While Ukraine's Crimea got invaded by Russian troops, the Ukrainian Paralympic team is still ready to participate in Sochi Paralympics, which starts on March 7.
In the meantime, the number of U.S. and European officials, including US President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Princess Martha Louise of Norway and Finland sports minister Paavo Arhinmaki, have already announced their decision to boycott the Games.
“Because of the serious situation in Ukraine, William Hague (British Foreign Secretary) & I believe it would be wrong for UK Ministers to attend the Sochi Paralympics,” Cameron tweeted on March 2.
Some Ukraine’s officials were also skeptical about the wisdom of Ukraine’s participation.
Acting Ukraine’s Youth and Sports Minister Dmytro Bulatov earlier said that he’s also boycotting the Olympics. However, the “decision for the team to participate should be made by the team itself.”
The president of Ukraine’s Paralympic Committee Valeriy Suskevych, however, announced in Sochi today that Ukraine’s team will stay and perform at the Paralympics because “everyone needs to remember Ukraine is a sovereign state.”
However, Suskevych stressed that if “something irreparable happens,” the Ukrainian team will immediately quit Sochi.
During the press conference, Suskevych said “all Ukrainian sportsmen cried, when the Ukrainian flag was hoisted in Olympic village on March 6,” a day before the opening ceremony.
Nearly two dozen Ukrainian athletes are going to take part in the upcoming Paralympic Games
in Russia’s Sochi. The Ukrainian team
will participate in all five categories – wheelchair curling, biathlon,
cross-country skiing, ice-sled hockey and alpine skiing.
Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be reached at [email protected]
