents because sport gives hope and positive emotions,” she explained to AFP last month about her slump.
Then, her presence in Paris jeopardized by her disqualification, the soon-to-be 34-year-old sabre fencer was supported by the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, a former member of the fencing brotherhood.
“A year ago I was almost done with fencing because I was disqualified and I came back, that’s the story,” she recalled on Saturday. “I am full of joy and I would like to thank everyone who made it possible. We kept working, we didn’t give up, like Ukraine.”
The official letter from Thomas Bach offering Kharlan a personal Olympic quota was followed by the International Fencing Federation lifting her suspension. The twist allowed her to fight a few days later in the team event of the World Championships counting double in the race for qualification to secure a fourth place.
“I thought maybe it was my destiny to miss the Games,” Kharlan told AFP of the long hours of prostration that followed his disqualification. It was ultimately just a detour to the top step of the Grand Palais podium.