A video appeared that sheds more light on the scandal with the disqualification of Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan last week. The video provides evidence of Russian pressure on the decision to disqualify Ms Kharlan.
The decision to disqualify Olga was made after Aleksei Tikhomirov, the coach of Russian fencer Anna Simonova, passed his phone to Dieter Lammer, Head of the Technical Directorate of World Championships, for negotiations.
After a conversation with an unknown person, Dieter Lammer decided to disqualify Olga Kharlan for refusing to shake hands with a Russian competitor.
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Olga Harlan finished the fight, did not shake hands with the Russian woman and put out her sabre for a sabre kick (which was officially allowed during the pandemic and was cancelled the day before the fight, without informing federations and website).
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Anna Smirnova refused this greeting. The referee awarded the win to Kharlan and allowed her to leave the track. However, the Russian delegation made a fuss and Smirnova refused to leave the track.
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Dieter Lammer appeared, to whom Aleksei Tikhomirov, the “neutral” coach of the Russian athlete, gave his phone. Lammer talked to someone on the phone and gave it back to Tikhomirov (Smirnova’s coach), left and made the decision on disqualification.
However, such a decision is supposed to be taken collegially by the Technical Directorate. Apparently, Lammer did not waste time discussing it with his colleagues.
The head of the International Fencing Federation used to be the notorious Alisher Usmanov, a Russian oligarch close to Putin, who is under sanctions, for 14 years from 2008 to 2022.
It’s quite possible that the decision to disqualify Olga Kharlan was not accidental.
All international federations would benefit from reviewing their ranks from any possible Russian influence. Russia has invested into international sports for decades, and has a strong lobby in many types of sports