Olga Kharlan. EFE/ Shashenka Gutierrez/Sipa USA

Ukrainian fencer becomes fan favorite after Olympic medal

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Jul 30, 2024 6:29 AM ET

Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan basked in the cheers Monday night after clinching a medal in the women's individual saber competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Judging by the crowd's reaction, you'd think she bagged a gold medal, but it was just a bronze.

The crowd was so in tune with Kharlan's emotions that they couldn't help but applaud her, giving her a standing ovation after her 15-14 win over South Korea's Sebin Choi.

Throughout the match, the crowd serenaded her with "Ol-ga! Ol-ga!" chants, especially when she trailed 12-7 to Choi and seemed in danger of losing. Mind you, the cheers came from even non-Ukrainians as the likes of IOC president Thomas Bach were spotted sharing her jubilation.

Why was the moment so significant? Kharlan had just captured Ukraine's first medal in the Paris Games, and the first since Russia invaded her country nearly three years ago.

"Ukraine, this is for you, my dear, this is for you"

Olga Kharlan, 2024 Olympic bronze medalist.

pic.twitter.com/vBV6yLdhdM
— UNITED24 Media (@United24media) July 29, 2024

'I dedicate this medal to Ukraine, to the Ukrainian armed forces, to Ukrainian athletes who couldn't compete at the Olympics because they were killed by Russia': powerful words of Olga Kharlan after winning bronze in fencing for Ukraine today #ParisOlympics2024 pic.twitter.com/JcGgzm7gdQ
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) July 29, 2024

Paying the price for her beliefs

There was a deeper meaning behind Kharlan's celebration.

A year ago, she was disqualified by the International Fencing Federation from the Fencing World Cup for refusing to shake hands with her opponent, Russia's Anna Smirnova, after defeating her.

Ukrainian fencer, 4-time World Champion Olga Kharlan was disqualified by the International Fencing Federation from the World Cup for refusing to shake hands with her opponent after defeating her - Russian fascist Anna Smirnova. pic.twitter.com/coJJZxA1dy
— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) July 27, 2023

Kharlan explained why all those "sacrifices" paved the way for Monday's medal win.

"To all the athletes who could not come [to the Paris Olympics] and be here because Russia killed them, I dedicate this to them," an emotional Kharlan said. "I'm Ukrainian. We will always have strength. We will always keep fighting."

The 33-year-old Kharlan will go down as one of the best fencers of the 21st century. She now has five Olympic medals — one gold (Beijing 2008), one silver (Rio 2016) and three bronze (2012 London, 2016 Rio and 2024 Paris) — to go with six gold medals in the Fencing World Championships.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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