An Olympic Marathoner’s Journey From Kenya to the Front Lines in Ukraine

Nyzhnyk voluntarily joined the Nationwide Guard in 2016, and he represents its sports activities membership in home racing competitions. The membership contains 150 of the nation’s prime athletes, 32 of whom competed on the Tokyo Video games. In instances of peace, Nyzhnyk doesn’t actively serve, “however in circumstances of battle, we should defend our nation like all army,” he mentioned.

To get from Kenya to Ukraine, Nyzhnyk flew from Nairobi to Budapest, the place volunteers in Hungary helped him cross the border. A pal met Nyzhnyk in Khmelnytskyi and took him to a prepare certain for Kyiv so he might retrieve necessary paperwork and his automotive at his condo on the outskirts of town earlier than assembly Olga. He had hesitated with the choice on arrival in Ukraine.

“It’s unknown when we can return there once more,” he mentioned, referring to his house outdoors Kyiv. “I believed concerning the route whereas I used to be nonetheless in Kenya, however modified it once I was touring to Ukraine as a result of the state of affairs right here will not be easy and tough to plan the whole lot.”

“I’m not nervous, and I do the whole lot with out panic,” Nyzhnyk mentioned on Sunday, as he sat in a crowded but eerily quiet metro station turned shelter whereas he waited for curfew to finish at 7 a.m.

When he left Brovary for Lviv on March 6, he drove two girls and a 2-year-old boy who have been escaping Kyiv for a safer area. The route, which ought to take six hours, changed into a 26-hour journey by 12-mile-long site visitors jams. He stopped a number of instances to sleep in his automotive.

“I’m very drained,” Nyzhnyk wrote in a textual content alternate late on Monday. “For the final 4 days, I slept solely three to 4 hours on common.”

He was reunited with Olga, who’s 32 weeks pregnant, for sooner or later in Lviv. Olga, who can also be knowledgeable runner and competed on the 2012 London Olympics within the 10,000 meters, opted to not go away Ukraine to be near household. And, she mentioned, “that is my homeland. I don’t wish to run away.”