Tough for Ukrainians to compete against Russians at Olympics, high jump champion Mahuchikh says

Olympics – Puma launches a new brand campaign with Olympic athletes – Mob House, Saint-Ouen near Paris, France – April 10, 2024 Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh in an interview during the launch. REUTERS/Yves Herman

PARIS (Reuters) – Ukrainians will use the Paris Olympics to remind the world that Russia’s invasion is not over, high jump champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh said, adding that it will be difficult for those who must compete against athletes from Russia and Belarus.

The International Olympic Committee initially banned Russia, Belarus and their athletes from the Olympics after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. But last year, it eased its blanket ban, allowing sport governing bodies to let Russian and Belarusian competitors qualify for the Paris Olympics as individual neutral athletes, competing without their flags, anthems or emblems.

Olympics – Puma launches a new brand campaign with Olympic athletes – Mob House, Saint-Ouen near Paris, France – April 10, 2024 Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh in an interview during the launch. REUTERS/Yves Herman

“It will be difficult to compete with them, really, because every time you see a Russian or Belarusian athlete you remember all the destroyed houses, all the life that Russia has taken, and of course it’s so sad,” Mahuchikh told Reuters in an interview.

“But we will be fighting on the track too.”

Mahuchikh herself will not have to face Russian opponents, as her own sport of athletics is one of those that have not lifted their bans on Russian and Belarusian competitors.

In sports where they are permitted to compete, Russians and Belarusians will need to be vetted by the IOC, and may not be members of the military or have openly supported the war.

Mahuchikh, who won gold in the high jump at the World Athletics Championships last August, was bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, and said she’s going for gold in Paris.

“Of course, I want to go to the Olympic Games and win the medal for my country… It’s a good opportunity to show the world that we continue fighting, we continue doing everything possible to show that the war is not over,” she said, speaking on the sidelines of a Puma event in Paris.

The 22-year-old athlete fled her hometown of Dnipro after Russia invaded Ukraine, and is now based in Belgium. She said she hopes to visit Dnipro again after the Games.

(Reporting by Helen Reid and Yiming Woo in Paris; Editing by Peter Graff)