Harlan gained wider attention after she was disqualified from the world championships for withdrawing after shaking hands with Russian athlete Anna Smirnova
In Ukraine, Harlan even earned a place on a postage stamp with her stance, but in Russia, as the athlete herself admits, people reacted very sharply to her reaction.
“Threats were sent to me. This country occupies half the planet, but there are very few normal people there. I can’t say that I expected such a reaction. It doesn’t bother me that they want to write to me and talk to me
But then they started sending me pictures of dead soldiers. It started to worry me because I don’t want to see it. They are not human. I also received messages wishing me death. I also got calls from all sorts of numbers. My e-mail was also full,” says the fencer.
Harlan is not the only Ukrainian athlete who refuses to shake hands with opponents from aggressor countries. For example, Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina behaves similarly after matches.
Harlan’s opponent, Smirnova, competed in the World Championships as a neutral athlete, but as Ukrainian media found out, she regularly expressed support for her brother, who serves in the Russian army, on social media.
2023-08-07 07:39:23
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