Another boycott can be sparked by Russia’s aggressive behavior towards Ukraine. The Winter Paralympics 2014 are to be held in Sochi from March 7 through 16. Some teams, including the Ukrainian one, are already in the Olympic village. However, some are still undecided whether to take part in the competition because of the difficult situation in Crimea. Official delegations of the US and UK have refused to participate in the official opening of the games. Norwegian athletes are hesitating. The Norwegian NOC’s president Borre Rognlien said that “Crimea is a Black Sea peninsula, and Sochi is also on the Black Sea. At the moment we have received reports from our security services and foreign ministry stating that the situation in Sochi is the same as during the Olympics. However, we are concerned about possible worsening of the situation in Crimea. We must monitor it closely.”
Ukraine’s Paralympics Committee took up the issue of Ukraine’s participation in the Sochi games on March 3. By the way, our team arrived at the Olympic Village among the first, back on March 1. However, after the decision of the Federation Council of Russia to permit the deployment of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine, the Paralympics Committee’s Council met in Kyiv to consider the question of the national Paralympics team’s participation or non-participation in the 11th Winter Games. The experts decided that should Russian aggression continue, and its troops remain in Crimea by the time of the games’ start, Ukraine will pull out from the Paralympics.
“We are all profoundly angered by the Russian invasion of our country and Russian soldiers’ occupation of our region of Crimea under false pretenses of so-called ‘protection of Russian-speakers,’” the press service of the National Paralympics Committee reported. “The national Paralympics national team represents 10 regions of Ukraine, including many Russian-speaking athletes. Many members of the national team of Ukraine have Russians as friends and relatives. However, cynical attack on Ukraine by Russian troops disqualifies Russia from hosting the Paralympics Games!”
International Paralympics movement’s leaders also criticized Russia’s actions as a breach of the so-called Olympic truce, which requires all hostilities to cease for the games’ duration. On the other hand, cancellation would be unjust to athletes who have been waiting and preparing for the Winter Games in Sochi. For them, it is a chance to once again prove to everyone that they are strong and able to overcome any difficulties. However, it is probable that their colleague Dmytro Maksymov, who died in the Euromaidan events, would not stand for such Paralympics. That 20-year-old lad, bronze and silver medalist in judo at the 2013 Deaflympics, unfortunately, is now with the Heavenly Sotnia. He died on February 18 after a grenade had torn off his hand, and a great loss of blood proved fatal. Therefore, now the athletes have to decide whether they have the moral right to take part in the games under such circumstances, although these circumstances can still change for the better.
