Ukrainian wrestler and member of parliament has a goal for Paris: 'Show that Ukraine is still alive'

PARIS -- Zhan Beleniuk's focus wavered at times as he trained in hopes of winning a second Olympic gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling.

The Ukrainian doesn't just represent his country in international competition. He's also a member of parliament. And since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, well, it's been easy for his mind to drift.

“It’s difficult because you are thinking about your safety, the safety of your relatives, your friends,” Beleniuk said. “And you know, it’s not comfortable training when some missiles are flying about your head. That’s why it’s difficult, it’s dangerous. But it’s our reality.”

Beleniuk, 33, said his team mostly trained in Ukraine before the Paris Games, but it spent more time outside the country than usual, including places such as Croatia and Poland. He said other nations that normally would have trained some in Ukraine declined to for safety reasons.

Despite the extra challenges, Beleniuk, the first Black member of Ukraine's parliament, has had a strong showing. He will wrestle for bronze in the 87-kilogram category on Thursday night against either Colombia’s Carlos Andres Munoz Jaramillo or Poland’s Arkadiusz Marcin Kulynycz.

He felt he owed it to his country to perform well.

“Our athletes should show that Ukraine is still alive,” he said. “We still protect our land, we still do our job.”

Beleniuk, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and silver at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, got off to a good start on Wednesday morning. He defeated China’s Qian Haitao 7-1 in his opener, then rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat Kazakhstan's Nursultan Tursynov 7-3 in the quarterfinals.

Beleniuk lost his semifinal bout to Iran's Alireza Mohmadipiani on Wednesday night. The score was 3-3, but Mohmadipiani won on criteria.

He knew it would be tough to win against a stacked field that included five world champions.

“It’s huge competition there in my weight class," he said. "I know it, but it’s not the first time for me because this kind of weight class is good competition every time. I think my experience will give me an opportunity to show a good result.”

Another wrestler from Ukraine, Parviz Nasibov, will go for gold on Thursday. He will face Iran's Saeid Esmaeili in the 67-kilogram Greco-Roman final.

Beleniuk is the son of a Ukrainian mother and a Rwandan father. His father died in the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda when Beleniuk was only 3 years old, but the son has maintained a connection with Africa. His primary government responsibility is youth and sports, but he said he also meets with other leaders — including from Africa — to drum up support and fight Russian propaganda.

“Our country gave me everything that I have now, so my responsibility in this tough period for our country, to share this information to connect with different MPs (members of parliament) around the world and manage this problem," he said.

Beleniuk didn't need to worry about wrestling Russians. Ten Russian wrestlers were offered spots by the International Olympic Committee to compete in Paris as neutral athletes, but the nation's wrestling federation said last month they would refuse to compete.

The IOC previously said nine of the 10 wrestlers had agreed to compete, with one who declined.

“Russian Federation every time shares information about, ‘Oh, what should be separate is politics.’ Blah, blah, blah,” Beleniuk said. “And this is example that they invite their athletes in political process.”

When the Olympics are over, Beleniuk's worries will remain as his country tries to fight off a much larger nation with more resources.

“We don’t have any other choice, because if we stop, they kill all of us," he said. “Russians kill all of us.”

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games