Ukrainian Olympian on the “relentless stress” of war – DW – 17.07.2024

Ukrainian gymnast Igor Radivilov wakes up every day with pain in his shoulders. Years of training on the rings, one of his two favorite disciplines, have taken their toll.

And yet Radivilov carries on, trying to forget the pain. Because he knows – as the Russians invade his country enters its third year – that at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, he will be carrying the hopes of an entire nation on his aching shoulders.

“Since the beginning of the war, the whole world has seen how Ukrainians and especially athletes, these strong people, continued their work no matter what happened,” Radivilov told DW before a training session in Cottbus, eastern Germany.

“And of course I am proud to raise our flag as we compete in such high-profile competitions. I am proud to represent my country.”

Ukrainian athletes must train abroad

Like many top Ukrainian athletes, 31-year-old Radivilov has been forced to train abroad since the war broke out in February 2022. His teammates are scattered across Europe; for example, fellow gymnast Illia Kovtun, Ukraine’s Sportsman of the Year and one of the country’s gold medal hopes in Paris, currently lives in Croatia.

“Everyone has their own goals,” said Radivilov. “In team competitions, it’s all about good individual performance. It’s quite convenient for me to train here, the other guys train elsewhere. We come together and there are no problems performing together.”

However, for those who have not been able to leave Ukraine, there is “constant pressure and relentless stress,” says Radivilov.

“It’s very difficult mentally,” he said. “Rockets, explosions, power outages, air raid sirens and so on. The athletes had to adapt and work under such difficult conditions.”

Radivilov was one of them at first. He was stranded between international competitions and as a result, as a man of military age, he was stuck in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev for the first two months of the war.

“We were completely shocked and didn’t know what to do,” he says. “There was no talk of sports or competitive training. Then the war started and everything was shut down. Those were the worst moments.”

“I have to prepare for the Olympics”

Now Radivilov is back in Cottbus and trains there for six hours a day on the rings and vault together with some of the best German gymnasts at the regional Olympic training center. He knows them all well because he has been competing for SC Cottbus in the men’s national league since 2014.

The city is in many ways a second home for him. However, Radivilov is now there without his wife and three-month-old son, whom he had to leave behind in Kyiv.

“I have to prepare for the Olympics,” he said. “I have full support, my wife also gets all the help she needs. So the decision to train for the Olympics here in Germany is not mine alone, but something we decided in a family meeting. And that’s why I’m here. My family is safe and everything is OK.”

For Radivilov, it wasn’t always like this.

Shortly after his departure for Germany, two of his grandparents were killed in Russian missile attacks on Mariupol, his hometown in eastern Ukraine. The gymnast dedicated the bronze medal he won at the 2022 European Championships in Munich to them.

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Sports, more than 470 Ukrainian athletes and coaches were killed in the war and more than 500 sports facilities were damaged or destroyed.

Does Radivilov ever feel guilty because he is now far away from all the death and destruction?

“We have to live through it as it is, depending on the circumstances,” he said. “There are people out there who are much worse off. I’m just in the place I need to be at this moment.”

Ukraine wants global attention in Paris

With many athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus barred from competing in Paris, rumors of a Ukrainian boycott of the Games have faded into the background. “The most important thing is that we are able to compete,” Radivilov said.

In May, Ukraine’s acting sports minister Matviy Bidnyi told DW that it was important for Ukraine to take part in the Olympics and “attract the attention of the whole world.”

“We understand that we cannot lose this platform to once again emphasize the Ukrainian position, the Ukrainian resilience and the Ukrainian will to win,” Bidnyi said.

Radivilov is no newcomer to the Olympic stage: Paris will be his fourth Games and another chance to surpass his bronze medal on the vault in London 2012.

It’s an event, he says, where all his hard work and sacrifices come down to a moment that lasts just a few seconds, but he insists his previous Olympic experience counts for nothing.

“It doesn’t matter if you go through one, five, six or four (Olympics),” Radivilov said. “I’m fully focused on showing myself and proving that I’m capable of doing it. And as long as I have enough strength, I have to do my best.”

The Olympic Games in Paris will take place from July 26 to August 11.

Edited by: Matt Pearson