"Yesterday [July 26] I had a conversation with the International Fencing Federation. And I emphasized there that our athletes will not shake hands with athletes under a neutral flag from Russia. Yesterday there was a meeting of the [Ukrainian] federation: the president, the head coach with members of the international federation . They also emphasized that our athletes will not shake hands, they will salute, salute and leave the track. What we saw was a provocation of a female athlete under a neutral flag," Gutzeit said.
"We saw what she did: a specific provocation against Olga Harlan. She came up, made a provocation, held her hand for a long time, waited. There are cases of fencing athletes when athletes from Israel and the Arab world meet: they do not shake hands, they hit the blade and diverge. Here we saw that she provoked Olga, the organizing committee. And, unfortunately, they [the organizing committee], knowing that this would happen, because they were warned, disqualified Olga after a long break, they argued for a long time," added the head of the NOC of Ukraine.