Wrestler Zhan Belenyuk refused to stand next to the citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus on the pedestal. The Ukrainian athlete will not take part in the joint photo of the winners of the European Championship in the weight class up to 87 kg.
Ukrainian wrestler and member of parliament Jean Belenyuk refused to participate in the welcoming events during the award ceremony for the winners of the European Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship in Bucharest (Romania). The Ukrainian did not want to shake hands with the Russian Federation citizen who attended the celebrations. TASS news agency reported the incident at the European Wrestling Championships.
TASS journalists announced that the incident occurred during the final photo shoot and handshake during the award ceremony. Belenyuk, who won the bronze medal in the weight category up to 87 kg, was supposed to take part in a photo shoot with other winners, including a Russian wrestler. Ukrainian refused to participate in it.
Important
“Belenyuk went the other way,” they wrote on the RosSMI portal.
If the wrestler had remained, he would have had to shake hands with a citizen of the Russian Federation participating in competitions under the flags of other states. Gold medal at the 2024 European Wrestling Championship, St. Petersburg, playing for Serbia. It belonged to Alexander Komarov, born in St. Petersburg. Journalists also noted that bronze medalist Belarusian citizen Kirill Maskevich was also on the podium.
United World Wrestling, the portal of the International Greco-Roman Wrestling Federation, talked about Jean Belenyuk’s bronze medal. It is also stated that he ranks third in the world wrestlers rankings up to 87 kg in the adult category.
Zhan Belenyuk is a 33-year-old Ukrainian athlete who won gold and silver in two Olympic Games. He also won gold at the World Championships three times and won bronze at the European Championships three times. Savaşçı was elected as a people’s deputy in 2019 on the list of the Servant of the People party.
He is yet to comment on his Facebook page regarding the events at the 2024 European Wrestling Championships.
Sports and war in the Russian Federation – actions of Ukrainian athletes
It is worth noting that after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian athletes continued to participate in most competitions – sports officials do not want to get rid of representatives of the aggressor country. For this reason, incidents occur as a result of the meeting between Ukrainians and representatives of the Russian Federation during the competitions. For example, in the summer of 2023, Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan refused to shake hands with a Russian woman after the match ended. The judges first punished him by disqualifying him. However, they later changed their minds.
Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina was in a similar situation; He refused to shake hands with Russian Anna Blinkova, who openly supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In January 2024, Ukrainian women participated in the Australian Open 2024: Dayana Yastremska reached the semi-finals of the tournament. On February 11, Olga Kharlan became the winner of the World Championships in Peru.
Source: Focus
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