War threatens Ukraine’s Olympic future, not just the present. But a young amputee gymnast offers hop

(9 Jul 2024)
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ASSOCIATED PRESS – AP AND SNTV CLIENTS MAY USE
Chornomorsk, Ukraine – 16 May 2024
1. Various of Oleksandra Paskal, 8, training with gymnastics ball
2. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Oleksandra Paskal, 8-year-old gymnast:
“We start, first we run, then warm up, then stretching, then bunny hops, then we can take mace, hoops, balls, jump ropes or after running we can take a jump rope, but first when our coach has not come yet we warm up at the wall ourselves.”
3. Wide of girls training
4. Close of Oleksandra Paskal’s leg and prosthetic leg
5. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Oleksandra Paskal, 8-year-old gymnast:
“I want to become an Olympic champion.”
6. Various of Oleksandra Paskal training with mace in front of mirror
7. Various of girls stretching
8. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Mariia Paskal, Oleksandra Paskal’s mother:
“When this injury happened, we thought that we would not be able to train at all, and then we came here after rehabilitation. As soon as we came here, Inga Valeriivna (coach Kovalchuk) said, ‘Of course you can come, of course everything will work out and everything will be fine’. Thanks to her, thanks to her support, everything worked out.”
9. Various of girls stretching
10. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Inga Kovalchuk, Oleksandra’s gymnastics coach:
“We all understand that the war is an extreme situation and a lot of challenges are being posed to our younger generation. There are shellings, constant alarms, and children are not getting enough sleep. Children are changing their diet because they hardly sleep at night and have to go down to the shelters. My primary task today is not to achieve high results in sports but to preserve the mental and physical health of our children.“
11. Various of girls completing exercises
12. Close of legs of Dariia Yurkevych, 16-year-old gymnast
13. Mid of Oleksandra Paskal completing exercises
14. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Dariia Yurkevych, 16-years-old gymnast:
“When the alarm started, we would hear some kind of shelling, we would very quickly go down to the basement and just wait in the basement until the alarm was cancelled.”
15. Various of Yurkevych completing exercises

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kyiv, Ukraine – 3 June 2024
16. Wide of empty Palace of Sports

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kyiv, Ukraine – 23 May 2024
17. Wide of Ukraine’s Acting Minister of Youth and Sports, Matvii Bidnyi, standing in sports hall

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kyiv, Ukraine – 3 June 2024
18. Mid of empty Palace of Sports

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kyiv, Ukraine – 23 May 2024
19. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Matvii Bidnyi, Ukraine’s Acting Minister of Youth and Sports:
“We have lost a lot of things. We are forced to hold some training sessions abroad because we no longer have this opportunity in Ukraine. It’s clear that the kids won’t go abroad to train, and it makes it even more difficult for them when you come to training with your mom, then the air raid alarm sounds and you’re unlikely to stay another hour to continue training. It’s clear that this doesn’t encourage regular exercise.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kyiv, Ukraine – 3 June 2024
20. Various of empty Palace of Sports
STORYLINE:
When Oleksandra Paskal first took to the mat as a 4-year-old, her rhythmic gymnastics coach saw nothing but potential in a sport where the Olympics is the ultimate goal.

Then a Russian missile crushed her summer house in the southern Odesa region, burying her beneath the debris and severing her left leg.

Now 8, the girl who once aimed to compete at the Olympic Games now dreams of the Paralympics.

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