PARIS: Olga Kharlan got the winning touch for Ukraine’s first gold medal of the Paris Olympics, ripped off her fencing mask and sank to her knees.
When she got up again, it was to dance on the piste wrapped in a Ukrainian flag and join teammates Alina Komashchuk, Olena Kravatska and Yuliia Bakastova in the celebrations.
Kharlan went in for the final leg of the women’s team saber final with South Korea on Saturday needing to turn around a three-point deficit to keep her team in the contest.
She’d been thinking of Ukrainian troops fighting on the front lines as motivation, trying to keep her own emotions in check “like a robot.” And then she heard the crowd in Paris chanting her name.
“I couldn’t believe it. They’re shouting ‘Olga, Olga!’” she said. “It’s beautiful. Thank you, Paris.”
Facing South Korea’s Jeon Ha-young, Kharlan said she realized the key right then was to relax. She did just that, and scored the eight points Ukraine needed for a 45-42 victory.
“At some point I said ‘I’m going to have fun, I’m going to enjoy this moment,’” Kharlan said. “I enjoyed all the fencing and just went for it.”
