Paralympics, the stories of Ukrainian athletes between escapes and bombings

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There war in Ukraine he did not spare the sports facilities for Paralympic athletes. There are approximately five hundred of them destroyed or damaged by the fighting with the Russiaand the consequences of the conflict have not failed to make their weight felt on the Games in progress in Paris.

Training under the bombs and the green on the suits

Dozens of athletes were in fact forced to run away from their country. Others remained and had to train in extremely difficult conditions. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian team is achieving good results in the French capital: it is possible that it will reach the same number of medals obtained in Tokyo 2020. For the first time, their overalls also feature the color green in addition to the yellow and blue of the flag, to pay tribute to the soldiers on the front lines.

The long jumper Alexander Lytvynenko won the bronze medal. He left Odessa immediately after the outbreak of the war, fearing an occupation of the city. He thus took refuge in a village in the region where there was no nothing to train withif not a bar in a playground. In addition to bearing the heat due to the lack of electricitywhich made it impossible to use the air conditioning, his nights were constantly accompanied by the deafening noise of falling bombs.

141 Ukrainian Paralympic athletes present in Paris

The Swimmer Anton Kol won a bronze medal and a silver medal. It comes from Dnieperanother region hit by heavy bombing. When Russia hit the city’s two Paralympic facilities, he was walking down the street with his son. He has pledged to return as soon as the games are over: “I love my city, I have to be there,” he explained. And once there, he will help rehabilitate those who have suffered amputations because of their injuries: “I want to show them that life goes on. Even after.”

Ukraine is represented with a total of 141 athletes at the Paris Paralympics. The team competes in 17 of 22 disciplines.