By Sergey Marchenko
The wealth of the Crimean land is not limited to the sea, mountains, forests, healthy air and fragrant fruits. Crimean athletes contributed to the bank of the USSR awards and then brought many medals, including the Olympic ones. People from Crimea continue to defend the honor of Ukraine in international competitions after the annexation. However, many Crimeans decided to go to the Russian sports with much higher salaries. Although the participation in international tournaments remains doubtful now for the most of them.
Crimean sports records
Crimean athletes brought many championship titles for Ukraine. The four-time Olympic champion, swimmer Yana Klochkova, the Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics in the individual class in Atlanta (1996), the absolute champion of Europe and the world Ekaterina Serebryanskaya, the Olympic silver medalist in Sydney boxer Sergei Dotsenko and the Olympic champion boxer Aleksandr Usik as well as the Olympic gold medalist in individual shooting Artur Ayvazyan are among the most titled athletes. Crimeans have won dozens of bronze, silver and gold medals under the Ukrainian flag on the European and world championships in various sports.
Four-time Olympic champion Yana Klochkova
The roads of Crimean athletes diverged after the annexation of Crimea by Russia: some of them remained loyal to Ukraine and now continue defending the country’s honor in various competitions, while others chose the Russian passport and joined the Russian teams.
However, many of them didn’t get the desired dividends from this step for several reasons. For example, Crimeans will not be able to take part in the Olympic Games in Rio da Janeiro this year because of the moratorium on joining another team. There are limitations in the participation in the championships for them – often they have to present themselves as athletes from other Russian regions to circumvent international sanctions. In spite of this fact, many of them still hope that they can win medals for Russia.
Those who loyal to Ukraine
There are not so many names among those who remained loyal to Ukraine and now continue to participate in competitions under the yellow-blue flag – most of them chose the tricolor. In this context, the value of each athlete who didn’t betray has grown significantly.
The Ukrainian gymnast Anna Rizatdinova was one of the most successful athletes of Ukraine this year: she won two gold medals at the World Cup in Italy and Germany.
Anna Rizatdinova
Her previous achievements include winning the European and world championships in rhythmic gymnastics in Brazil, a gold medal at the tournament in France.
Despite the fact that the family of the 22-year-old athlete is still living in Crimea, she didn’t think about changing the nationality and the team.
“They haven’t offered me a job in Russia – probably, they knew that I wouldn’t accept it. I became an athlete in Ukraine and don’t want to hear the national anthem of another country when receiving a medal,” Anna says.
The Ukrainian swimmer Andrey Govorov from Sevastopol called the “Ukrainian rocket” in the world of sports won several medals for Ukraine this year. He became the European champion in the 50 m butterfly, won the silver medal at the European Aquatics Championships and twice won the French Open Swimming Championships. In 2015, Govorov won the gold medal by having finished first at a distance of 50 meters at the Swimming World Cup in Russia.
He also didn’t think about joining the Russian sports, although the athlete’s family faced many difficulties on the peninsula. The performance in Moscow, where he constantly noticed looks of disapproval, was especially unpleasant for Govorov.
“I didn’t face with the open aggression in Moscow. However, there was the tension and pressure felt. Many Russian athletes allowed themselves to say inappropriate jokes and biting words knowing that I came from Crimea,” Andrey emphasizes.
Andriy Govorov
However, the most surprising thing for the athlete was that he was constantly asked why he didn’t change the passport when filling in protocols in Moscow.
“This is my political position. Why should I follow some other beliefs? I have my own opinion and Crimea means Ukraine,” the sportsman from Sevastopol answered.
Aleksandr Usik, who won the gold medal at the Olympics in London, was the champion of Europe and the world many times, is one of the most renowned athletes of Crimea. In the autumn of 2016, there will be a fight between Usik and the WBO world heavyweight champion Pole Krzysztof Glowacki.
However, the Ukrainian boxer surprised his fans at a press conference dedicated to this fight by refusing to recognize Crimea as a part of Ukraine. When a journalist asked him: “Does Crimea belong to Ukraine?”, Usik answered: “Crimea belongs to Crimea”. These words caused thousands of unflattering comments to him. It should be noted that this was not the first controversial statement of the boxer. For example, in the spring of 2016, the boxer said that the Ukrainians and Russians were the same Slavic nation.
Aleksandr Usik
Nevertheless, the Usik’s press service announced that the athlete was going to move his family from Crimea to Kiev after the fight with Glowacki.
Perhaps, the boxer’s ambiguous statements were provoked by a fear for the loved ones who still live in occupied Crimea since the recognition of the peninsula as the Ukrainian territory entails criminal penalties in Russia.
Andrey Grivko doesn’t have Olympic medals, but he openly declared his pro-Ukrainian position from the first days of the annexation.
In 2015, he gave140 thousand hryvnias obtained from the sale of his bicycle at a charity auction to the Main Military Hospital of Ukraine.
Andrey Grivko
In winter of 2016, Grivko won the multi-stage tour “Mediterranean tour” held on the territory of three countries – Spain, France and Italy.
The representative of the Crimean school of Greco-Roman wrestling Dmitry Cymbalyuk moved from Sudak to Zaporozhye and in March of 2016 won the bronze medal at the European Championship in Riga.
Anna Rizatdinova, Andrei Grivko and Andriy Govorov joined the Olympic team of Ukraine, which will go to the competition in Rio de Janeiro in August 2016.
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