"It will have a bad impact, but...": Kharlan points out an important nuance in the admission of Russians to the Olympics 2024

Fencer Olha Kharlan supported the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Russian and Belarusian so-called neutral athletes from participating in the opening ceremony of the 2024 Games. Our compatriot also expressed confidence that representatives of the co-aggressor countries will not be able to influence the performances of Ukrainians in Paris.

Kharlan said this in an interview with OBOZ.UA. The 33-year-old saber fencer from Mykolaiv added that Russians have stopped coming to competitions in her field. The winner of the Beijing 2008 Games emphasized that the IOC should not allow Russians to participate in the Games at all, but the sanctions imposed are already significant.

"It has also become better in the sense that the Russians no longer participate in our field. Are the Russians preparing some kind of trick at the 2024 Olympics? No, I don't have that feeling. I see that they won't even be at the opening ceremony, and that's a good thing. Of course, I think they shouldn't be there at all. They don't exist for me. And although the very fact that they are going to be there will have a bad impact, everything will be fine," Kharlan said.

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