Ukrainian Paralympians push through loss and devastation to make history in Paris

From 28 August to 8 September, Paris will become the epicenter of athletic excellence as the city hosts the XVII Summer Paralympic Games. Over 4,400 athletes will compete in 549 events, showcasing their talent and determination. Among them is Ukraine’s national team, participating in its eighth Paralympic Games since gaining independence. To get an inside look at Team Ukraine, we spoke with Nataliia Harach, the spokesperson and head of the team’s press service.

Team Ukraine to compete in 17 sports events

The Ukrainian Paralympic team has secured 126 licenses for this year’s Games. The national team comprises 235 members, including 140 athletes - 96 men, 44 women - and coaches, doctors, and masseurs. In comparison, Ukraine had 138 competitors at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. For the first time, the Ukrainian team will compete in 17 sports, including two debut events: boccia (pairs and individual events) and handcycle racing. In Tokyo 2020, Team Ukraine competed in 15 sports events and in 15 events in Rio de Janeiro 2016.

Although the competition has yet to begin, the Ukrainian team already has much to be proud of, says Nataliia Harach. They will compete in 17 of the 22 sports on the Olympic program, setting a new record for Ukraine. The National Committee for Sports for the Disabled of Ukraine highlights the team’s debut in boccia as a significant achievement. Boccia, a game involving six colored balls, has no Olympic equivalent and is exclusive to the Paralympics. The term “boccia” is derived from the Italian word for “ball.” Often likened to pétanque, boccia is played indoors and demands precision and dexterity. Players aim to throw or roll six balls as close as possible to a white ball, known as the Jack, similar to pétanque. Matches are held over four or six rounds and can be played individually, in pairs, or in teams of three. Artem Kolinko and Nataliia Konenko will compete in the individual and pairs events.

Boccia is primarily played by athletes with severely impaired motor or cerebral functions. Players in the BC3 category who have impairments in all four limbs are allowed to use a launch pad, a helmet pointer, and a sports assistant who must face away from the field of play. “This is the first time we have secured licenses in boccia, which is a challenging sport involving athletes with the most severe injuries, including the effects of cerebral palsy and other extremely serious conditions. We are very proud of these athletes,” says Nataliia Harach. For the first time since the Rio Games, Ukraine has qualified a men’s sitting volleyball team for the Paralympics. The team includes two members from the Armed Forces of Ukraine: paramedic Yevheniy Korinets and volunteer fighter Dmytro Melnyk.

Yevhenii Korinets, hailing from Zhytomyr Oblast, lost his leg while performing a combat mission. After his injury, he turned to sports for rehabilitation, eventually taking up sitting volleyball professionally and earning a place on the national team. Dmytro Melnyk, a volleyball player from Dnipro, has long been involved in the sport and was a coach for sitting volleyball athletes before the full-scale invasion. Melnyk, who is also a drone operator, trains for the competition near the frontlines while simultaneously defending his country. “Both men have one objective at the Games: to fight and win for Ukraine on the sports front!” says Harach.

Pavlo Bal, a 38-year-old athlete from Lviv Oblast, has earned his debut Paralympic license in handcycle (road) racing. Bal is also a biathlon athlete and para alpine skier. This is Ukraine’s debut in the handcycle road racing event. The handcycle is a three-wheeled bicycle propelled by the rider’s hands, capable of reaching speeds up to 40 kilometers per hour.

Ukraine will be represented in a wide array of events at the Paralympic Games, including track and field, powerlifting, judo, archery, table tennis, shooting, swimming, rowing, cycling, canoeing, triathlon, badminton, taekwondo, wheelchair fencing, goalball, boccia, and sitting volleyball. Ukraine’s swimming team has the most athletes - 37, and the track team is second with 27. “The participation of Ukrainian Paralympians today holds a special symbolic significance for our country. I am confident they will deliver their best performances, share their stories, and once again demonstrate our resilience, strength, and determination to win,” Matvii Bidnyi, head of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, told Suspilne Sport. Bidnyi emphasized that promoting barrier-free and fully inclusive sports for people with disabilities is one of Ukraine’s most pressing challenges.

The National Paralympic Team and the war

Ukrainian Paralympic athletes and coaches are facing significant challenges as they prepare for the XVII Summer Paralympic Games amid ongoing war conditions. Many team members were occupied and were displaced from their homes in regions such as Kherson, Mariupol, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia due to the conflict. Athletes from areas like Kherson, Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kharkiv are unable to train in their hometowns due to constant shelling. There were several close calls, including an incident in Kharkiv Oblast where a coach and athlete narrowly escaped a Russian missile strike while training. Natalia Harach explains that there are tragic stories but with happy endings. For example, three Mariupol athletes went through hell and high water to make their way to government-controlled Ukraine and qualify for the Paralympics: swimmers Yaroslav Semenenko and Danylo Chufarov, powerlifter Anton Kriukov.

