After much hardship, Olga Kharlan claimed the individual bronze in sabre, thus securing the first medal for her nation in the ongoing Games in the French capital.

The athlete, in a moment of advocacy, broke into tears as she concluded the match for the last spot on the podium. “You have no idea how difficult it is to prepare and focus on the competition when your home is under attack every day,” lamented the always outspoken Kharlan.

Kharlan, 33, staged an admirable comeback despite trailing for nearly the entire bout. Indeed, she was behind by six touches twice (10-4 and 11-6). Using all her strength, she ultimately defeated her opponent, South Korea's Choi Se-bin, 15-14. Achieving a final 10-3 run, which overwhelmed the promising Asian competitor.

Sara Balzer, one of the host nation's fencers, had deprived Kharlan of her chance to bite her first individual Olympic gold medal. Faith had seemingly vanished. However, in a show of courage, the veteran Ukrainian possibly secured “the most special medal of her career.”

And it’s noteworthy because this isn’t her first. Kharlan boasts, in addition to her five Olympic medals, 15 World Championship medals. Yet, in her words, this latest achievement is unique: “It’s totally different. It’s special because it’s for my country. For my family, for all the athletes going to war, for the Ukrainians on the front lines.”

Adding to Kharlan’s display of resilience was a curious episode. Kharlan won her third individual Olympic bronze in front of the International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach. Indeed, Bach, a former Olympic fencing champion, had intervened to grant her a wild card after she was controversially disqualified from last year’s World Championship. The embrace they shared at the end demonstrated that after the storm, calm always follows.