As Paris Olympics begin this week, Ukraine mourns more than 300 athletes killed in war
Hundreds of training facilities have also been destroyed or damaged since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
A stadium in Kyiv destroyed by the Russian invasion.
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KYIV: Freestyle wrestler Iryna Koliadenko was training at a gym in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in February 2022 when explosions rang out.
Russia had just launched a full-scale invasion of her country, attracting international condemnation and causing many Ukrainians to flee for their lives.
Koliadenko had to pack her things and go to Irpin – a suburb of Kyiv – to be with her family. A few days later, they were forced to hide in a basement without heating or electricity when Russian troops poured in.
“Of course, it was difficult to prepare for the Olympic Games in such conditions. It was difficult because of the constant shelling,” she told CNA.
The athlete’s and her family’s apartments were destroyed due to the Russian occupation of some territories. But she counts herself lucky to still be alive.
Ukraine’s sports ministry said that over 300 Ukrainian athletes have been killed, while hundreds of training facilities have been destroyed or damaged since the start of the invasion.
The Paris Olympic Games, which begin on Friday (Jul 26), will be a challenging one for Ukrainian athletes like Koliadenko whose lives have been completely reshaped by the ongoing war.
The 25-year-old said that seeing Russian athletes in Paris will be difficult.
“I have a negative attitude. Of course, we'd like them to be gone, because they are our enemies. For us, they are people who are destroying our lives,” she added.
“WE WILL NOT STAND WITH THEM”
Russia, historically one of the largest Olympic participants, and its close ally Belarus have been banned from sending official teams to Paris because of the Ukraine invasion.
However, individual competitors in some sports have been allowed to apply to compete as neutral athletes if they passed a special International Olympic Committee (IOC) test.
According to IOC officials, more than a dozen Russian athletes – including 10 wrestlers – will compete in only 10 sports disciplines this year, down from 30 a few years ago.
Ukraine’s sports ministry has issued guidelines advising their athletes to keep a distance.
Meanwhile, international sport federations have agreed Ukrainian athletes will not be disqualified if they refuse to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian athletes.
Vadym Gutzeit, president of Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee, noted that none of the athletes from both countries have said they are against the war.
“So we will not stand with them, communicate, or support them,” he said.
“For us, the most important thing is the safety of our athletes and that they will be self-controlled, so there are no provocations from their side.”
More than 100 athletes will be representing Ukraine in 22 sports including archery, boxing, gymnastics, Judo, and rowing.
Koliadenko, who won a bronze medal in the women’s freestyle 62kg event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, hopes to win more this year – but the Games mean even more than awards now.
While in Irpin, she showed CNA a room inside a destroyed stadium where she used to train. All that was left was rubble and walls pockmarked by bullets and shrapnel.
Koliadenko hopes to prove that not even war cannot stop her from making her country proud.
"For me, this is the responsibility of Ukraine – when we go abroad, to show that despite the fact that there is a war, and it is very scary, we give all our strength to win on the sports front, to raise the flag of Ukraine, to play the national anthem of Ukraine, and for the whole world to hear and see, to not forget, and to help us,” she said.
