BEIJING: Olga Kharlan led Ukraine to a stunning come-from-behind 45-44 victory over China to win the women’s team saber gold at the Olympics yesterday.
Cheered on by a raucous home crowd, China quickly jumped to a 25-15 lead and looked comfortably in charge.
But Kharlan, ranked 14th in the world, gave Ukraine hope when she demolished world No. 6 Bao Yingying 12-5 in the sixth round. Each team fields three fencers, who rotate to duel each other over nine rounds.
“We had nothing to lose, so we relaxed and started fencing,” said Olena Khomrova, who also chipped away at the deficit by beating Bao 9-5 in the eighth bout. In the final bout, with Ukraine behind 40-36 it was up to Kharlan to mount an unlikely comeback against world No. 4 Tan Xue. The two women then exchanged leads until 44-44. On the next point, both fencers attacked simultaneously and yelled with delight believing they had scored the winning touch.
After a lengthy video review, the referee could not conclusively determine who scored, so they had to re-fight the point. A quick stab by Kharlan and it was disbelief for China and ecstasy for Ukraine.
“I didn’t worry, because today we were lucky,” “At 44-44 I wasn’t nervous because I believed I would do it.” In the semi-finals Ukraine eliminated the US team, who were heavily favored to win gold after Mariel Zagunis, Sada Jacobson and Rebecca Ward swept the medals in the individual event.
In the bronze medal match, the United States defeated France 45-38.
