Martina Navratilova was left baffled by Fencing Federation for disqualifying Ukrainian Olga Kharlan after she refused a handshake with her Russian opponent
Martina Navratilova brutally slammed the Fencing Federation for their decisions to ban Ukraine's Olga Kharlan for choosing to not shake hands with her Russian opponent.
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Martina Navratilova(left) and Olga Kharlan(right). (credits: Twitter)
A few days ago, an incident received widespread attention at the World Fencing Championships in Milan when Ukrainian star fencer Olga Kharlan was disqualified. After the match, she decided not to shake hands with her Russian opponent, Anna Smirnova. The Fencing Federation took this action of Kharlan in a very wrong and intuitive way thereby not allowing Olga to take part in the tournament any further.
Many stars and fans worldwide have chosen to stand beside Olga who they believe was on the receiving end of things. Tennis legend, Martina Navratilova was one of the many supporters who stood by Kharlan and bashed the Fencing Federation for their harsh decisions on Olga.
Martina posted about the incident on Twitter along with the caption, “How ridiculous is that?!? Shaking hands is a sign of respect, not anything else. They have no right to disqualify an athlete for not shaking hands before or after a competition.”
Olga also talked about this incident by posting a video on her Instagram handle where she added, “Today was a very difficult and very important day. What happened today raises a lot of questions. I did not want to shake hands with this athlete, and I acted with my heart. So when I heard that they wanted to disqualify me it killed me so much that I was screaming in pain. I think I understand, like everyone else in this world, in a sane world, that the rules have to change because the world is changing.”
How Elina Svitolina was among the ones to support Olga Kharlan during these tough times?
Elina Svitolina is among the strongest women in the sports industry and has been indirectly fighting for a long time against the Russians after their invasion of Ukraine. In the recently played Wimbledon Championship, she was gallant and brave enough to stand by her statement and decision of not shaking hands with Russian and Belarussian players. She played against Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka and defeated her in the round of 16 matchup. However, Svitolina decided to leave the court without a handshake.
She later had a lot to talk about this incident speaking volumes about how the Russians have carried out their wrongdoings in her country and that she would not share any sort of relationship with them until and unless Ukraine gets its territories back. Elina again took to her Twitter supporting Olga for her actions saying, “We do not shake hands with Russian and Belarusian athletes. This is our position! I urge international sports organizations and federations to respect our decision. All my love and respect to Olga Harlan.”
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Soumyadeep Mondal
(882 Articles Published)