Blade extended to the enemy

How Russian sports officials tried to win a hybrid victory over Olga Harlan

In the Russian-Ukrainian war, a second front was temporarily opened. Olga Harlan, Ukrainian Sabbet, the 2008 Olympic champion, six -time world champion and eight -time - Europe, after the victory, refused to shake the hand of her Russian rival Anna Smirnova, and instead extended a saber forward in order to “knock the blades”.

If Smirnova knocked in response in response, then there would have been nothing, and the judges would not even notice the incident, - all the fencers I talked to are sure. However, instead, the Russian debutant (she was 23 years old) defiantly sat on a chair on the platform and waited for the decision of the technical directorate. “I made an elephant from a fly,” says former Russian saber, Ayrat Abdulmanov, who is now training in the USA.

The judge announced the victory of Harlan, the corresponding changes were made to the standings, and Harlan left the fencing path, confident in her victory. The incident seemed to be exhausted. However, as it turned out, no.

All 50 minutes, while the Russian saber was sitting on a chair, the discussion continued in the technical directorate. Among other things, a person unknown to the fencers in civilian clothes, who, on fake passes, penetrated the premises of the technical director and there, continuously hanging on a wire with Moscow, demanded compliance with the rules. “He was there in a technical director in a zone that I cannot pass into. With someone else's accreditation. They noticed that she was a stranger, and he was taken out, ”says Yuri Gelman, senior coach of the US Fencing Fencing, present at a tournament in Milan.

After this meeting, the technical director abolished the decision of the judge, issued Harlan a “black card” and took 60 days from the competition. However, after the raised scandal, everything turned over again. Olga Harlan sent the so -called. Wild Card - that is, an unconditional invitation to the Olympics, and then they canceled the disqualification and allowed to continue performances at the championship.

The incident again raises the issue of the "neutral" status of Russian athletes. Anna Smirnova performed at the championship in a “neutral” status - otherwise she would simply not be allowed there. But it is obvious that the mysterious person in the black, running around the premises of the technical directorate, represented the Russian state.

“The fencing Federation has been funded by Usmanov for many years and is still full of his people,” recalls Yuri Gelman.

So that the same old sports Petro-Boshirovschina with the substitution of jars with urine happened. And Smirnova was unlikely to think of sitting on the path herself. “She was forced to,” Gelman is sure, “and if she refused, she would not have greeted her.”

This does not mean that Anna Smirnova needs to be poisoned, open her mailbox (where there was nothing more compromising than petitions in defense of animals) and reproach with photographs with his brother in July 2022, who was called up for military service in the Russian army, impressing them for “support of war”.

But the fact that Anna Smirnova in this situation was a screw and hostage to a giant Putin hybrid sports car is difficult to doubt about it.

All what happened, as usual, gave rise to a storm in social networks. On all directions, reproaches rained down, some zealots on the one hand managed to be outraged by the “rudeness” of the Ukrainian athlete, who threatened the rival with a blade (not true, the salute of the blade is a gesture of respect), and the zealots on the other hand hastened to admire the act of Harlan, who, with one movement of the blade, pointed to Russian citizens to their place (the same objection).

Therefore, we will try to restore the picture of what happened - as it is told by the fencers and documents themselves.

The existing rules of the international fencing Federation (FIE) require that, after the decision of the judge, the participants of the duel “fuel up the saber and shook their hands on the enemy. If one or both fencers refuse to submit to these rights, the judge will punish him/them, as appropriate for violations of the 4th group. ” The 4th group is a black card. It involves exclusion from the competition and disqualification for 60 days. The rules were adopted in November 2022 and do not provide for exceptions. It is interesting that even having canceled Harlan, Fie noted in her decision : "Fie fully supports the penalty, which, after a thorough analysis, fully complies with its official rules." After that - on the same day - Fie canceled the same rules, so you no longer need to shook your hand.

