Olga Kharlan Barbie Doll

Barbie dolls in their line Barbie Role Models, a line dedicated to building female models in an effort to close the so-called “dream gap”, a moment in the lives of girls when, due to social pressure, they begin to doubt that they are capable to be what they set out to be.

A few days before the commemoration of International Women's Day, the American toy company Barbie launched a series of sports-inspired dolls that celebrate female role models.

The launch of the company is part of the Sheroes initiative, which pays tribute to outstanding women in different fields and the Dream Gap Project. Barbie's Dream Gap, explained by the company as a gap that exists between girls and their potential in fields that have traditionally been occupied by men, and the company seeks to share stories of women from different occupations to encourage I encourage the girls of the world to be whatever they want to be.

Tokyo 2020 and Barbie honored great athletes: the Turkish swimmer Sümeyye Boyacı, the French soccer player Amandine Henry, the Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan, the British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, the Portuguese surfer Teresa Bonvalot and the German jumper Malaika Mohambo. Barbie made a figure dedicated to each of them because of her power to inspire girls, women and people in general to reach their maximum potential in the sporting field.

Olha Kharlan is the first Ukrainian to become a prototype of a Barbie doll. Mattel created her for a series of limited edition Barbie Role Models to celebrate the brand's 60th anniversary. At that time, 40 famous women became prototypes, including scientists, companies, directors of large companies, athletes, artists and doctors.

Kharlan announced that she was auctioning off a customized copy of the Mattel Barbie doll, which is one of a kind (OOAK). The charity auction was launched on the eBay platform and sold for $10,400. All funds will go to a clinic in the Volyn region to rehabilitate Ukrainian soldiers who suffered as a result of the war.