Harlan, who put the Russian woman in her place at the competition, was the prototype of the Barbie fencer: what the doll looks like

Famous Ukrainian fencer Olga Harlan refused to shake hands with her rival from the terrorist country of Russia, Anna Smirnova, at the 2023 World Fencing Championships in Milan. The Russian woman threw a tantrum over this, which resulted in the Ukrainian sabre fencer's disqualification.

Amidst the "Barbie mania" that has been going around the web since the premiere of the acclaimed film Barbie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, OBOZREVATEL decided to remind you that Harlan was the prototype for a Mattel fencing doll. The toy was released in March 2020.

Barbie the Fencer was created as part of the Dream Gap project. According to the authors, the dolls from this collection are a real role model for children and beyond.

Each of the dolls is a prototype of successful women from the fields of sports, culture, art, modelling, politics, and science. Before Harlan, no Ukrainian woman had ever received such an honour.

Barbie Fencer looks like an exact copy of our athlete. She has the same uniform, hair and blue and yellow mask - the distinctive equipment of the Ukrainian champion.

"As a little girl, I always dreamed of having a Barbie doll. And I had one, just like most girls. But I never thought I would ever be a Barbie doll myself!" - Harlan said, after Mattel released an exact mini-replica of her.

We would like to remind you that the famous Ukrainian fencer Olga Harlan defeated Russia's Anna Smirnova in the round of 32 of the 2023 World Cup in Milan. After the fight, our compatriot refused to shake hands with her opponent, who staged a real circus by refusing to leave the track. The Russian representative lodged a protest against the outcome of the duel, which was rejected.

The propaganda TV channel Match TV published a photo of the denunciation that Smirnova had written against Olga, and Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin called the FIE's decision to punish the Olympic champion from Mykolaiv the right one.

Smirnova herself is not a "neutral" athlete, as required by the competition regulations. Smirnova's brother is a military officer, and she is very proud of him, as can be seen from their joint photos.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL wrote that the Ukrainian Fencing Federation was preparing a protest. However, the appeal will not be considered immediately, which means that the Beijing 2008 gold medallist will not be able to continue competing in individual events at the tournament.

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