"My mom is just crying". Harlan spoke emotionally about what happened to her

On Independence Day, two-time Olympic fencing champion Olga Harlan received two new awards from the President of Ukraine - the title of National Legend and the Order of Freedom - which touched both the titled saber fencer and her parents. Olha also admitted why she would like to have superpowers like those of Marvel characters.

In a commentary to OBOZ.UA, the winner of six Olympic medals told us who her childhood hero was, whether she is already more popular than football players, and how her parents reacted when they learned about the state awards.

- My mom just cries and is very proud of it, they say I deserve it and so on. And it's so sweet. And I understand what their condition is now. When I found out about the awards myself, I was very surprised, but I am incredibly proud of it, because everything I did still has such a legendary motive (smiles).

- At the 2024 Olympics, after the team gold and your second medal overall, a French journalist asked, "Is she a legend in Ukraine?" I said: "Well, of course". And then he clarified, is she more popular than the national team players?

- No.

- But I said that it should be so. What do you think? What is the correct answer to this question? After all, few people have done as much as you have done for our sport, its popularization and the image of Ukraine. Among modern athletes, perhaps, there is Oleksandr Usyk.

- I still can't compare. Sasha is also a legend. And Yaroslava Maguchikh, and all the athletes who were at the Olympic Games, they are legends. So it's like this.

- But at the same time, football players are still more popular here ?

- I think so, probably. But I don't know how it is measured. In salaries? Yes, they win, that's for sure (laughs).

- And if you ask on the street? I think they should know more now.

- I don't know. But they recognize me more, I can tell.

- Now you are one of the heroines for our country. Who were your childhood heroes? Who did you want to be like, maybe the heroine of a novel? Who did you imagine yourself to be?

- I always looked up to athletes. I still have an idol, an athlete whom I respect very much, Marielle Zagunis. It's no longer a secret. I wanted to look up to her. But when I realized that I wanted to be better than my idol, I think it gave me a very powerful impetus to keep going with what I have. And still, as a person, I am very impressed by her. And it is very important to remain human in such a situation.

- It seems to me that you already have your own superpower - your saber and your character. But if there was such an opportunity to get some kind of superpower, what would it be? Because now, perhaps, every Ukrainian would like to have some kind of superpower to use against the Russian occupiers.

- Well, actually, if I could be someone like, for example, Thor... We recently watched one of the Marvel movies about superheroes, and I thought, why don't we have at least one with superpowers, so that in one fell swoop, they're all gone.

But we have our heroes who protect us. And the price of this protection is very high. We remember this every day and will never forget it.

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