Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee, has guaranteed an Olympic starting place for the Ukrainian Olha Charlan, who was disqualified at the World Fencing Championships on Thursday. This emerges from a personal letter from Bach sent to Charlan by email on Friday, which is available to the FAZ.
In it, Bach expresses his sympathy for the Ukrainian, who was disqualified on Thursday for giving her Russian opponent the so-called “fencer’s salute” with the saber but not shaking her hand, in view of the “war against your country and the suffering of the people in of Ukraine”.
“Given your unique situation, the International Olympic Committee will grant you an additional quota place for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games if you are unable to qualify in the meantime. We are also making this unique exception because the ongoing procedures will by no means restore you to qualifying points that you are missing out on because of your disqualification,” the letter reads. “Of course” Olha Charlan had to meet all other criteria “like any other athlete” in order to take part in the Olympics.
Charlan was disqualified by the International Fencing Federation on Thursday after her victory against the Russian Anna Smirnova after she demonstratively demanded a handshake, which is provided for in the rules but was replaced by the “fencer’s salute” during the corona pandemic. The association’s actions had caused widespread outrage.
Charlan is apparently allowed to start in a team
Olha Charlan accused FIE President Emmanuel Katsiadakis of breaking his word. According to the Ukrainian, he had promised her that she would not be disqualified for the actions she had announced. She also said in an Instagram video, “No one can be forced to make peace. You will not be forced to shake hands. The IOC had asked the world federations to allow Russian athletes again as so-called “individual neutral athletes” despite the war against Ukraine.
What happened on Thursday was often considered to be predictable. The German Fencing Federation sharply criticized the FIE in a statement on Friday. At the same time, “the current IOC recommendations and their implementation continue to have significant gaps”. They are “no real help” for the associations.
A comment by Christoph Becker Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 49 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 82 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 27
Meanwhile, the FIE entry list for Saturday’s team competition, released on Friday afternoon, shows that Olha Charlan has been allowed to compete for the Ukrainian team. It is currently unclear whether the black card issued on Thursday and its disqualification have been lifted.