Olga Kharlan

Olha Kharlan
Kharlan at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Native nameОльга Харлан
Full nameOlha Hennadiivna Kharlan
Nickname(s)Olya[1]
Born (1990-09-04) 4 September 1990 (age 34)
Mykolaiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight63 kg (139 lb)
Sport
CountryUkraine
SportFencing
WeaponSabre
HandRight-handed
National coachYevgeniy Statsenko[1]
ClubDynamo; Virtus Scherma Bologna[1]
Head coachArtem Skorokhod
Personal coachYuriy Marchenko[1]
Highest rankingNumber 1 (in 2012–14, 2017–18, and 2019–21)[1]
FIE rankingcurrent ranking
Medal record
Women's sabre
Representing  Ukraine
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 2 1 3
World Championships 6 7 2
European Games 2 0 0
European Championships 8 8 6
Summer Universiade 2 1 0
World Juniors Championships 8 1 1
European Junior Championships 2 1 1
Total 30 19 13
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Team
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris Team
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
Bronze medal – third place 2012 London Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris Individual
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Antalya Team
Gold medal – first place 2013 Budapest Team
Gold medal – first place 2013 Budapest Individual
Gold medal – first place 2014 Kazan Individual
Gold medal – first place 2017 Leipzig Individual
Gold medal – first place 2019 Budapest Individual
Silver medal – second place 2007 Saint Petersburg Team
Silver medal – second place 2009 Antalya Individual
Silver medal – second place 2010 Paris Team
Silver medal – second place 2010 Paris Individual
Silver medal – second place 2011 Catania Team
Silver medal – second place 2012 Kyiv Team
Silver medal – second place 2015 Moscow Team
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Catania Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Kazan Team
European Games
Gold medal – first place 2023 Kraków–Małopolska Individual
Gold medal – first place 2015 Baku Team
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Plovdiv Individual
Gold medal – first place 2009 Plovdiv Team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Leipzig Team
Gold medal – first place 2011 Sheffield Individual
Gold medal – first place 2012 Legnano Individual
Gold medal – first place 2013 Zagreb Individual
Gold medal – first place 2014 Strasbourg Individual
Gold medal – first place 2019 Düsseldorf Individual
Silver medal – second place 2006 Izmir Individual
Silver medal – second place 2007 Ghent Team
Silver medal – second place 2008 Kyiv Team
Silver medal – second place 2011 Sheffield Team
Silver medal – second place 2012 Legnano Team
Silver medal – second place 2013 Zagreb Team
Silver medal – second place 2018 Novi Sad Team
Silver medal – second place 2024 Basel Team
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Zalaegerszeg Team
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Strasbourg Team
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Montreux Team
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Toruń Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Toruń Team
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Antalya Team
Universiade
Gold medal – first place 2011 Shenzhen Individual
Gold medal – first place 2013 Kazan Individual
Silver medal – second place 2011 Shenzhen Team
World Juniors Championships[2]
Gold medal – first place 2007 Belek Individual
Gold medal – first place 2007 Belek Team
Gold medal – first place 2008 Acireale Individual
Gold medal – first place 2008 Acireale Team
Gold medal – first place 2009 Belfast Individual
Gold medal – first place 2009 Belfast Team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Baku Individual
Gold medal – first place 2010 Baku Team
Silver medal – second place 2005 Linz Team
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Linz Individual
European Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2004 Espinho Team[3]
Gold medal – first place 2006 Poznań Team[4]
Silver medal – second place 2004 Espinho Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Poznań Individual

Olha Hennadiivna Kharlan (Ukrainian: Ольга Геннадіївна Харлан; born 4 September 1990), also known as Olga Kharlan, is a Ukrainian sabre fencer.[5][6] She is a four-time individual women’s world sabre champion, six-time Olympic medalist and the most decorated Ukrainian Olympian in history.[7][8][9] She has been ranked #1 in the world in women's sabre for five seasons: 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2017-2018, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.[8]

Kharlan is also a two-time team world sabre champion, six-time individual European champion, and two-time team European champion. A five-time Olympian, she is a 2008 and 2024 team Olympic champion, 2016 team Olympic silver medalist, and three-time individual Olympic bronze medalist. Kharlan competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2012 London Olympics, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Kharlan was inducted into the International Fencing Federation Hall of Fame in 2016.[10] She briefly pursued a political career during the early 2010s.

Competing at the 2023 World Fencing Championships in Milan, on 27 July 2023, a key ranking event for Olympic qualifying, Kharlan defeated Russian Anna Smirnova 15–7. After her defeat, Smirnova extended her hand to Kharlan, who in turn extended her sabre in an offer to the Russian to tap blades. Kharlan said her choice of salute was meant as a sign of respect for her opponent, while still acknowledging the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. After a long delay, during which Smirnova protested, sat on the strip for 45 minutes and refused to move, Kharlan was ultimately black-carded and eliminated from the championship by FIE officials. The Ukrainian delegation filed an appeal. The following day, in order to compensate Kharlan for her loss of an opportunity to earn Olympic qualifying points in the individual world championship and for the humiliation of the prior day's disqualification, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach announced that the IOC would automatically qualify her for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[11] In addition - after consultation with the IOC - the FIE reluctantly reversed its decision barring her from the competition, opening up the opportunity for her to compete in the team world championships.[6] However, since the individual competition had already concluded at that point, the FIE's reversal came too late to allow Kharlan to pursue her fifth world individual championship.

  1. ^ a b c d e "Kharlan Olga," FIE.
  2. ^ "Medalist 1950 to 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2016.
  3. ^ Risultati competizione sul sito della Confederazione europea di scherma
  4. ^ "Sabato 4 novembre scatta a Poznan (Polonia) l'edizione 2006 dei Campionati europei giovani - Ecco il programma completo" (in Italian). 1 November 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference KharlanRBbio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference 7413289Kharlan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Ольга Харлан: На олімпіаді ми взяли своє, а китаянок навіть шкода, Сhampion (22 October 2008) (in Ukrainian)
  8. ^ a b "Kharlan Olga". The International Fencing Federation official website. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Ukrainian fencer Olha Kharlan to become most decorated Olympian in Ukrainian history". Ukrainska Pravda. 3 August 2024. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  10. ^ "До міжнародного "Залу слави" фехтування увійшли шість українських спортсменів". ТСН.ua (in Ukrainian). 30 March 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Kharlan thanks 'multi-million country of Heroes' for support after IOC offers olive branch of Olympic license". Yahoo News. 29 July 2023.