Olympic athlete protest march in Paris to honor the Ukrainian athletes killed in combat
There are just two days before the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony. The Olympics are the leading international sporting event in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate. The symbol of the games is the Olympic rings, consisting of five intertwined rings and represents the unity of the five inhabited continents.
Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine means neither the flags nor the anthems of Russia and Belarus will accompany any podium finishes at the Paris Olympics—but there is controversy over how some of their athletes could still take part as “neutrals”.
I recently supported the Association of Ukrainians in France, along with the Ukrainian World Congress, by photographing a peaceful march in Paris to honor 488 fallen Ukrainian Athletes. I was commissioned to capture the event, with the photos being distributed for media coverage. My pictures and the event have feature in over fifty different online publications including, Le Figaro, Euronews, the Independent and ABC News.
Over 1000 people joined the event with participants wearing shirts with the names of the Ukrainian athletes who perished during the Russian invasion. The march carried the memory of the fallen athletes to the heart of Paris, from Panthéon Square to Saint-Michel Square, culminating with speeches from representatives of the French Republic and prominent leaders of the Ukrainian community in France.
These are some of the athletes whose memory was honored with a salute:
- Maksym Halinichev, a boxer who claimed silver at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and was the 2017 European junior champion, volunteered for the Ukrainian military and tragically fell on the front lines in March 2023 at the young age of 22.
- Ivan Bidniak and Yehor Kihitov, both pistol shooters and members of the Ukrainian national team, have demonstrated exceptional skill in their sport. Ivan Bidniak notably secured a silver medal at the 2013 European Championship in Osijek.
- Stanislav Hulenkov, a 22-year-old judoka, whose body was identified only 10 months after his death.
- Oleksandr Pielieshenko, a weightlifter who represented Ukraine at the Rio Olympics (2016).
- Anastasia Ihnatenko, a coach in acrobatic gymnastics, who was killed during a Russian missile strike on Dnipro, along with her husband and their 18-month-old son.
The march also served as a plea to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Olympic Games. For Putin, the 2024 Olympics represent a stage to showcase his authoritarian and aggressive regime, with many of his athletes either supporting the Russian invasion or actively participating in military operations. In contrast, Ukrainian athletes face the destruction of their sports facilities, major disruptions in their training, and constant threats to their lives due to ongoing bombings. Numerous Ukrainian athletes have had to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces to defend their country, often at the cost of their lives. Implementing sanctions against Russia in all domains, including sports, is vital for exerting pressure to stop Russia’s assault on Ukraine.