The now canceled rule is based on the centuries -old traditions of European knightly culture. This is how Dumas describes the first duel of d'Artagnan with three musketeers: “You are really a glorious small one,” Athos said, shaking his hand. ”

But his last duel is with Rofshore. “D'Artagnan fought three times on a duel with Rochepher and wounded him all three times. “For the fourth time, I will probably kill you,” he said, holding out his hand to Rochecfor to help him stand up. ”

As we know, with d'Artagnan and with Athos in the first match, and with Rochephor everything was serious. They were going to kill each other. This did not prevent them from shake hands. This is the knightly attitude towards the enemy.

There were always a lot of hunters to violate these rules in modern sports. Often they came from countries where the concepts of European chivalry were unknown. But even such athletes had to observe them. For example, last year, the Egyptian fencer Ahmed El-Sayed was forced to shake the hand of his Israeli rival, which caused an indignant hooting of the crowd in social networks.

However, for the first time in the history of European culture, during the Covids of Handsome, Rapira was canceled and replaced by a greeting. What did not fall during the first and second world, fell as a result of a virus not very dangerous for a healthy young athlete, and this already speaks a lot about modern Europe.

However, there was such an option in the era of chivalry and duels too. “Courage is always respect, even if it is the courage of the enemy. The musketeers fled the bold guardsman with their swords and hid them in the scabbard, ”we read the same Dumas.

At the same time, despite the fact that contact with blades was canceled by the official federation, they continued to use it regularly. “I am participating in amateur competitions now,” said one of my interlocutors, “and athletes, especially older ones, are everywhere knocking blades everywhere.”

Moreover, at the same championship in Milan, where there was a scandal with the participation of Olga Harlan, the Italian fencer Harozzo, annoyed by the losing, instead of shaking his hand to his opponent from Hong Kong, "or, rather, contacted the guard, and the judge did not even pay attention to this. “Fencing is very loyal judges,” says my interlocutor, a former fencer, “here is the most important not the letter, but the spirit: to show respect for the opponent. Harlan - showed. "

As we see, the Russian side completely fanned the scandal, looked for a letter in a piece of paper and tried to use this letter through corrupt sports officials.

However, Ukrainian sports officials behaved not accurately. They showed clear unprofessionalism without discussing the rules in advance. The Ukrainian Minister of Sports Vadim Guttsight said after the scandal: Ukraine informed Fie that its athletes would not give their hands to Russian neutrals. This is surprising. What does it mean "informed"? What did Fie say in response?

As we see from this statement, the refusal to shake a hand was not a spontaneous decision of Harlan itself - this was the demand of the Ukrainian Ministry of Sports to all athletes. But if the Ministry of Sports puts forward such a requirement, then what prevented him from agreeing with FIE to the scandal? After all, if Harlan had not been so eminent, then her disqualification as a result of this intrigue could be quite real. By the way, when another Ukrainian saber - Igor Reizlin - found out that his opponent would be a Russian, he brought a certificate of injury and did not come to the fight.

After the scandal, the head coach of the Ukrainian national team Natalya Conrad said that the “covid rule”-to cross blades-acted until July 26, and that there was some secret advice on which it was canceled, and the Ukrainian delegation did not know this. This statement is not like the truth. The FIE rules acting at the time of the match unequivocally demanded handshakes and were dated to November 2022, which is why the Egyptian and had to betray the hand to the representative of Israel.

Yuri Gelman, in a conversation with me, suggested that Ukrainian officials were simply not competent enough and did not know all the subtleties - which was what the Russian side used, which started a small, dirty and fleeing affair, flew back. In addition, the decision that Ukrainians can participate in fights with Russian, even neutral athletes, was accepted at the last moment, and received it almost personally by Vladimir Zelensky.

In conclusion, I would like to add the following.

One of the most important problems of modern sports is that athletes from non -profit, non -competing sports are state employees, a kind of state serf.

