Friday, July 11, 2025
spot_img

Fleeing their home country, Ukrainian athletes train in Albania

Date:

Share post:

spot_imgspot_img

ELBASAN, May 11: After fleeing from a war zone, a group of young Ukrainian track and field athletes have made their way to safety in Albania. Their minds are still between the two countries.
“I miss my mother’s food and grandmother’s advice,” said 17-year-old Maria Lariva, who throws the shot put. “I miss my coach and the stadium, my city, home, my country, everything.” Lariva and seven other teenage athletes were evacuated from Bakhmut, a city in the Donetsk region that is part of Ukraine’s industrial heartland – where Russia has focused its fighting after its early failure to sweep across the country and overrun the capital.
Their families have stayed behind.
“I talk with my family every day. Many times a day,” said 17-year-old Valentyn Loboda, a pole vaulter who has been training in the long jump since the group arrived in Elbasan on March 31. “We speak about how is going on in Ukraine, how’s going on in Albania.”
The eight athletes are training at the Sport Club Elbasani with help from the Albanian Olympic committee and the city itself, which is located about 45 kilometers south of the capital Tirana.
Leaving home was hard, and the train ride was dangerous.
“(Everybody) lied down, closed doors and windows for about 30 minutes fearing the aircrafts flying quite close,” Lariva said, describing the journey from Kramatorsk to Dubno.
The group then made their way to Lutsk before entering Poland and taking a flight to Albania. The athletes compete in various sports in track and field. Some of them are aiming to reach the required standards to take part in the World Athletics U20 Championship in Cali, Colombia, in early August. (AP)

spot_imgspot_img

Related articles

22 Maoists, including eight females, surrender in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, July 11: In a significant development in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district, 22 Maoists laid down their arms on...

BJP looting land, forest, water: Rahul Gandhi at ‘save Constitution’ rally in Odisha

Bhubaneswar, July 11: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday targeted the BJP, alleging that the ruling party has...

Centre plans Rs 1,345 crore subsidy scheme to boost production of Rare Earth magnets

New Delhi, July 11: The Indian government has drawn up a scheme to offer subsidies to the tune...

We missed no targets in Pak, not even a glass pane broken in India: NSA Doval on Op Sindoor

New Delhi, July 11: National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Friday addressed the convocation ceremony at IIT...