Petro Pakhniuk missed the last European Championships due to a last-minute injury and said he struggled finding motivation for gymnastics at times. It seems that the struggle is over this season, even though this year he became a refugee and had to adjust to training in Italy without any of his teammates or the coaching staff. At the European Championships in Munich, Pakhniuk helped the Ukrainian team qualify to the World Championships, although he did not advance to any individual finals.
In an interview shortly before the competition, Pakhniuk said the last year’s injury did not make him apprehensive:
“I approach the competition with a positive mindset. As for the injury at the past European Championships, you never know when you might get injured. You don’t expect it. In Basel, I was well-prepared, I think. I was completely warmed-up, the conditions were comfortable for me, but sometimes the muscles can’t take it. Avery athlete encounters challenges on their path. I work on my challenges.”
Pakhniuk traveled to Italy with his wife and two children in late January thinking they would only stay there a few weeks while he was competing in the Serie A for Artistica Brescia gymnastics club. The temporary arrangements turned into permanent ones when the war started:
“I left Ukraine in January. Before competing at the Italian league, I had to take at Covid test and cross the Italian border 15 days before the competition. I asked the owner of the Italian club if I could come with my wife and children – after all, it was 15 days until the competition. He agreed. I came, competed at the first event, and then the war started on February 24th, that’s why I stayed here. Since then, I’ve been living and training in Brescia in Italy.”
“On February 24th, at 5 am, my kum* called me and said, “Th war has started. They started bombing the Borispil Airport, we hear explosions, people are leaving Kyiv en mass.” We couldn’t understand anything then, we tried to help.”
“I’ve represented the local club Artistica Brescia as a foreign gymnast for the past three or four years. They are creating training conditions and renting accommodations [for us]. My little kids, they’re two and three years old, are enrolled in a kindergarten here. Thus, I’m able to train properly. Also, the Ukrainian Ministry of Youth and Sports is still paying me a salary monthly. I wasn’t left with nothing.”
“Other athletes, like Igor Radivilov and Evgen Yudenkov, also turned to their clubs. And the rest are training with the head coach of the national team, the European federations are helping them, supporting them. Perhaps, the Ministry of Sports, the National Olympic Committee and the [Ukrainian gymnastics] federation are also helping them but I don’t know for sure.”
Like many other Ukrainian gymnasts, Pakhniuk used to be friendly with Russian gymnasts and was shocked by their reaction to the war:
“I used to have friends in Russia. I tried to tell them that the war has started here, asked them to say something publicly. They are quite reputable athletes and public figures. They are no longer my friends. In the first days, I didn’t realize that they would get arrested if they went out and said “No to the war!” We understood it after a week or maybe even ten days. It was when I also realized that no one would help Ukraine. Moreover, these scoundrels, they all turned away from us. Everyone is thinking about themselves. There has been no contact with them since then and I haven’t tried contacting them anymore. It just makes me furious that no one has said anything.”
“There were some people, not athletes, who would write: “Why don’t you go to the war then?” They encouraged me to fight in the war. And of those whom I considered close to me, not one wrote to me or asked me anything. If such misfortune happened in their country, I think I would definitely ask how they are doing. I even saw some of them taking part in a parade, coming out in support of the regime with these fascist symbols. I don’t understand it – a country that, along with the rest of Europe, for the last 60 years studied what fascism is, our neighbors who also experienced it… Somewhere along the way, they missed the moment when they themselves became fascists.”
While Russian and Belarusian athletes and judges were banned from the FIG competitions, the officials were not and they still participate in making decisions. Additionally, the FIG lost an important sponsor when the Russian VTB bank was sanctioned. Pakhniuk says he is aware of Russia’s efforts to reinstate its athletes – in gymnastics and in other sports:
“I think that this corruption machine of a fascist state called “Russia” spends a lot of money trying to get its athletes back to the [international] competitions. I hope that there are people in the European community who will not allow this, for whom living with a clear conscience will be more important than financial benefits.”
Like many Ukrainians abroad, Pakhniuk has multiple family members and friends defending Ukraine right now:
“The first person I’d like to talk about is my dad. He’s been working for the local authorities and he remains in Kyiv. My kum* works for the police. They fulfill their duties. My close friends are in the presidential guard and they also haven’t stopped doing this work since the beginning of the war. Also, about a week after the start of the war, my athlete friends tried joining the territorial defense but they were told everything was fill. I know that in the Kyiv region, at that moment, no one could get it, there were many people defending the capital.”
He hopes to eventually work on promoting artistic gymnastics but for now, he doesn’t plan on retiring:
“Gymnastics is the kind of sport which you try and… Here I am 30 years old and still can’t retire. Because I am frankly crazy about this sport. Why? Gymnastics is interesting. There’s constant self-improvement, daily, for years. We don’t have a break for New Year or birthday. We work in the gym because we live and breathe it, we’re crazy about it.”
“I’d like to eventually see this sport become as popular as tennis or other ball sports. How to do that? I have a few ideas. But I think I’ll work on that after I retire. Do I see myself working for sports authorities? I don’t rule it out. Given the situation, depends on whether I will find like-minded people. There are famous gymnasts who have already retired, my friends, who are opening their gyms. But I need more – I want to unite sports at the European level.”
“Would the position of Minister of Sports be interesting? I’m definitely not interested in a political career. In any case, I see a lot of respect for elite athletes. Before they become politicians. It’s important for me to remain an athlete so that I’m remembered as an athlete. Maybe, a public figure, but not a politician. I see how really talented people, professionals in their field like Olya Saladukha or Zhan Beleniuk switched to politics. I support them but our society might not be ready for athletes in politics yet, does not accept this. I don’t see their level of authority increase. But I have a lot of respect for them as athletes and politicians.
*The word “kum” in this context could mean Petro’s godfather, his child’s godfather, or a very close friend. It is not clear from the context which he meant, which is why I left the word untranslated.