This is a bomb laid down by the founder of the modern Olympic movement by Pierre de Cuberten, who believed that sport was supposed to be unprofessional and amateur athletes should not earn money. The contemptuous gold should not concern their great achievements that occur only from the desire for perfection.

As the experience of mankind shows, all organizations of this kind, created on the basis of fundamental unrequesting - whether it be the Church, the Order of the Franciscans, the Communist Party or “amateur” sport - turn into a second generation into a corrupted and corrupt swamp.

International sports bureaucracy is one of the most dirty systemic feeders of mankind. And the national sports bureaucracy is a heavy heritage of the Soviet window dressing. It exists in those countries that constantly wage a hybrid war with their neighbors.

The worse the country in the country, the more the Ministry of Sports is in it. In such a country, there are always full of Kerlingists, athletes, swimmers, jumpers with six and other participants in those sports who do not pay for themselves.

Sports in these countries are one of the main social elevators. People go to everything to get out of poverty, and as a result they find themselves in slavery among sports officials. They do everything that the state is ordered, sign everything that the state tells, and serve as its sign. The coolest of them, like Isinbaeva, are used to the point that they are pushing their surname for the legal murder of democracy in exchange for a villa in Spain. Despite all the lies that sport is not politics, sport in such countries is precisely that politics and systemic corruption.

This is what makes such a difficult status of Russian “neutral” athletes. On the one hand, it is clear that he is serf. How will he condemn the war? He wants to win, and for this he does everything that the master will say. And on the other, what is he "neutral"? He trains at the state base, exists at the expense of the state, eats, drinks and travels to tournaments at the expense of the state. And even used shamelessly - as in the case of Olga Smirnova - in order to try to win a small hybrid victory over Ukraine.

But Ukraine - with all respect - do not focus on hybrid sports victories instead of combat. Case Olga Harlan thundered so that he became for many a surrogate offensive at the front. It doesn’t work out in Zaporozhye, so at least in Milan they won at the championship. In Ukraine, there is also a Ministry of Sports. And in the USA, which help Ukraine with weapons, no. Not at all.

But the most important thing in this case is what. Olga Harlan showed chivalry. She did not “keep the“ protein body in a ear of a earflap ”at the distance of an elongated saber, as some commentators rejoiced. She found a noble solution from the current situation, which her bonded rival did not want and probably could not accept.

And this is what allowed her to ultimately win. Harlan made a knightly gesture, and her rival refused, and this was completely lost. This is the most important strategic lesson of this story.

"I think they ordered her"

Comments of the Senior Coach of the US Fencing United States Yuri Gelman

- When Olga Harlan refused to shake Anna Smirnova’s hand and offered to knock on the “covid” protocol instead, Smirnova refused to do this and sat for 50 minutes and waited for the decision. Smirnova herself, do you think, decided to sit or ordered her?

“I am almost sure that she was ordered.” If she had not fulfilled the orders, she would be bad.

- If Smirnova knocked out blades, would I understand correctly that there would be no questions to her?

- No, would be. There would be questions until today. It was necessary to shake hands. Knocking on blades - this was a covid rule, but it was canceled in November 2022. And from today, the rule of the handshake was canceled.

“But the Italian Harozzo at the same tournament also did not shook his hand from Hong Kong, limited to clinks crossed, - and nothing!”

- Yes, in truth, no one would even pay attention to it, if we talk honestly. But Mammadov, the senior coach of Russia, as soon as this story was outlined, immediately began to bombard the federation so that all the rules were fulfilled. There was a man at the tournament, it is not clear who he is in a suit - he even entered the accreditation of the International Federation into the Technical Directorate. And there he tried to lobby so that all the rules were fulfilled. And people saw that accreditation was not his, alien. And who he was is unknown. And it was not a fencer. We all know each other here.

- What did he say?

- He said that the rules were violated, and that Harlan should urgently disqualify, and he was on the phone all the time.

