|
As U.S. relations with Moscow fray to their worst point in
decades over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian athletes
and officials say they feel at home in Eugene, Oregon, where
they can spot their flag around the quiet college town.
"Six or five persons come to us and ask ‘Can we pay for your
lunch?’ I don’t understand what’s happened," Pronin told
reporters on Wednesday. "Somebody tells me, it’s support, it’s
normal."
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, calling it a "special
military operation" to rid Ukraine of fascists, an assertion the
Ukrainian government and its Western allies said was a baseless
pretext for an unprovoked war.
While cheers of "USA!" ricocheted through Hayward Field as the
U.S. men swept the 100 metres podium, another sentiment is well
represented among the host crowd: support for Ukraine.
“You can see that (there are) a lot of Ukrainian flags in the
windows in Eugene but it’s not Ukrainians,” said Pronin, who is
a soldier in the Ukrainian army and spent four months on the
front lines before travelling to the World Championships.
Russian and Belarusian athletes are absent from the biennial
event, the first held on U.S. soil, after World Athletics in
March banned them for the foreseeable future.
Pronin, who plans to return to the front line for three weeks
before travelling to the European Championships, said this is
the smallest delegation the country has ever sent, with just 22
athletes.
High jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who collected her second
straight silver in Tuesday's final, was forced to flee her home
in Dnipro after the invasion, sheltering in a cellar before
travelling for three days by car to reach Serbia.
"I want to say to our Ukrainian people that we are so strong and
now we continue to fight when everyone does not believe that we
can do it," she said.
She and her team mate Iryna Gerashchenko, who finished fourth,
enjoyed broad support among the home fans.
"When we hear on the stadium before... the attempts, the name of
our athletes, I think that I stay not in America, I stay in
Ukraine," said Pronin.
Competing in her fifth worlds in the 400 metres hurdles,
Ukrainian Anna Ryzhykova said she has received encouragement
outside the stadium as well.
"'Go Ukraine' or 'Ukraine, we believe you will win,' that is
what I hear on the streets every single day," she told
reporters. "It's really very touching."
(Reporting by Amy Tennery and Nathan Frandino in Eugene, Oregon;
Editing by Toby Davis)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
