Paris 2024 Olympics: Ukraine’s medallists face long trip to home

There won’t be any quick trips home for Ukraine’s medallists at the Paris Olympics.

High jumpers Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Iryna Gerashchenko and hammer thrower Mykhaylo Kokhan picked up their hardware on Monday following a memorable night 24 hours earlier in track and field for the war-torn country.

Gold for Mahuchikh and bronzes for Gerashchenko and Kokhan.

None of them can hop on a direct flight to Ukraine.

All three athletes fled their country following Russia’s invasion, and only Gerashchenko will return immediately.

Her itinerary? A flight from Paris to Vienna, another plane from Vienna to Moldova. Then a 13- or 14-hour bus ride to Kyiv.

“It’s not easy,” Gerashchenko said.

These days, nothing comes easy for Ukrainian athletes. But they have been given a helping hand from World Athletics president Sebastian Coe.

The track and field federation has taken as strong a stance as any Olympic sport against Russia, stating shortly after the invasion started in February 2022 that Russian athletes would not be allowed to compete in international track competitions.

So it was fitting that Coe placed the medals around the necks of Mahuchikh and Gerashchenko during the high jump ceremony. When he gave Mahuchikh her gold, he stopped to say something in her ear.

“He congrats me and say that he knows how it’s difficult to compete here,” Mahuchikh said. “But we did it and we deserve it.”

A little more than a month ago, Coe visited Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv to reiterate his sport’s support during the war. Coe also invited Zelenskyy to the track and field meet in Paris.

“He’s very brave,” Gerashchenko said, noting that “not everybody” wants to visit Ukraine these days. “We are very thankful for him about his position.”

While Zelensky has not shown up in Paris, he did post a congratulations message to the Ukrainian medallists on social media.

“Ukrainians know how to be strong and how to win,” Zelensky wrote.

The three medals that Ukraine earned were more than any other country took home from the Stade de France on a blockbuster Sunday when Noah Lyles won the 100 meters.

“I wish every day we had the same result,” Kokhan said.

Kokhan is from Zaporizhzhia, the capital of the region that is partially occupied and where Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is located. Russian troops occupied the plant shortly after invading.

Kokhan took up residence in Antalya, Turkey, after the war started. He’s still based there, along with his mom, his sister and his five cats.

It’s a 30-hour trip back to Zaporizhzhia.

“Unfortunately this is the situation we have now,” Kokhan said.

Mahuchikh is from Dnipro, a city of nearly 1 million located only about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the front lines of the war.

She won’t make it home until October, after she finishes her Diamond League season with a few more meets in Europe.

Mahuchikh added Olympic gold to her world and European titles.

“Today I really realized that I’m Olympic champion,” she said. “I finally got it.”