From: Maia Mikhaluk in Kyiv (930th day) — Ukrainian athletes have won 82 medals at the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games in Paris, securing seventh place in the medal score. Ukraine’s medal count includes 22 gold, 28 silver, and 31 bronze medals.
Russia destroyed or damaged around 500 Ukrainian Paralympic sports facilities, forcing Ukrainian athletes to prepare for the Paris games in precarious conditions.
Some athlets survived occupation in Mariupol and Kherson or were left homeless in Donbas and Zaporizhzhia — areas that have been ravaged by Russia’s war of aggression.
“When the war broke out in February 2022 and Odesa came under heavy bombardment, long-jumper Oleksandr Lytvynenko immediately left the city amid fears of occupation.
He moved to a village in the Odesa region without any equipment, not even trainers.
“There was no infrastructure at all”, he told Euronews. “I trained at a local playground. Children were looking at me as if I were an alien and were laughing.”
Due to frequent power outages, there was no electricity and air conditioning. In the hottest months, there were days with temperatures reaching 45°C.
Despite two years of training in hellish conditions, Lytvynenko managed to win a bronze medal at the Paris Paralympics.” reported Euronews.
Voice of Ukraine 