Ukrainian fencer Olha Kharlan was awarded a place in the 2024 Paris Olympics by the IOC on Friday after she was disqualified at the world championships for refusing to shake the hand of her Russian opponent.
Ukrainian fencer Olha Kharlan was awarded a place in the 2024 Paris Olympics by the IOC on Friday after she was disqualified at the world championships for refusing to shake the hand of her Russian opponent.
“reinstated”… I mean her win exists, but she still was kicked out of the tournament. She’ll get her place, but I would bet hard money on the fact she would have preferred to stay in the tournament and compete for real.
This is IOC saving face, something they have to do far too frequently.
It sounds like the IFE is also making the right move to remove the handshake. I won’t say all Russians (under the Olympic flag) have to be banned. Though this pro-war piece of shit is make a hell of an effort for me to change my mind on that. But forced sportsmanship needs to stop being a thing, because then it’s not sportsmanship, when it’s a rule, it’s just a requirement of what you have to do.