The 33rd edition of the Summer Olympics 2024, currently taking place in the French capital Paris, witnessed an embrace between Ukrainian fencer Olha Kharlan and Russian Anna Pashta, who now represents Azerbaijan. Olha Kharlan shook hands with her competitor Anna Pashta and hugged her after defeating her in the round of 16 in the women's foil event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Anna Pashta, competing for Azerbaijan in this edition, wished her Ukrainian rival good luck, mentioning that she has known her for a long time. The website "Idman.biz" reported Anna Pashta saying: "I can't say we are best friends, but we know each other. We have a good relationship. We embraced. We have always supported each other. I wish her the gold medal at the Olympics." Ultimately, Olha Kharlan won the bronze medal.
Fencing has become one of the sports that has seen numerous controversies following the inclusion of Russian athletes in competitions, as the rules of the sport require a mandatory salute to the opponent after the bout; however, Ukrainians are unwilling to do so. Meanwhile, the president of the Russian Fencing Federation, Ilgar Mammadov, described the scene as a circus and blamed the athlete for double standards.
The Russian website "rsport.ria.ru" quoted Ilgar Mammadov saying: "It’s a circus. I remember at the International Fencing Federation conference in Lausanne in the fall of 2022, Harlan and Pashta sat together and had a nice conversation. Then I approached Olha and asked her if she was afraid they would be photographed now and would face problems because of that. She replied that Anna is from Azerbaijan, but there might be a problem because I approached her. This made me laugh because I was actually born in Baku (the capital of Azerbaijan), while Pashta only holds (Azerbaijani) citizenship. It's fine, we laughed, and it was like a circus."
Meanwhile, Russian State Duma members complained that Ukrainian athletes, in the current political climate, are prepared to ignore even their former friends if they represent Russia. State Duma deputy Svitlana Zhulova stated: "They usually react only to Russia. If an athlete from Russia represents another country, the reaction is different. Previously, everyone was friends and interacted with each other. Then it was told to Ukrainians that if they approached Russian athletes, they would be bullied."
