“It was my birthday on February 23, and on the 24th my husband woke me up very early and said the war had started.”
Olena Krywyzka, a world-class epee fencer, is used to reacting at lightning speed. But unlike the competition, Thursday two weeks ago her life was at stake.
“We had no idea how much time we had left, the explosions were very close, they hit the airport, we live not far away. And we grabbed the essentials and had to make a quick decision. Either in an air raid shelter or out of Kyiv immediately.”
The fencing equipment is still in Kyiv
They ran to the car, the two dogs came with them, everything else, the sword, mask, clothes – everything that belongs to the fencing equipment, the 35-year-old had to leave behind in Kyiv.
“I didn’t take anything with me, but I have the hope of being able to return home, to our hopefully undamaged house, where I hope my equipment will be which I train with and in which one day we will again represent our country in competitions. ”
The sport doesn’t matter anymore
Twice she took part in the Olympic Games with her epee, in London and Rio de Janeiro, three times, in 2015, 2017 and 2019, she won bronze at world championships. At the moment she is not even thinking about whether she will be at the next one in Cairo in the summer.
“I don’t follow it at all anymore. We have a completely different competition now, one with the Russian occupier as an opponent.”
Olena Krywyzka was born in Russia, the Ukrainian has been living in Kyiv for over ten years and it is above all the silence of the Russian athletes that outrages her. If they now say they want peace, that’s not enough.
“The priorities are completely different now. Now it’s about survival”
World-class epee fencer Olena Krywyzka does not reveal her exact whereabouts for security reasons, especially since the situation can change at any moment. She hasn’t been able to do her actual work, namely fencing training, for more than two weeks, as long as the war lasts.
“I usually train six times a week. But training is out of the question, the priorities are completely different now. Now it’s about survival.”
The war has been going on all over the country for a long time, the Russian air force is also bombing cities north of the capital, in the center, such as Dnipro, in the south and also in the west, where they attacked Lutsk and Ivanno-Frankivsk. In Kharkiv in the east, they destroyed schools, kindergartens and residential buildings. Olenas Kriwizka’s teammates come from all parts of the country.
“Every year in Kharkiv we met for a big competition in the sports complex. This facility was completely destroyed in the bombing raids.”
Assuming she survives, can war be the end of her career?
“I haven’t even thought about that, especially since it doesn’t depend on me at all at the moment.”