IOC grants Olha Kharlan automatic qualification for the Olympic Games
The head of the committee said that he would give Olha a place at the Olympics if she fails to qualify for the tournament
The International Olympic Committee has granted an automatic qualification (wild card) to Ukrainian fencer Olha Kharlan to participate in the Olympic Games.
This was announced by the Minister of Youth and Sports Vadym Gutzeit.
"Olha Kharlan has been qualified to participate in the Olympics by the IOC. (...) Work is underway to remove the 'black card' for Olha's further competitions and to prevent similar situations in other sports," the minister wrote on his Facebook page.
He also attached a screenshot of a letter to the Ukrainian fencer from IOC head Thomas Bach, which states that the organization will provide a place for Olha at the Olympics if she fails to qualify for the tournament at the next competition due to disqualification.
Background. As it became known the day before, the International Fencing Federation disqualified Ukrainian fencer Olha Kharlan for not shaking hands with russian Anna Smirnova, who was competing under a "neutral flag."
It is noted that the Ukrainian athlete defeated the russian in the fight with a final score of 15:7. After that, Smirnova tried to shake hands with the Ukrainian representative, but Kharlan did not agree to it.
At first, the judges credited the victory to the Ukrainian representative, but later decided not to allow her to participate in the next match.
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