“One day you are there playing your battle, the one on the frozen field where you grew up and sweated. You fight for a medal, to crown your sacrifices and years of training. You are thousands of kilometers away, and meanwhile the Russian troops are approaching the borders of your country, war becomes a completely unattainable prospect, as never near for me that I am 23 years old and in 2014 I was little more than a kid. I have not thought about the risks for my career, I have not thought about the consequences and I held that sign with the words ‘No war’ in my hands. A message of peace, a symbolic gesture that I would do again and again “. Speaking at Adnkronos is Vladyslav Heraskevych, Ukrainian Skeleton champion and eighteenth at the Beijing Games, where, after rehearsals, he showed the message against the winds of war risking being disqualified. “Today I am in Kiev – he says connected from his home – where people fight against fear and emotions by working to ensure that the economy resumes and the city to live, despite the attacks. I thought of enlisting in the armed forces, of course. , but being still a student at the University I don’t even have military experience and as a professional sportsman I think it’s better that I fight as I am more capable “. For example, ‘holding’ a sign instead of a rifle. “The idea was already born two weeks before the games, when we saw the Russian army at the borders. It was there that I decided that if the situation did not change, I would do everything to ensure that there was attention for it. situation in Ukraine. With my poster I did not condemn anyone, I sent an invitation to peace. Only criticism came from Russia, but in Ukraine there is a saying according to which the hat burns on the thief’s head “. his blue eyes are now frozen with the terror of those who, having returned from major competition for their sport, have found a country, his own, battered by bombs. “I will never forget the first day of the conflict, when our worst nightmares turned into reality – he tells Adnkronos Vladyslav – The houses destroyed, people’s cars riddled with bullets. The decision to become a volunteer was immediate,” to shoot in the hot spots of conflict such as Irpin or Cernihiv to bring concrete help and comfort to people who no longer even have a place to stay “. It was always he who supported the possible exclusion of Russian athletes from sports competitions. “Already with doping they have shown that they do not embody the values of honesty on which sport is based – he explains – Athletes influence public opinion, send positive messages and peace. With the demonstration in support of Putin in the Luzhniki stadium they did the opposite. And they should be excluded from all sport forever. “The reference is what happened in Russia a month ago, when the Olympic swimming champion Evgeny Rylov showed himself with the zeta on his chest, the letter symbolizing the invasion in Ukraine. With him also Alexander Bolshunov (3 gold medals at the Beijing Winter Games) and the Olympic ice dancers Nikita Katsalapov and Victoria Sinitsina. “Few Russian sportsmen have spoken out against the war and conditions should be created for them to allow them to compete with other countries as well – continues the skeletonist – Thinking that sport should remain outside politics is not very intelligent: we represent the state before of a match the anthem is played, the flag is waved, the funding for sport is state “. And this is why the official Wimbledon no to Russian and Belarusian tennis players more than agrees:” I think it is a right decision for two reasons – he explains to Adnkronos Heraskevych – it would in fact be a sort of defense for the Belarusians, who by participating in the championships could be exploited by the Russians and pay their own penalties. And then a new, predictable propaganda by the Russians would be averted. on such an important field. Many athletes have joined the armed forces. I, who have mourned so many friends who died in this war, am serving as a will tario, also helped by those who no longer have anything. I am proud more than ever to be Ukrainian, to be among these people, and I am struck by the help that is given to us from the world: even by the Italian skeletonists who sent us their suits, the uniforms. All this will remain in our memory, for better or for worse. Like the moments of lightheartedness that we try to carve out with friends. Of course – he says – the humor is the black one, but this is how you suddenly laugh through your tears “. (By Silvia Mancinelli)