Ukraine athletes worry about war back home as they compete

24/7/2024 11:52

        Ukraine's Olympians focused on performing their best in Paris bear an additional burden - worrying about what might happen back home in the war pitting their homeland against Russia.
        
        Athletes could not help being preoccupied as they boarded a train on Tuesday with "Olympic carriages" on their way to the Games. Planes remain out of the question in Ukraine with constant air raids and attacks by missiles and drones 29 months into the war.
        
        "This is a great responsibility. I have pledged to do everything to make my country and my son proud," said Greco-Roman wrestler Parviz Nasibov, already a silver medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Games, as he cuddled his infant son before departure.
        
        "But with everything going on in our country, with missiles flying about, my dreams take second place. I will be thinking about my family and my son."
        
        His wife Olena did her very best to look unworried.
        
        "He's always right there. We're always on the phone, talking," she said. "We'll miss him, but it's all worth it."