At the Paris Olympics, it will no longer be personal for Ukraine’s athletes. This time, it’s war

Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — For Ukrainian athletes, the Paris Olympics are more than just sports. They’re a way to draw attention to their country’s fight for survival against Russia — a sort of war on another battlefield. But an Associated Press analysis found Russia’s war is making it increasingly difficult for Ukraine, once a post-Soviet sports power, to get those headline-capturing medals. Ukrainian performances began dipping after 2014, the year of Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. Ukraine’s haul of 11 medals at the 2016 Rio Games was its smallest as an independent nation and it tumbled to a low of 22nd in the country rankings. Ukraine recovered to 16th at the pandemic-delayed Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 but just one of its 19 medals was gold — another new low.