There is also Ania Hontar, widely known as "Golden Fish", who made her way from occupied Kherson Oblast.

The war has taken a personal toll on many team members. A Chernihiv athlete with cerebral palsy lost his 10-year-old son in a shelling incident that also severely injured his wife. Some athletes have survived occupation in Mariupol and Kherson, with some experiencing Russian filtration camps. Two team members have served on the front lines, and a leading national coach in shooting was recently killed in the Kherson sector. Since the start of the war, more than 100 residential buildings belonging to disabled athletes, coaches, specialists, and their families have been damaged or destroyed, primarily in Donetsk, Kherson, and Kharkiv Oblasts. Seven individuals from various regions have been wounded. Countless sports fields have been damaged or completely destroyed, notably in Bakhmut, where the track and field members used to train. Despite these challenges, much of the team’s preparation has been conducted at the Western Rehabilitation and Sports Center in Yavoriv, Lviv Oblast. This facility provides an accessible environment for athletes with disabilities and also organizes rehabilitation and sports training camps for veterans and service members who have sustained disabilities during the war. “We have only one goal: to win. To realize our dreams by winning a Paralympic medal. But, of course, the war started in 2014, and this ongoing war weighs heavily on each athlete, psychologically and financially. The thought of leaving their families behind will be a constant worry, and in their minds, they will remain connected to Ukraine,” says Nataliia Harach. Ukrainian athletes are also extremely troubled by the participation of “neutral” athletes from Russia and Belarus. Nearly 100 athletes from these countries are expected to compete in the Paralympics. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has confirmed that 90 neutral athletes with Russian passports and 8 with Belarusian passports will be present in Paris. “They are definitely not neutral. These people are members of the aggressor nation that has destroyed our homes, bombed our cities, killed women and children, and wants to occupy our lands and destroy all Ukrainians. They represent a nation that kills!” says Harach. Harach adds that the IOC has distributed rules and recommendations to all the athletes concerning their behavior on the sports fields. Certain gestures and actions have been totally proscribed, and penalties will be imposed. “I don’t know how we’ll behave when they’re around, how we’ll manage to coexist with them at the Paralympics, or how we’ll cope with it emotionally. Actually, it’s a vicious circle because who will decide which gestures and actions are unacceptable? This is a severe blow to Ukraine from the International Olympic Movement - the admission of Russia and Belarus as ‘neutrals’ in such large numbers. But we are determined to show our strength and win!” Harach adds.

“Your Support is our Victory!”

The slogan for the 2024 Paralympics is “Wide Open Games,” while the Ukrainian Paralympians have adopted the motto, “Your Support is our Victory!” According to the National Sports Committee for the Disabled of Ukraine, this slogan has been a longstanding rallying cry, urging fans of the Paralympic movement to follow and support the Ukrainian athletes. “This slogan carries deep significance. The more people engage with us on social media, send well-wishes, offer congratulations, and leave comments, the more inspired our athletes become. During the 2022 Paralympics, even soldiers on the frontlines sent us messages, saying, ‘Thank you for your victories; you inspire us to win here.’ This mutual support is vital,” says Nataliia Harach.

Since Ukraine began participating in the Paralympic Games, its athletes have won a total of 613 medals, including 187 gold. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Team Ukraine secured 24 gold, 47 silver, and 27 bronze medals, totaling 98 and placing sixth in the overall medal standings. The upcoming Summer Paralympic Games will take place from 28 August to 8 September, with Ukrainian athletes scheduled to begin their competitions the day after the opening ceremony. “We carry a tremendous responsibility for what we’ll achieve in Paris. We’re going there to win and show the world that Ukraine is a winner,” says Valerii Sushkevych, President of the National Committee of Sports for the Disabled of Ukraine, in a video address. Sushkevych emphasized the importance of the Paralympians as a source of inspiration for injured soldiers and civilians. “It’s crucial that today’s Ukrainian Paralympians motivate the thousands of Ukrainians who have suffered at the hands of the aggressor nation, showing them that they can and should return to a full and meaningful life.”

Invisible but exist: Ukrainian people with disabilities struggle not to be marginalized

All qualifying competitions for the Ukrainian athletes have been completed, and the final opportunity to secure a Paralympic license will take place in July. The athletes are now actively preparing for the Games. Some members of the Ukrainian team are currently at training camps in Europe, gearing up for the competition in Paris. The main national team has departed Ukraine for France, with emotions running high as the event approaches. RELATED:

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