‘I want life to move to the future… please stop the war’: Ukrainian biathlete Grygorii Vovchynskyi calls for an end to Russia’s brutal invasion after winning his country’s first gold medal of the Winter Paralympics
- Vovchynskyi claimed Ukraine’s first gold of the Winter Paralympics in Beijing
- The 33-year-old biathlete beat Germany’s Marco Maier by 45.8 seconds
- Vovchynskyi is part of the Ukrainian team to have made the journey to China despite Russia’s invasion
- He called for peace in Ukraine, insisting it is vital for children and for allowing the country ‘to move to the future’
- It came after the Russian Paralympic Committee was kicked out of the Games
Grygorii Vovchynskyi dedicated his Winter Paralympics gold medal – Ukraine’s first of the Beijing Games – to people in his country amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.
The 33-year-old biathlete claimed gold in the men’s sprint standing event at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre by beating Germany’s Marco Maier by 45.8 seconds.
Vovchynskyi is part of the Ukrainian team to have made the journey to China despite Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering the invasion of his home country.
But after winning gold, the biathlete called for peace in Ukraine, insisting it is vital for children and for allowing the country ‘to move to the future’.
‘I didn’t understand what happened,’ he said.
‘What can I do? I can dedicate this race to Ukraine, for peace [for the] people in Ukraine.
‘Please stop war, it’s very important for our children.
‘I was thinking before the race, I must try to do everything for Ukraine. I must think about war, about my country, about my people, about my president. I love Ukraine.
Grygorii Vovchynskyi dedicated his Winter Paralympics gold medal – Ukraine’s first of the Beijing Games – to people in his country amid Russia’s invasion
The 33-year-old Ukrainian biathlete claimed gold in the men’s sprint standing event
He beat Germany’s Marco Maier (left) by 45.8 seconds at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre
‘I love sport, but today I ran because I want life in Ukraine to move to the future.’
It comes just a day after The Russian Paralympic Committee and its athletes left China’s capital after they and Belarus were banned from competing in the Winter Games.
The International Paralympic Committee sparked fury on Wednesday when they decided Russians and Belarusians could compete as neutrals, insisting it was the harshest punishment possible according to their rules.
But after winning gold, the biathlete called for peace in Ukraine, insisting it is vital for children
It comes after the Russian Paralympic Committee and its athletes left Beijing after they and Belarus were banned from competing in the Winter Games
However, ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony and after a major backlash from teams including Great Britain, the IPC caved to pressure and banned athletes from the two nations over the invasion of Ukraine, although Russia looked to appeal the ban.
Having considered the possibility of appealing the decision to the Court of Arbitration of Sport, the RPC instead decided to withdraw their athletes from China.
The ‘absolutely politicised’ decision was condemned by the RPC, who released a statement on Friday, hours before the Games began, to hit out International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach for the ban.
They accused IOC president Thomas Bach for the ‘collapse of the entire world of sports’
In Ukraine, devastating photos have laid bare the horror of Putin’s lawless invasion of Ukraine, as one image showed a baby being rescued from the scene of a brutal attack near Kyiv as the Russian tyrant continues denying bombing Ukrainian cities.
Photos from Irpin, located on the outskirts of the besieged capital, confirmed massive damage to heavily populated civilian areas, with piles of rubble, twisted metal and burned out cars stretching into the distance.
A Ukrainian soldier was pictured rescuing a tiny baby from a scene of total devastation in Irpin, while other photos showed a terrified woman walking past a burning house after Irpin was pounded by Kremlin forces.
Elsewhere, scenes of destruction were seen in the northwestern city of Zhytomyr on Friday, after it was hit by shelling that left a school building completely destroyed.
But an increasingly delusional Putin is insisting that Russia is not bombing Ukrainian cities, despite mounting fears that 100 people are buried under rubble after an apartment block near Kyiv was struck and after a cluster bomb attack on the city of Chernihiv killed 49.
Russia claims it has opened humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave the strategic port of Mariupol in the south-east and Volnovakha in the country’s east.
There was no immediate confirmation from Ukrainian forces, and it is not immediately clear how long the evacuation routes would remain open.
A woman reacts as she stands in front of a house burning after being shelled in the city of Irpin, outside Kyiv, on March 4
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