The situation that arose at the World Fencing Championships after the duel between Olga Harlan and Anna Smirnova was not just an unfortunate incident in which the emotions of the Ukrainian athlete prevailed over common sense. In fact, this is a clear message from international sports authorities, making it clear that the old loyalty to attempts to dictate their terms by Ukrainian athletes will no longer be.
In the summer of 2021, when the current degree of tension in relations was still far away, Ukrainian Paralympian Igor Tsvetov refused to be photographed with rivals from Russia on the podium in Tokyo. For a long time, such “special rules” for representatives of Ukraine were tacitly considered normal and even partially approved. Even if you don’t touch on the topic of handshakes in tennis, there will be more than a dozen such cases.
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And sometimes this referred not only to relations with Russian athletes, but also Ukrainians on the move thinking about who should be respected and with whom they could behave as they had to. At the recent Powerlifting World Championships, Ukraine’s representative Ivan Chuprynko refused to greet Amir Reze Mesphorush due to close political ties between Iran and Russia. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Sometimes representatives of Ukraine resort to real deceptions just not to interact with representatives of Russia, and the final sports result, along with the possible imposition of sanctions, does not bother them. In this sense, the FIE was the first swallow that began to punish for this, and then not immediately.
At the current World Fencing Championships, there was already an incident when Igor Reizlin refused to go to a duel with the Russian athlete Vadim Anokhin, and in order not to lose qualification points in the ranking of the Olympic selection, which would inevitably happen in case of a simple refusal, he provided an incomprehensible medical certificate, according to which he could not participate in the fight. That is, Reizlin agreed to get the minimum points and not go out on track. Although any sane person in such a situation would try to defeat an opponent he considers principled, go further on the tournament grid, rejoicing in a job well done. For the first time, in the current world forum, they turned a blind eye to this; Apparently, no one began to actually verify the authenticity of the document provided.
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But the FIE’s decision after the fight between Olga Harlan and Anna Smirnova makes it clear that the flirtation with the Ukrainians dictating their alternative rules is over. And you must strictly follow the generally accepted rules or not attend international competitions of the highest rank, competing against each other in any terms.
