“We had no hope, no expectations”remembers Mykhailo Serbin about the months following the Russian invasion of Ukraine after February 24, 2022. “Do we have a salary?” Are our costs reimbursed? We lived day by day and we trained without knowing what the next day would be done. ” This Ukrainian paralympic champion is one of the best swimmers in the world. He crossed an ocean of doubts and difficulties to come and compete in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, which began this Thursday, August 29. And wearing the colors of Ukraine, one of the best delegations (she never descends under 6e Make way for the medal board since 2004), has been even less trivial since the start of the war.
Mykhailo Serbin and his swimming teammates, which the Guardian met in Kamianske (Ukraine) before their departure for Paris, actually come back from afar. Two and a half years ago, the vagueness reigned over the country’s handisport while all budgets joined the war effort. This renowned delegation was sailing in troubled waters as you approach the Paris Games. Today, Ukraine, 5e World nation in the number of medals in Tokyo in 2021 (including forty-three for swimming), is eagerly awaited. But to arrive in Paris, she had to push her limits.
It was not until 2023 that the Ukrainian paralympic team found most of its budget, partly thanks to foreign sponsors. At the time, she still had to count the athletes available in her ranks and the competitions that she can register. Many para-athletes must, at the start of this strange period, at least partly finance their use of training camps. Upstream of the games, the Ukrainian team can at least boast of having found a certain stability, with the firm will that the tragic daily life of the country does not tarnish its sporting know-how.
Mykhailo Serbin himself arrives in the Olympic village with a certain status. World champion in Manchester in 2023 and Madeira in 2022, he will try to keep his Olympic title in 100 meters back in the S11 category, which puts almost completely blind swimmers in competition. He will also try to transform his Tokyo silver medal into a Parisian gold medal on the 200 meter freestyle.
To do this, his preparation has, like the other members of his delegation, not ideal. The swimming pool where he trained, in Kharkiv, fell under the Russian bombs. So he had to fall back on Kamianske. This dormitory city in the suburbs of Dnipro houses the default training camp of Ukrainian swimmers, in particular the exiles of the territories occupied by Russia.
A testimony of resilience and solidarity
“Each of us has had their own journey, but we draw great mental strength.” Anton Kol, quadruple paralympic medalist over 50 and 100 meters back in S1, the category of athletes who can the least use their arms and legs, recalls this April 2, 2024. He plays with his son in front of his house when a missile falls 60 meters away. “The windows have exploded”he says. The strike also damages its training pool, around the corner. Never mind, it will be functional again at the end of the day, and the club children will have a lot of training.
Three weeks later, Anton Kol won gold at the European Madeira Championships. At 34, he is a national hero. Abandoned by his mother at birth, he grew up in an orphanage, faces depression in adolescence. He will need more to let go of sport. His discipline helped him overcome a bunch of obstacles before arriving in Paris, and allowed him to find his place in society with his handicap. War represents only an additional challenge.
A challenge that Veronika Korzhova, a 16 -year -old athlete who lost her legs during childhood, takes valiantly. She too has been in Kamianske since her city, Soledar (Donetsk Oblast), was almost completely destroyed. “It was the most difficult timeshe describes. Flee my city and come and train here with new coaches and another team. ” That she can realize her paralympic dream from a life as short as upset is already a feat.
Veronika Korzhova and the other exiled athletes can at least count on their federation. They benefit from a hotel room paid by the state, not far from the apartments that their family rents. “I think it brought everyone closerphilosopher the young swimmer. We have a keen sense of mutual aid. “ Solidarity that Ukrainian swimmers will be keen to show the Paralympic Games.
