Olympic discord

Ukrainians about Russians: “They don’t exist for us!”

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(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

Ukrainian Olympic athletes have once again criticized the admission of Russians and Belarusians as neutral athletes at the Summer Games in Paris. "As long as our people are being killed, our houses in Ukraine bombed and our borders occupied, Russia has no right to be at the Olympics," said Wadym Hutzajt, head of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee. He was referring to the 15 Russians and 17 Belarusians competing under a neutral flag.

Hutzajt also reported on how his protégés are currently behaving in the Olympic village if they come across Russian athletes: "The Russian and Belarusian athletes don't exist for us. We don't greet them, we don't say hello, we don't even look at them." This is an extreme situation for the 150 or so Ukrainian Olympic athletes. "All the Ukrainians in the Olympic village feel the war, have lost relatives or friends."

"... that some of them also support the war!"
Fencer Olha Charlan and tennis ace Yelina Svitolina had caused a stir in recent months when they refused to shake hands with their Russian opponents. Charlan has now criticized the fact that many former Russian athletes have changed nationality and are now competing for other countries in Paris. "That should be checked much more strictly. There is information that some of them also support the war."

"You can't imagine what it's like for them!"
Former fencer Hutzajt, who was also his country's sports minister until November, emphasized the extreme conditions under which his athletes had to prepare. Charlan, for example, comes from Mykolaiv in the south of Ukraine, which is repeatedly the target of Russian missile and drone fire. "You can't imagine what it's like for them to train and compete here, always knowing that bad news could come from home at any time."

"It's so hard to see your country under bombardment!"
Ukrainian diver Oleksiy Sereda feels the same way, saying that his father joined the military after the war began and is now fighting against the Russian invaders. The rower Anastassija Koschenkowa said: "It's so hard to see your country under a hail of bombs, it's hard to see your own child under the bombs. I keep thinking that I just want to hold him in my arms."

Russia as a nation has been banned from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) because of Moscow's war of aggression, which is supported by ally Belarus. When asked whether he advises his athletes not to shake hands in possible duels with Russians or Belarusians competing under a neutral flag during the Olympics, Hutzajt said: "The most important thing is that my athletes do not allow themselves to be provoked."