Harlan: I haven’t been able to fencing normally for a year now, I’m tired of the pain

Olympic champion Olga Kharlan said that she spent the end of last season “on painkillers.” The athlete admitted that she has problems with her hip, because of which she needs to take a short break.

“During personal competitions in Algeria, I was injured even more – before that I had a problem with my hip. I’ve been having this problem for a year now. Sometimes I can’t fence normally: I get tired from pain and the last few competitions last season I fenced simply on painkillers. This problem can only be solved with a long period of rest; there was none, so the problem returned in Algeria. When I was fencing in the semi-finals, I slipped a little and tore myself even more. But I finished the competition, held a team tournament – all this was not without pain, with all my strength.”

“I didn’t advertise this. There was a very tense period after [Кубка мира] in Algeria. I went to Bologna [врачи] They said something needed to be done. I have a tear, three weeks [нужны] no fencing at all. I didn’t fencing for two and a half weeks, did rehabilitation, and received personal lessons without lunges. And she did another ultrasound: they said it was better, but she needed another week. I say: “It’s impossible, there’s not enough time before the competition.” And I had four fencing training sessions to prepare for these competitions. And before that I only did rehabilitation, a swimming pool and that’s it.”

“When I started my first training sessions, I didn’t feel so much pain. On [Гран-при] I was without painkillers – this is already a small victory, because at the last competitions of last season I could not do without them. I had to achieve this, otherwise I couldn’t just fence.”

“Somewhere inside, of course, I struggled greatly with the fear that I would make some kind of lunge and it would hurt me. So psychological [момент], normal for athletes after rehabilitation… I am happy with the result, because there was very little time for preparation. I was very concerned about the lack of fencing training. I was a little upset all day. There was no fencing that I was able to show, as there was in Algeria. But the result is still satisfactory for me. It could be better”.

Harlan won silver at the first Grand Prix of the 2023/24 season. The event took place in Orleans, France. For Olga, this medal was the 28th at the Grand Prix tournament level in her career. This is also the Ukrainian woman’s third medal this season: she previously triumphed at the FIE Satellite series tournament in Istanbul and became second at the World Cup in Algeria.

Kharlan is the 2008 Olympic champion in team saber, medalist of the Games in 2012 and 2016. Olga will also take part in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.