The unique history of Ukraine

While the war leaves thousands of wounded in Ukraine, the country shines at the Paris Paralympic Games, as in previous editions. A success linked to the history of this young country, but also to the tragedy of Chernobyl.

One of the strong images of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, which began on August 28, is this imposing Ukrainian delegation, as large as that of the able-bodied a few weeks earlier, and applauded as it passed in front of the presidential tribune.

A massive presence that could be associated with the ongoing war in the country, and the cohort of mutilated people caused by the fighting and bombing following the Russian invasion of February 2022, but this shortcut is a bit misleading if we are willing to admit that it is difficult, if not impossible, to become a high-level athlete in just two years. Ukraine’s success in the Paralympic competitions actually has more distant origins.

As in every edition since the Athens Games, the country flirts with the top 5 in the medal rankings, which is a notable performance for a young country of less than 40 million inhabitants. Ukraine proudly displays its colors in all disciplines, and makes its anthem resound on the podiums, sometimes under the noses of Russian athletes participating under a neutral banner.

To understand Ukraine’s success, two major historical elements must be taken into account: the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and the turning point that followed the end of the USSR. The radiation from the nuclear disaster left behind a whole generation of victims with disabilities or malformations. Witness the star Oksana Masters, a victim of Chernobyl before being abandoned, who became a Paralympic icon under the American colors, shining in both winter and summer.

The break with the USSR also marked a turning point, as inclusion was almost non-existent in the Soviet Union. The USSR was reluctant to field a team at the Paralympic Games until 1988. “The propaganda depicted a happy and problem-free society: the place of the disabled was in their apartment. Discrimination was everywhere.”the founder of the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee, Valeriy Sushkevych, tells franceinfo. Suffering from polio as a child but encouraged to take up sport by his father, he became a true builder of Ukrainian parasport after independence. He created a network of specialized centers in each region of the country, offering young people with disabilities the chance to try out different disciplines. A system that would bear fruit years later and from which many of the athletes representing Ukraine in Paris came.

Today, these structures also serve as a place of welcome for victims of war, to whom these para-athletes prove that a second life is possible after injuries or mutilations.