Julia Batenkova-Bauman says she just wishes the nightmare would end. Yevgeni Panibratets says that he personally knows Russian athletes who support the war in Ukraine.
LOHJA. Urheilu followed the training of Ukrainian para-athletes who arrived at the Kisakallio Sports Institute a year and a half ago. They are shocked by the International Paralympic Committee’s decision to accept Russian and Belarusian para athletes for next year’s Paralympic Games in Paris.
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A roller skier dressed in a blue-and-yellow tracksuit moves briskly along the light traffic lane.
The rolling route leading to Kisakallio Urheiluopisto has arrived For Julia Batenkova-Bauman already very familiar as a training ground. Batenkova-Bauman is a 13-time Paralympic medalist in skiing and biathlon.
Together with her husband and daughter, she belongs to a group of about 40 Ukrainians who, on April Fool’s Day last year, were able to live and train at the Kisakallio Sports College during the Russian invasion.
The goal of the project, supported by the Finnish Paralympic Committee and the Finnish Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Education and Culture, was to guarantee Ukrainian para-athletes and their families the opportunity for safe training and at the same time help with integration in Finland. Most of the Ukrainians who arrived have already moved from the sports academy to other places.
Batenkova-Bauman and her family still live in Kisakallio. Eight-year-old Zeta-daughter is in the second grade of elementary school and Mykola-father works day-time at a sports college. Currently, he works as a helper at a construction site connected to the college.
Everyday life seems to be going on, but homesickness and worry about the situation in Ukraine are still present all the time.
– Of course we miss Ukraine and our loved ones and friends. We hope this nightmare ends soon. The Cruel Deaths would end and we could calm down, Julia thinks seriously.
Although he is a Winter Sports athlete, the International Paralympic Committee’s decision to accept Russian and Belarusian para athletes to the Paris Paralympics has dismayed him.
– It is a real shame that the International Paralympic Committee allows the participation of a country that kills people. Participating under a neutral flag does not change anything. The people who support this terrorist regime are then in competition with us.
– I don’t understand that decision and probably many other people don’t either. I still want to believe that in the end justice will prevail, but I don’t know what will happen next. I hope this decision is somehow reconsidered. Firstly, this is sad and secondly, the Russians have destroyed our sport. Our children and other people simply don’t have a place to exercise anymore.
Read also: The Russians were voted into the Paris Games – the Finnish boss opens up about the painful moments behind the scenes: “The war wasn’t such a wonderful thing after all”
A tough place next to the Russian
The decision of the International Paralympic Committee was also a shock to those who train in Lohja’s swimming pool For Yevgeny Panibratets. Panibratets, whose main sport is backstroke, also aims for the Paris Paralympics.
– To be honest, the decision was a shock to me. I think it was for all of our athletes. I personally know their (Russian) swimmers who, since the start of the war, have said that they support it. It would be a mentally tough place to be with such an athlete in the same waiting area or before departure, if he happened to be on the adjacent track.
Panibratets, who uses a wheelchair, has come to practice with the help of his father. The swimmer says that the events in Ukraine not only cause worry in his mind, but also a certain kind of anger, which makes him train even harder. Often his concentration is disturbed by thinking about his friends and relatives in Ukraine, but on the other hand, sport is also a way to put his worries aside for a while.
He does not think that he will be able to get on the podium with the Russian athlete after the competition.
– It would seem impossible because they have destroyed our nation.
Batenkova-Bauman’s stance on competing with the Russians or participating in the same award ceremonies reflects the mental purgatory she would face as an athlete in such a situation.
– I wouldn’t be able to look them in the eye. I can’t imagine how I could even compete with them, it would be unfair. But if there is no other option, of course I will compete, but I don’t know what emotions I would experience at the same time. At least I wouldn’t agree to shake hands or say hello on the podium. Maybe with time the pain will subside somehow. Right now, I can’t imagine how we can forgive all of this.
And how does he experience living and training in Finland, as a refugee?
– I am very happy that I can be here with my family in peace without fearing that a rocket will hit today or tomorrow, Batenkova-Bauman says.
The star moment of an October afternoon for the Ukrainian family comes when Zeata’s daughter returns from school. He has made a seal-themed picture as a gift for his mother.