you can’t break the rules, in the Middle Ages they chopped off their heads for this – Kommersant

Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev commented on the incident with the refusal of the Ukrainian saber fencer Olga Kharlan to shake hands with the Russian woman. He recalled that for violation of the rules in the Middle Ages they “chopped off the head”, and in Russia they quartered.

“I am not familiar with the rules of saber fencers. But you can’t break the rules. In no case. In the Middle Ages, they simply chopped off their heads for this. We have been quartered. Something like this,” Mr. Medvedev wrote in Telegram.

Incident took place at the World Fencing Championships in Milan. Olga Kharlan defeated Anna Smirnova in the 1/32 final with a score of 15:7. After the duel, the Russian woman wanted to approach the Ukrainian woman, but she put her saber forward and did not let her opponent approach her, and then left the track. Smirnova filed a protest and waited 50 minutes for a decision, remaining on the track. The Ukrainian was disqualified because the rules require the opponents to shake hands after the match. The International Fencing Federation later canceled the punishment and Harlan was able to take part in the team competition. By information Media, handshakes at fencing competitions will be allowed to be replaced by a greeting from a distance.