Four years ago, the Paralympic Games took place without Russia or Belarus. Ukraine still faces the challenge of competing in 2026, but this time both countries are very much present on the Paralympic stage in Italy. Not with neutral athletes, as in Paris, but with delegations representing their official nationalities. Which, of course, raises questions.
Boos and boycotts
The tone was set as early as March 6th during the opening ceremony: seven countries refused to participate in the parade in the Verona arena, citing the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes with their flags and anthems. Boos were even heard as they passed through the stadium. Hardly what one imagines when thinking of the Olympic spirit. The Polish channel TVP interrupted its broadcast of the ceremony during the Russian and Belarusian parades, while the Lithuanian channel LRT decided not to broadcast it at all.
The Estonian broadcaster EER, for its part, warned that it would not broadcast any events in which these athletes appeared. Estonian public broadcaster unequivocally condemns the normalization of the actions of aggressor states through sport and the Olympic movement, and denounces the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Milan-Cortina Paralympic Games under the flags of aggressor states. “That’s the justification,” explained Rivo Saarna, head of the ERR’s sports department. The International Paralympic Committee is brandishing the September vote as a shield, with Andrew Parsons reminding everyone that the return of the Russians and Belarusians resulted from a democratic decision. And Ukraine, which has been fighting for over four years now, must accept seeing the colors of its aggressors flying right in front of its face.
Two bronze medals as early as Saturday
With six athletes competing, Russia opened its medal count in para-alpine skiing on Saturday, March 7, with Varvara Voronchikhina winning bronze in the downhill. This was the country's first official Paralympic podium finish since 2014. Her compatriot Aleksei Bugaev followed suit, finishing third in the men's event. Meanwhile, 2.000 kilometers away, Ukrainians mourned a dozen more victims of Russian airstrikes in Kharkiv. On Monday, the Russian national anthem was even played for the first time at the Olympic or Paralympic Games since August 21, 2016, in Rio, when wrestler Soslan Ramonov and the group gymnasts won gold. Voronchikhina was indeed crowned champion in the Super-G, ahead of France's Aurélie Richard.
At the end of the first weekend of competition, Ukraine sits second in the medal standings with 10 podium finishes, including three gold medals. In these extraordinary circumstances, Ukrainian athletes are giving their all. However, they are also expressing a feeling that the governing bodies are no longer giving the same importance to defending the country's integrity. This impression was strongly felt during the Vladyslav Heraskevych affair in February. Russia is far from having regained its former position, but it is steadily gaining ground on the world stage of sports.
