🏆 With the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Ukrainian government and diaspora have released their multimedia project “The Will to Win”, which serves as a stark and powerful reminder of the challenges facing Ukrainian athletes.
🇺🇦 These short films tell the stories of inspiring Ukrainian athletes who have overcome war, personal loss and suffering to compete at the Olympics this year.
🎬 The films can be viewed here: Мультимедійний проєкт «The Will to Win – Воля до Перемоги!» створений Асоціацією «Дивись українське!»
“I challenge anyone to view these stories and not be incredibly moved,” said Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) co-chair, Kateryna Argyrou.
Oleksandra Paskal, an eight year old gymnastic champion from Odesa, lost her leg as a result of a wall in her home collapsing on her as the result of a Russian missile attack. She now dreams of being a Paralympian.
Olympic finalist, high jumper Yuliia Levchencko, was born in Bakhmut, a beautiful Ukrainian town which has since been wiped off the map by Russia’s unrelenting attacks and aggression.
Zhan Beleniuk, an Olympic champion and Greco-Roman wrestler, recounts how his basketball gym was burned to the ground by a Russian missile attack.
🇦🇺 “As Australian-Ukrainians, we will of course all be cheering for the Aussie team at the Olympics, but we hope Australians will also spare a thought for the Ukrainian athletes and how hard they have fought for the chance to win gold for their country,” said Ms Argyrou.
Andrew Mencinsky, Vice-President of the Ukrainian Council of NSW, who is travelling enroute to the Paris Olympics said today “It is also distressing to know that for some of these Ukrainian athletes, they will need to compete against allegedly ‘neutral’ russian or belarusian athletes.
📑 “A report released by Global Rights Compliance, a human rights group based in The Hague and Kyiv, has issued a report finding that 17 of 32 russian and belarusian athletes have violated the IOC’s neutrality rules. They’ve either liked social media posts supporting the invasion, competed in pro-war competitions, or have links to the armed forces in their countries. It’s appalling,” he added.
🚫 “The participation of russian and belarusian athletes who support the killing of Ukrainians makes a mockery of Olympic values of respect, friendship and fair play. Imagine how a Ukrainian athlete must feel knowing they are competing against an athlete who supports terror against Ukrainians?” he added.
Backgrounder:
The impact of the russian invasion on Ukrainian sport has been profound. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, over 500 sports facilities have been damaged or occupied by russian troops, making it difficult to train. Many coaches and athletes have fled abroad, with significant numbers not returning to their chosen sport. Those who remain in Ukraine, must train with the reality of daily air raid alarms and a country fighting a brutal invasion. Others have joined the Armed Forces, with close to 500 athletes and their coaches tragically losing their lives resisting the Russian invasion.
The Global Rights Compliance report notes that among the russian athletes implicated in the dossier is cyclist, Alena Ivanchenko, who violated rules by “liking” a number of pro-war posts on social media, including posts questioning Ukraine’s right to exist and posts supporting the annexation of Donetsk and Luhansk. Tennis player, Elena Vesnina, also violated the rules, “liking” posts about ‘military feats’ of russian soldiers killing Ukrainians and posts displaying the pro-war “Z” symbol. Included in the belarusian contingent is rower, Yauheni Zalaty, a Junior Sergeant in the belarusian military, along with swimmer Anastasiya Shkurdai, who is a representative of the Sports Committee of the Armed Forces of belarus.
By allowing athletes who support an illegal and brutal invasion, the IOC is effectively demonstrating that a state may violently invade another and still be welcomed on the world’s stage.
🌏 The “The Will to Win” multimedia project is an initiative of the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, the National Olympic Committee, and the “Watch Ukrainian!” Association, with support received from the Ukrainian World Congress and the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council.
