Watch: Ukranian fencer disqualified for refusing to shake hands with Russian opponent at World Fencing Championships

The incident occurred in the match between Olha Kharlan and Russia's Anna Smirnova.

Ukranian fencer and Olympic champion Olha Kharlan has been disqualified from the ongoing World Fencing Championships for refusing to shake hands with Russian counterpart Anna Smirnova after their match. Kharlan, a four-time Sabre world champion won the clash quite comfortably (15-7).

Smirnova approached the Ukrainian to shake hands, but Kharlan held up her sabre instead and walked away. Smirnova refused to move for about 30 minutes and sat on a chair on the fencing piste talking to several officials before leaving. In fencing, shaking an opponents hand is mandatory and failure to do so results in a black card.

Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on her social media handle said, Olha Kharlan won the fair competition and showed dignity. I urge [FIE] to restore Kharlan’s rights and allow her to compete. Anna Smirnova lost the fair competition and decided to play dirty with the handshake show. This is exactly how [the] Russian army acts on the battlefield.”

Kharlan will now not be able to participate in the team event with the issuance of black card which dents Ukraine's chance of medalling in the team event. There are several instances from the past of Ukranian athletes refusing to shake hands with the Russians as well as Belarusians.

Wimbledon 2023 women's singles semi-finalists Elina Svitolina came out in support of Kharlan and called on the FIE to follow Women’s Tennis Federation, which has supported her decision not to shake hands with Russians or Belarusians after matches.

"I think the other sports federations should do the same. They should respect our decision, and the decision of our country as well,” she added.

WR-1 Emuri Misaki of Japan claimed the gold medal in women's sabre by defeating Greece's Despina Georgiadou (15-11) in the final.