A Ukrainian fencer dedicated her Olympic medal to athletes who couldn't compete 'because Russia killed them'

• Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan dedicated her Olympic bronze medal to fallen Ukrainian athletes.
• Around 400 Ukrainian athletes have been killed in Russia's invasion.
• Kharlan was nearly unable to compete as punishment for not shaking a Russian fencer's hand in a prior contest.

A Ukrainian fencer dedicated her Olympic medal to "athletes who could not come and be here because Russia killed them."

The comment from Olga Kharlan, who won Ukraine's first medal of 2024, was a stark moment where the war burst into view at the games.

Kharlan, 33, defeated Choi Sebin of South Korea to take bronze in the individual saber contest.

She then lost to a French opponent, Sara Balzer, who took silver. Manon Apithy-Brunet, also French, won the gold.

Kharlan made her comment to the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, whose interviewer asked her where she found the strength to compete.

Kharlan said: "I'm Ukrainian. We will always have strength. We will always keep fighting."

Ukraine's National Olympic Committee told Business Insider by email in February that 422 athletes had been killed in the war with Russia.

Russia itself has been excluded from the games as punishment for invading Ukraine, though its athletes have been allowed to compete with the designation of Individual Neutral Athletes.

Kharlan almost didn't make it to the Olympics this year, having been disqualified from the World Fencing Championships last summer for refusing to shake hands with her Russian opponent.

Kharlan received an exemption citing her "unique situation" from the president of the International Olympic Committee — himself an Olympic fencing champion — which allowed her to attend Paris Games .

Athletes from Russia and Ukraine have increasingly been at odds since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Last month at the European fencing championships in Switzerland, another Ukranian fencer refused to shake hands after defeating a Russian-born opponent, Maia Guchmazova, who was competing for Georgia.