The Ukrainian men’s team will start competing at the World Championships tomorrow. Even before the competition, they are already making the international news because Kovtun wore a t-shirt with “Stop War” written on it in podium training. This might seem like a small thing but it meant a lot to other gymnasts. WAG gymnast Margarita Kozlovska explained today in the mixed zone that Ukrainian gymnasts feel that protesting at a competition is one of the few things they can do that will reach a large audience:
“I like his T-shirt; I really like his T-shirt. I want one like it as well! I understand that some people don’t like it and say that he shouldn’t have worn it, but in this way we can speak to the world, while we’re here on TV, and that’s all that we can do”.
Besides Illia Kovtun, who became the leader of the team at only 19 years old, the team includes the veteran Igor Radivilov and three relative newcomers – Mykyta Melnikov, Bohdan Suprun, and Panteley Kolodii. The federation was cash-strapped even before the war and now their finances took an additional hit, so they opted not to bring alternates to save money. Their expenses in Liverpool are being covered by the FIG but the federation still had to pay for flights. Kovtun and Suprun will compete in the all-around, while the rest of the team will only do certain events. Originally, Panteley Kolodii was supposed to compete in the all-around as well but was recently injured and will skip vault and floor.
The team traveled to Liverpool without their head coach Gennady Sartynsky. According to Irina Nadiuk, Kovtun’s personal coach and one of the team coaches, Sartynsky had to go back to Ukraine for personal reasons and is now working with the junior MAG team at the national team training center in Koncha-Zaspa. Most of the senior team stayed in Croatia because the conditions in Kyiv are very difficult, according to Nadiuk:
“It’s very hard. Sometimes there’s no power, sometimes there are air raid sirens, they have to hide in basements. The training process if very difficult. When there’s no power, it’s impossible to do difficult elements on apparatuses, they end up just conditioning in order to stay in shape.”
Nadiuk and several other gymnasts were at a gymnastics competition abroad when the war started. They have not yet been to Ukraine since then and had to move between countries relying on the kindness of various gymnastics clubs and federations:
“After we competed at four World Cups, we went to Germany and brought more gymnasts there. I organized their transport from Ukraine, the coaches took them out in their own cars. We stayed with our friends in Germany, then moved to Italy where Illia had friends from the club he competes for. They took us in, gave us a place to live and food, they gave us clothes and shoes because our gymnasts came with nothing. We stayed and trained there until competitions in June, then we moved to Croatia, to Osijek. We were met extremely well there, we were given a place to live, meals, and a rent-free gym to train in. When Illia needed an MRI, the hosts paid for it and for the doctors’ visits.”
“It’s hard, we haven’t been in Ukraine since February, we haven’t seen any of our family members. The Cherkasy region is under rocket attacks now and we are very scared for our loved ones. Illia’s mom and grandma are there and also relatives who evacuated from Kharkiv now live with his mom. His anxiety became even worse. My mom, dad, sisters, and nephews are there. My younger sister’s husband, Illia is also friends with him, our families are very close, he went through military training right after the start of the war and he’s been on the front lines for the past eight months. It’s very scary, too. Every time when Illia sees me crying, it’s hard on him as well.”
In competitions, though, Kovtun remains calm and composed. It will be only his second World Championships but he already got a Worlds medal last time and plans on getting more this time:
“It’s a huge honor for me to represent our country internationally, I am proud I got to this level. It’s already my second senior World Championships, I won bronze in the all-around at my first one. This time, I will focus on individual events. I’ve been to many important competitions in 2022 and, thank God, had good results at all of them. Perhaps, not everything went great, but my coach and I are moving forward no matter what. I don’t plan on leaving the World Championships without a medal! And my other goal for Worlds is to give glory to our country and the free Ukrainian people!”
Igor Radivilov got stranded in Ukraine when the war started and could not leave the country during the first few weeks. He and his wife Angelina Radivilov then moved to Cottbus and stayed there until August, when they moved back to Kyiv. Radivilov says that despite all the difficulties at home, he wants to continue training there:
“I don’t have expectations for this competition, I’m just focused on doing my routines. Artistic gymnastics is an unpredictable sport. Most of my preparation for the World Championships happened at the Olympic Training Center in Koncha-Zaspa and lasted seven weeks. It’s hard to mentally prepare for the competition, but it’s easier at home than abroad, despite the war, because your family and loved ones who support you are there and I want to thank them for that. This support is extremely important for every athlete because it gives you strength for competing. We work hard so that the Ukrainian flag will be raised at medal ceremonies around the world.”
