Ukraine is experiencing a rise in the number of cases of COVID-19. The government has announced today that the country’s borders will be closed to foreign nationals from August 29th to September 28th. A big reason for the border closure was likely the intent of tens of thousands of hassidic pilgrims to go on their traditional pilgrimage to the town of Uman in Ukraine during the Jewish High Holidays. Pilgrims traditionally come from all around the world and stay in close quarters for several days creating perfect conditions for a potentially catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19 if the event happens this year.
Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation was hoping to return to normal soon. Earlier this month, they held the National Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships and in September, two international competitions are supposed to take place. Deriugina Cup (RG) is currently scheduled for 10th-13th of September and Ukraine International Cup (WAG and MAG) is scheduled for 26th-27th of September.
At the moment, the government is considering allowing foreign athletes to enter the country and the final decision on that matter will be made on Thursday. However, even if foreign athletes will be allowed to enter, they might not have a way to arrive in Ukraine. As we’ve seen throughout this year, border closures usually lead to flight cancellations as airlines are not willing to send almost empty planes or risk having to bring the passengers back if they’re denied entry.
Kiev is also slated to host the European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships at the end of November which were moved from the original dates in the spring. The final decision regarding whether the championships will take place is supposed to be made on September 28th.
The September competitions have not yet been officially canceled but on 25th of August, Stella Zakharova and Irina Deriugina who are organizing the events met with the press saying the competitions are in jeopardy now. The press conference was meant to raise awareness of the issues elite gymnasts are encountering during the pandemic and persuade the government to allow the competitions to go on.
Their arguments might not be very persuasive, though. Both Zakharova and Deriugina sounded tone-deaf, claiming that the needs of athletes come before anything else. For example, Zakharova repeatedly said that the Ukrainian National Coronavirus Fund should pay for frequent coronavirus testing for the athletes. The fund is meant to provide relief to communities suffering from the pandemic and pay for the necessary things like PPE for the hospitals. The fund is already running out of money and, frankly, paying for extra testing for athletes to allow them to compete at international competitions does not seem like a dire necessity on a national scale.
Zakharova said that the sport needs more support from the government:
“During this difficult time, we are left completely alone and we do not feel the proper support from the government. Athletes are preparing for the Olympic Games and the Games have not been canceled yet and will likely not be canceled. In Europe, it’s now allowed to access sports facilities and events. Many countries are now starting to renew their sports events and their governments meet them in the middle. We want to ask you to meet us in the middle as well and give us a chance to host the events that are necessary in order to prepare for the Olympic Games and earn Olympic spots for our athletes.”
Deriugina went even further, claiming that gymnastics training is more important than the uninterrupted work of factories:
“During this whole coronavirus period, we stayed very active on the national team. I want to say that there was not a single coronavirus case in any gymnast or parent in the whole Ukraine. People who do sports and exercise don’t get sick. We held the Ukrainian Championships only a week ago, without spectators. 14 regions came. Everyone got tested, everything was great. Gymnasts miss competitions so much. When they were told that the Olympic Games won’t happen this year, it was a tragedy. People don’t understand that, for example, you can stop a factory, machines can stop, planes, too, but for athletes, a stop [in training] is, first of all, a stop of their heart and soul because these people are used to working and training, they can’t stop, they can’t sit in front of a computer, they need this [training].”
According to Deriugina, while the Ministry of Sports wants to hold the competitions, the government is against it or, rather, the government is too busy with other problems to care too much about what happens with gymnastics competitions. She praised the European Gymnastics Federation for deciding to still hold the rhythmic and artistic gymnastics Euros this year unlike other federations that canceled this year’s competitions.
European Championships that are still supposed to happen this year will be Olympic qualifiers and this seems to put the most pressure on the gymnasts. Diana Varinska and Vladislav Hryko both talked about how they need the smaller competitions in Ukraine in order to prepare for Euros and clearly, for many gymnasts, the opportunity to qualify to the Olympics will be too important to miss. It’s a pity that national federations try to rush the preparation of their gymnasts and pressure the governments to allow hosting competitions that can endanger the health of the gymnasts instead of demanding that the UEG cancels the Euros or at least move the Olympic qualifier to the 2021 Euros.
Vladislav Hryko said he is currently preparing for the Ukrainian Championships that will take place in September as well:
“It’s really hard without competitions because you lose the competition skills and lose them very fast. We spent three months in the lockdown and when we came to the gym for the first time, it felt like starting from scratch. And it was very hard for us to get back. Now, after two months and two camps, we’re back in the shape in which it’s possible to compete. Last Saturday, the Kiev Championships took place and it was a really big competition for us because we haven’t been competing and really wanted to compete. In September, we are supposed to have the Ukrainian Championships in Kirovograd and we’re working hard to prepare for it. We really want to compete and to prepare for the European Championships and the Olympic Games.”
Diana Varinska reiterated that it’s important for her to compete at the Ukraine International Cup in order to prepare for bigger international competitions:
“Because of the current situation in the world, we are catastrophically lacking competitions. There has already been a long break after which it’s really hard to get back in shape, so we just really need a competition. I really hope that the Ukraine International Cup will take place this year. It’s good that we have such a competition in our country and that we can compete at an international competition at home. Since I haven’t competed for a long time, I really want to perform at an international competition, especially since it’s on a podium”.
