‘On the roadsides there were shot up cars where people had been killed’: Facing war, death and destruction ahead of Olympics

As she hits the mats in a large, bright gym in a recreational area near Kyiv, the ongoing war with Russia is very much on Ukrainian wrestler Iryna Kolyadenko’s mind.

As she hits the mats in a large, bright gym in a recreational area near Kyiv, the ongoing war with Russia is very much on Ukrainian wrestler Iryna Kolyadenko’s mind. Amid thousands of civilian casualties and as the war grinds on, Ukrainians like Kolyadenko competing at the Paris Olympics face an existential challenge as much as an athletic one. The 25-year-old is no stranger to the physical demands of training but for the first Olympics since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the one-time bronze medal winner is upping her mental game in anticipation of squaring off against Russian athletes. “I consider it my mission to prevent them from getting on the podium,” Kolyadenko told CNN. “If I show my emotions, demonstrate them, it will prevent me from winning … but, of course, there will be no handshakes,” she said. Russians and Belarusians will be participating in the games as Individual Neutral Athletes and that means Ukrainian athletes could end up facing off against them. Ukraine’s sports ministry has issued guidelines for their athletes competing at the upcoming Games in Paris including refraining from joint photos, press conferences, and events with Russian and Belarusian athletes, not commenting on social media, keeping a distance from them during award ceremonies, and much more.