At the conclusion of a memorable first day of competition at the Winter Paralympics in Beijing, Vitali Lukianenko, Oleksandr Kazik and Dmytro Suiarko stand arm in arm with their three guides together – and smile.
Seven medals for Ukraine on Saturday
Under the blazing sunlight at the Zhangjiakou Biathlon Stadium, the visually impaired Ukrainian biathletes pose for the cameras after their triple triumph in the six-kilometer sprint. It’s already one of the moments that will last – in terms of sport anyway, but of course also in view of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine over 6,000 kilometers away.
Lukianenko, Kazik and Suiarko as well as Oksana Schischkowa, Grygorii Wowczynski, Liudmyla Liashenko and Taras Rad won seven medals for the blue and yellow team this Saturday (March 5th, 2022). All in biathlon. The Ukraine is currently leading the statistical gimmick in the medal table ahead of the hosts from China. Three gold, three silver and one bronze medal. Each one of them can be understood as a symbol that Valery Shushkevich spoke of earlier.
Shushkevich has been President of the Paralympic Committee of Ukraine for 25 years. In Beijing he can currently be found in front of almost every camera, on almost every microphone. It feels like Schushkevich is everywhere at the Paralympics at the moment – to represent his country.
“We have to be present here”
“We have to be present here. It is a symbol that my country exists today as an independent and sovereign country.”Schushkevich had said, among other things, in a lengthy interview: “Being here is our special contribution to communicating and fighting for peace and against war.”
One way to do this can be through sporting appearances, another is peace-building activities outside of the competition. The German Para team members, for example, silently took off their winter hats for a few moments at the opening ceremony on Friday – even if they weren’t caught in the global TV live broadcast – and showed the 30,000 spectators in Beijing’s Olympic Stadium the internationally known peace sign with their hands.
scream for peace
The war-torn Ukrainian delegation, on the other hand, had gathered in advance in the catacombs of the “Bird’s Nest” to applaud the surrounding athletes from other nations, volunteers and officials with two large banners and loud chants after the end of the war and peace in their country to call.
Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee, joined a little later in the stadium. His political opening speech, which was unusual for a high-ranking international sports official (“I’m appalled at what’s happening in the world right now” or “The 21st century is a time for dialogue and diplomacy, not war and hatred”.) he ended with a flaming appeal: “Peace!” – Peace! shouted the 45-year-old Brazilian. Some expressions seemed too much for the Chinese state television. The original sound was partially censored.
54-strong Ukrainian team in Beijing
Last but not least, the 54-strong Paralympic delegation from Ukraine, including 20 athletes, who traveled to Beijing under the most complicated and sometimes life-threatening circumstances, will have followed Parsons’ sentences attentively. Even before entering the Olympic Stadium, tears flowed, people hugged, consolation was given.
Barely 48 hours earlier, Parsons was representative of that IPC came under severe criticism when the Paralympic umbrella organization initially wanted the teams from Russia and Belarus to start under a “neutral flag”.
One day before the opening ceremony, the organizers reversed their decision after harsh criticism from around the world and excluded both nations from the Paralympics.
Greetings to Kharkiv
“We are highly motivated and want to win”, Valery Shushkevich said before the start in Beijing. The head of the Ukrainian delegation not only meant international attention, but also as many sporting competitions as possible.
But the 67-year-old also recalled how nervous the team members were, how they stared at their phones every free minute, how afraid they were for their families at home.
Biathlete Lukianenko, who clinched his seventh Paralympic gold medal since 2006 on Saturday, comes from Kharkiv, which was badly damaged. An association spokeswoman reported on Friday that he currently had no contact with his wife and daughter. Lukianenko dedicated his latest medal to the protectors of “our cities” and also saluted “my relatives from Kharkiv. Stay strong.”