Ukrainian Paralympic athletes racking up medals after escaping chaotic situation back home

Ukrainian Paralympic athletes have taken Beijing by storm and have risen to close the highest of the leaderboard whereas competing with heavy hearts as their house nation is invaded by Russia.

Heading into Tuesday’s occasions, Ukraine had a complete of eight medals – tied with the U.S. and Germany. Nonetheless, the crew was behind Canada, which had 12, and China, which led the best way with 25, together with seven gold medals. Ukraine is tied with Canada with 4 gold medals every.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had a reverberating impact on the sports activities world, and the Paralympic Video games have been no completely different. The Worldwide Paralympic Committee (IPC) banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Video games.

Ukrainian Paralympic Committee President Valeriy Sushkevych instructed reporters final week that it took greater than 4 days for the crew to get to Beijing.

“It is a miracle that we’re right here. … Part of our crew was already overseas. Part of our crew was in Ukraine. All the required gear was in Ukraine. … We needed to unite all these elements,” he mentioned, through Reuters.

“It’s 25 years I’m president of the nationwide paralympic committee of the Ukraine. And by no means was it so tough, so heavy to come back to the Paralympic Video games.”

Sushkevych added that it is probably not really easy going again house – particularly if the combating continues and escalates.

“Going again house will not be easy. I hope the worldwide neighborhood takes an actual step in the course of the Paralympics to cease this battle,” he mentioned.

Whereas there’s chaos again house, Ukrainian Paralympic athletes have discovered some success on the enjoying area. Learn under for a have a look at the athletes who’ve racked up medals to this point.

Oleksandr Kazik

Oleksandr Kazik of Crew Ukraine and his information Serhii Kucheruavyi compete within the Males’s Dash Imaginative and prescient Impaired Para Biathlon throughout Day One of many Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics at Zhangjiakou Nationwide Biathlon Centre on March 05, 2022 in Beijing, China.
(Michael Steele/Getty Photographs)

Oleksandr Kazik received his first medal of the 2022 Paralympics within the biathlon 6-kilometer visually impaired race. He completed in second place in between his Ukrainian teammates Vitaliy Lukyanenko and Dmytro Suiarko. Kazik had received two medals within the 2018 Video games – one in 12.5-kilometer visually impaired and the 15-kilometer visually impaired.

Liudmyla Liashenko

Liudmyla Liashenko of Crew Ukraine competes within the Ladies’s Dash Standing Paralympic Para Biathlon throughout Day One of many Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics at Zhangjiakou Nationwide Biathlon Centre on March 05, 2022, in Beijing, China.
(Michael Steele/Getty Photographs)

Liudmyla Liashenko took house a silver medal within the ladies’s biathlon 6-kilometer standing occasion. She completed simply behind China’s Yuije Guo and forward of Yuije’s teammate Zhiqing Zhao. It’s Liashenko’s second profession medal. She received bronze in the identical occasion in Pyeongchang in 2018.

Vitaliy Lukyanenko

Silver medalist Oleksandr Kazik of Ukraine and his information Sergiy Kucheryaviy, gold medalist Vitaliy Luk’yanenko of Ukraine and his information Ivan Marchyshak, and bronze medalist Anthony Chalencon of France and his information Simon Valverde have a good time in the course of the medal ceremony for Males’s 15 km Visually Impaired Biathlon on day eight of the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Video games on March 17, 2018, in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea.
(Naomi Baker/Getty Photographs)

Vitaliy Lukyanenko picked up a gold medal for Ukraine. He received the boys’s biathlon 6-kilomoeter visually impaired, ending simply forward of Kazik and Suiarko within the occasion.

Lukayanenko is a embellished Ukrainian para-athlete. He got here into the Paralympics with six gold medals to his title already relationship again to the 2006 Video games in Torino. 

Taras Rad

Taras Rad of Crew Ukraine competes within the Para Cross-Nation Snowboarding throughout day two of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics at on March 06, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China.
(Alex Davidson/Getty Photographs for Worldwide Paralympic Committee)

Taras Rad got here by way of with a silver medal within the males’s biathlon 6-kilometer sitting. The 22-year-old received his second Paralympic medal along with his first coming within the 2018 Paralympics. Rad completed behind China’s Liu Zixu and Liu’s teammate Liu Mengtao.

Oksana Shyshkova

Oksana Shyshkova of Crew Ukraine competes within the Para Cross-Nation Snowboarding Ladies’s Lengthy Distance Classical Approach Imaginative and prescient Impaired at Zhangjiakou Nationwide Biathlon Centre throughout day three of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics on March 07, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China.
(Lintao Zhang/Getty Photographs)

Oksana Shyshkova picked up two gold medals within the first within the first few days of the Video games. Shyshkova received within the ladies’s biathlon 6-kilometer visually impaired and the ladies’s cross-country snowboarding 15-kilometer classical, visually impaired.

She beat out Germany’s Linn Kazmaier and Leonie Maria Walter in each classes.

Dmytro Suiarko

Ukraines Dmytro Suiarko grabs his poles from his information within the mens dash imaginative and prescient impaired biathlon occasion on March 5, 2022, on the Zhangjiakou Nationwide Biathlon Centre, in the course of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Video games.
(LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP through Getty Photographs)

Dmytro Suiarko added to Ukraine’s medal depend with a bronze within the males’s biathlon 6-kilometer visually impaired. He completed behind teammates Lukyanenko and Kazik.

Grygorii Vovchynskyi

Gold medalist Grygorii Vovchynskyi of Crew Ukraine poses in the course of the Para Biathlon Males’s Dash Standing medal ceremony on day two of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics at Zhangjiakou Medals Plaza on March 6, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province of China.
(Hou Yu/China Information Service through Getty Photographs)

Grygorii Vovchynskyi received a gold medal within the males’s biathlon 6-kilometer standing. Vovchynskyi beat out Germany’s Marco Maier and Canada’s Mark Arendz. It was the primary Paralympic gold medal of his profession after having received silvers and bronzes within the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics.

American Paralympian reveals help for Ukraine

Gold medalist Oksana Masters of Crew United States poses in the course of the Para Biathlon Ladies’s Dash Sitting medal ceremony on day two of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics at Zhangjiakou Medals Plaza on March 6, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province of China.
(Hou Yu/China Information Service through Getty Photographs)

Oksana Masters, who was born in Ukraine and later adopted by an American, competes within the Paralympics for Crew USA.

After profitable a gold medal on Sunday within the 6-kilometer sitting para biathlon, she wrote on Instagram she felt “a lot satisfaction” seeing the Ukrainian flag on the Video games.

“It has been tough to search out my ardour and need to compete at these Video games amid the battle my house nation of Ukraine is enduring. I really feel egocentric, helpless, and responsible for being right here,” she wrote. “Nonetheless, I’ve all the time been so proud to be Ukrainian, felt a lot satisfaction on the sight of the Ukrainian flag, and now greater than ever, I’m the proudest to say I’m Ukrainian. My mother all the time mentioned my Ukrainian coronary heart made me resilient; it made me a fighter.

“Because the Winter Paralympic Video games start, I’m reminded how sport has all the time had the facility to unite the world. I might be racing for extra than simply my very own targets, greater than a spot on the rostrum. Each pole stroke, I might be racing for the households and children in Ukraine with disabilities. Whereas the Ukrainian individuals are combating for his or her houses and peace, I wish to make each begin line and end line imply one thing a lot larger than a race or a consequence. I wish to assist be certain that no baby is forgotten. I understand how it felt to be a toddler in Ukraine with disabilities the place the useful resource for medical assist was slim to non-existent – extra now within the midst of a battle.”