The situation was generally created first by the MOK, and then by our international federation, because the IOC has no clear opinion, and the fencing Federation, which was headed by Usmanov for many years, is one of the most corrupt.

And, of course, people remained in it, the Prushmanovsky remained, and they lobby for Russia.

- And what is this lobbying expressed?

- They should not have decided to allow Russian athletes. But the IOC decided that it can be allowed neutral, and gave it to the federations, and the fencing Federation decided to allow neutrals.

“Do I understand correctly that the judge awarded Harlan’s victory?” And only after 50 minutes, this decision was revised in a technical director, in the very one that an unknown person in a suit penetrated?

- Yes. After they did not shook their hands, Harlan left. She was awarded the victory and recorded Harlan’s victory in the official protocol. Her name was officially made as the name of the winner, and only after 40-50 minutes they reviewed it all.

“But in the case of Harozzo, who did not regret the opponent’s hand, they had no questions?”

- Technically, they are right. It was necessary to press hands. As for Harozzo, they touched their fists, as with Covid. Can be regarded as a handshake.

- It seems to me that the incident has a great responsibility of Ukrainian sports officials. They had to anticipate all the difficulties and agree with the federation on the protocol in advance.

- Yes, here both Ukrainians and the federation pierced. Knowing that the Russian woman with the Ukrainian would fenger, it was necessary to negotiate in advance. We all predicted that if neutral athletes from Russia appear, there will be a scandal. It’s also good that this ended. When Smirnova fenced with a Georgian, she generally turned her back to her.

- And did not shook my hand?

-No, she shook, but somehow with her back. I have nothing against Smirnova, she is 23 years old, and in general I feel sorry for her, although there they found some photos in a military hat.

- These were her photographs in July 2022 with her brother, who was military service.

- Well, then this is about nothing.

- What should I agree on?

- First of all, it was necessary to prevent Russian athletes at all. This is the fault of the Olympic Committee and Bach, which lobbies the admission of Russians and Belarusians. “Sports outside of politics” and all that. We understand everything. But now Bach turned around and personally called the president of the International fencing Federation, sent a representative, turned everything over, and Harlan won. It seems that the Russians have already won - and everything turned around. Harlan was the first to receive an Olympic license. She performed today.

- Nevertheless, returning to the rules: the rule of dismantling of the hand as a result of the scandal was accepted very quickly. It seems to me that Ukrainian sports officials had to agree on this in advance.

- Yes. Take the rule of the hands of the hand in advance, and there would be not a single conflict.

- Do I understand correctly that another Ukrainian athlete in these competitions, knowing in advance about the rule, did not fenger with the Russian?

- Yes, Igor Reizlin is a Ukrainian spit. He starred in a pair with the Russians. Here everyone has a question: there are only two Ukrainians and two Russians in the competition. How did it happen that both came across each other? In two nets - and they are with each other!

— Сейчас главный тренер сборной Украины Наталья Конрад говорит, что «ковидное правило» — скрестить клинки — действовало до 26 июля, и что был какой-то тайный совет, на котором оно было отменено, и что украинская делегация этого не знала. По-моему, это неправда. Правила, которые я смотрела, четко помечены — ноябрь 2022.

— Представители украинской команды сами много чего не знают. Они не были готовы к этой ситуации. Здесь нужен человек, который досконально знает правила. Таких людей в мире единицы. Когда возникла проблема, то ее надо быстро решать — я вот встретился случайно здесь с президентом украинской ассоциации фехтования, он юрист. Он пытается что-то сделать, но он был не готов. Думаю, что он не знал всех прав спортсменов. Чтобы их знать, надо всю жизнь быть в спорте.

— Но эти правила знал человек в черном костюме?

- Probably. Мне и Оля (Харлан. — Прим. авт. ) говорила про него, что там какой-то непонятный чувак ходил в костюме с галстуком. Он там был в техническом директорате в зоне, в которую я не могу пройти. С чужой аккредитацией. Они заметили, что она чужая и его вывели.