Ukraine cherishes “each single athlete we have now” as they is likely to be the nation’s “final star shining”, says former tennis participant Sergiy Stakhovsky.
The 37-year-old retired from tennis on the Australian Open in January 2022 to be part of Ukraine’s reserve military.
“Ukraine, when it comes to sport, has been crippled for generations to come back,” the 37-year-old advised BBC Radio 5 Dwell.
Stakhovsky additionally criticised the choice to permit Russian athletes to compete as neutrals on the 2024 Olympic Video games.
Athletes from Russia and its key ally Belarus who’ve certified as people for subsequent yr’s Video games will compete with out flags, emblems or anthems of their nation.
This contains rivals who had been beforehand banned following the invasion practically two years in the past, however groups representing the 2 nations is not going to function.
Talking from an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Stakhovsky, who famously beat Roger Federer in 2013 at Wimbledon, highlighted the variety of athletes from the nation who had misplaced their lives whereas preventing within the battle.
In response to the United Nations,, exterior a minimum of 10,000 civilians, together with greater than 560 kids, have been killed for the reason that Russian invasion started in February 2022.
“It should be very onerous for Ukraine to come back again,” stated Stakhovsky.
“So we cherish each single athlete we have now competing as a result of we perceive that is likely to be our final star shining.”
Whereas different high-profile Ukrainian sport stars have spoken out in opposition to the struggle, Stakhovsky feels extra Russian athletes ought to publicly condemn the invasion.
Russian tennis gamers Andrey Rublev and Daria Kasatkina have spoken out in opposition to the struggle in recent times.
Rublev, 26, wrote an anti-war message on a digital camera lens on the Dubai Tennis Championship in 2022, whereas Kasatkina, 26, known as for an finish to the preventing on a Russian video weblog in the identical yr.
“I do consider that if all of the sports activities and all of the folks in Russia who’re in opposition to the struggle could be the identical vocal as [Kasatkina] was, there could be a very totally different image,” Stakhovsky stated.
In December, Worldwide Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach stated “particular person athletes can’t be punished for the acts of their governments” as he defined the IOC’s determination for subsequent summer time’s Olympics in Paris.
Bach added that letting people compete was “respecting human rights”.
“It is an absolute joke, for my part,” stated Stakhovsky.
“[Russian athletes] all say they’re scared for his or her lives, for his or her households, however fact is nobody lives in Russia any extra. None of them dwell in Russia.
“For me, they do not wish to be a part of the criticism, they do not wish to lose their followers again in Russia, so that they with roll it.
“We now have to search for athletes who assist, we have now to current proof to the Olympic committee, after which perhaps, in the event that they consider that that is sufficient, they won’t enable these athletes to compete.”