Harlan: The medal is bronze, but for me it is gold. I dedicate this to all of Ukraine, to our defenders, male and female.

Ukrainian sabre fencer Olga Harlan commented on winning the bronze medal in the individual tournament sabre fencing on Olympics 2024 in Paris.

“A completely different medal, it’s bronze, but for me it’s gold. Whatever the medal, it’s gold for me. Because in those conditions, considering where our country is now, what we’re going through, what every athlete who represents our country here is going through… It’s just impossible to convey.”

“I don’t know what I did. It’s just indescribable. I dedicate this to all of Ukraine, friends, this is for you. I dedicate this to our defenders, male and female. I dedicate this to those athletes who can’t come here because Russia killed them.”

“Where did you get the strength to comeback with the Korean? I’m Ukrainian. We have strength, we will always have strength. We will always fight.”

Let us recall that at the 1/16 final stage, Olga beat Shihomi Fukushima from Japan – 15:9. Then the Ukrainian confidently dealt with the representative of Azerbaijan Anna Basta (15:6) and the Hungarian Anna Marton (15:7). In the semi-final, Harlan lost to Sarah Balzer = 7:15.

Earlier, Elena Kravatskaya and Alina Komashchuk finished their performances in the singles sabre tournament. Elena lost to the second number in the grid, Misaki Emura from Japan, in a tense fight – 14:15. Alina lost to John Hayon from South Korea – 8:15.

The 2024 Summer Olympics will end on August 11. The competitions will feature 329 sets of medals in 32 sports. Ukraine is represented in Paris by 140 athletes in 23 sports – this is the smallest representation of the blue and yellow during the Olympics.