Ukrainian saber fencer Olga Kharlan admitted that she was in complete shock after being disqualified at the World Championships for refusing to shake hands with Russian Anna Smirnova. The 32-year-old native of Nikolaev noted that she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, as the punishment was completely contrary to the regulations of the tournament.

Harlan frankly told about it in an interview with Suspilny. According to the 2008 Olympic champion, the decision on disqualification should be made by the referee of the fight right on the track, but in her case the suspension took place an hour and a half after the fight under the pressure of the FIE and Russia.

"I was sobbing and screaming. That's what I was doing. I had my team sitting by me, I had the foil girls sitting near me. People couldn't go into the boxing area because there was so much going on. I was hysterical, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, I think. It's such an injustice that it just tore me up. I was still so angry about what they were doing. It doesn't show the Russian side of people at all. How they act in sports proves they are subhuman. It doesn't matter what sphere they do it in. They are subhuman in war, how they torture and kill. They shoot their missiles and so on. It's the same here, there are no exceptions at all," Kharlan said.

Recall, Olga's decision to refuse the handshake infuriated Smirnova, who made a real circus - she brought a chair to the track and refused to leave the platform.

The Russian representative filed a protest against the result of the duel, which was rejected. Propaganda channel Match TV published a photo of the denunciation that Smirnova wrote on Olga. The Ukrainian later admitted what she said to the Russian after the fight.

Note that Smirnova is not a "neutral" athlete, as required by the competition regulations. The brother of the representative of the aggressor country is a military man, and she is very proud of him, which is evident from the joint photos.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, a video has appeared that proves that the decision to disqualify Olga Kharlan at the World Fencing Championships was made under pressure from Russia. In addition, our edition told the love story of the fencer and the Italian medalist of the Olympic Games.

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