Ukrainian fencer Olha Kharlan was awarded a place in the 2024 Paris Olympics by the IOC on Friday after she was disqualified at the world championships for refusing to shake the hand of her Russian opponent.
y'all don't understand we're going by a dangerous route again with this kinda shit. nobody sane in their mind thinks Putin is in the right, but if y'all gon refuse to shake the hand of a competitor because they were born in the wrong country with the wrongest politician, that's just petty and childish, and shows we really never learn from our mistakes.
Read up about this, because you're mistaken. This wasn't just because she's from the "Wrong country". She's an outspoken advocate for the war. Kharlan's brother is defending the Ukraine in the army.
The Ukrainian fencer did offer her weapon for tapping it, which is pretty much an equivalent of a handshake - much less cordial, sure but still. It was the Russian who then threw a tantrum to fuck with her oponent.
No, the one being petty and childish is the Russian who puts out a hand to a person which country is being occupied by theirs.
By competing under a Russian flag (or any flag for that matter) you represent a country and it's ideas. The "petty and childish" stance is not being ashamed of what your country does to others, not the other way around.