Sport will never be essential in war. Necessarily. But even for a people at war, sport can serve an obviously unifying function. Because never have a nation’s sports heroes had a clearer place and voice in a war than the Ukrainian stars have had in the last six months. And their symbolic value becomes even clearer when the country’s biggest stars are both boxers and have shown their dedication to the Ukrainian struggle by contributing as soldiers. Usyk’s big victory Last weekend, the Ukrainian heavyweight boxer Oleksandr Usyk defended his three world championship belts after winning a terrific fight against British Anthony Joshua. The fight ended in a so-called split decision in favor of Usyk, before the loser Joshua took the attention of the world champion with a completely bizarre acceptance speech from the back of the ring. But neither that nor the fact that the match, which was actually planned in Kyiv, instead took place in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah is the point here. What matters is what Ukrainian sports stars manage to do in the midst of a situation where their homeland is at war with neighboring Russia. “It was an important and necessary victory,” proclaimed a moved President Volodymyr Zelenskyj right after the match, which he further called “a symbol of the fact that no Cossack will give up what is theirs, will fight and absolutely win.” SYMBOL: Volodymyr Zelenskyj has himself become a symbol for the Ukrainians’ struggle for freedom. Photo: DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP Sport had once again become an arena for the Ukrainian freedom struggle – and, in addition, an arena that all Ukrainians could follow. Because this match was so important just before the national day that Usyk himself had plans to buy the rights to show the match. In the end, he didn’t need it after all. The Saudi Arabian organizers gave permission for the whole of non-occupied Ukraine to watch their 35-year-old boxing hero on open channels. Usyk had been training in Dubai after being given permission to leave the country and the fight against the Russians to defend his titles. At first Usyk said no, but told CNN he changed his mind after visiting a hospital where wounded Ukrainian soldiers were lying, who urged him to go and fight for his country. CLOSE DUEL: It was a terrific showdown between Joshua and Usyk, but in the end the Ukrainian ended up with the world championship belts. Photo: Hassan Ammar / AP The Olympic peace – as long as it lasted Perhaps, then, sport contributed to the war in Ukraine starting on the day it did. The New York Times reported in early March that intelligence reports indicated that a month earlier China had asked Russia to wait to attack Ukraine until after the Beijing Olympics. The Chinese wanted the world’s full attention on their prestigious event. The information has certainly never been officially confirmed, but on February 4, Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin met in connection with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. On February 20, the Games were over. Four days later the Russian attack was under way. From boxing star to mayor Soon after, there were two figures who, in addition to President Zelensky, stood out as very striking, also physically. The brothers Vladimir and Vitaly Klitschko became central figures on the Ukrainian side of the war early on. The brothers are legends in the sport of boxing, where both have been world champions several times. Now they have brought their status into politics – and with it the defense of the country against the Russian invasion. Ironically, the brothers are what we can call real children of the Soviet Union, with a father who was in the military and stationed in several places in the former great power many of Putin’s supporters dream of this war being a part of recreating. That is why they also became great heroes in Russia, and Vitalij ironically boxed his farewell match in the Olympic Hall in Moscow in 2012, to the delight of Vladimir Putin, who is particularly interested in martial arts. BROTHERS AND HEROES: Boxing brothers Vladimir and Vitalij Klitschko in Kyiv after an attack in March. Photo: ARIS MESSINIS / AFP Two years later, retired world champion Vitalij Klitschko had become mayor of Kyiv. So was he on 24 February 2022. And now the excitement from Putin was over. Together with his brother Vladimir, he early became a strong symbol of the resistance through social media. Soon two of the country’s other heroes, Oleksandr Usyk and their other current world champion, Vasyl Lomatchenko, also returned to their homeland and stood ready to fight for their country. The pictures of Usyk and Lomatchenko in uniform and with machine guns on Instagram went around the world. WORLD CHAMPION 2: Vasyl Lomachenko after he beat Masayoshi Nakatani in a fight last June. Photo: John Locher / AP The World Cup dream that burst Something close to the whole world also cheered on the Ukrainian national football team when they played their crucial qualifying match for a place in the World Cup in football later this year. But they lost the emotional game against Wales. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian players in the major leagues have used soccer as an arena to express their unity and fight against the Russian invaders. Ukraine’s most famous player in recent times, Andriy Shevchenko, has continued the fight, including by working for the organization UNITED24, started by President Zelenskyj, which collects money for the Ukrainian defense. So far, they have collected over NOK 1.5 billion. SUPERSTAR: Andriy Shevchenko became a big profile for AC Milan in the 2000s Photo: GENYA SAVILOV / AFP The cat’s next life “I won this victory for my country, my people, for all people and military who defend the country. Many, many thanks” were the words Oleksandr Usyk used after the match in Jeddah last weekend. And knew his message reached the homes of millions of countrymen and women. Usyk, nicknamed “The Cat”, exudes a rare masculine strength and is the kind of hero image Vladimir Putin has previously liked to associate himself with. Now it is only to be hoped that the irritation over the symbolic power these Ukrainian athletes have will backfire even more strongly on the Russian president. It is appropriate to recall Putin’s own words from 2000: “Victory in sport does more to unite the nation than 100 political slogans”. SPORTSMAN: Vladimir Putin has long been concerned with Russian sporting achievements. In 2004, he visited the national boxing team. Photo: ITAR TASS / AP When Usyk won against British Joshua in Jeddah, the aforementioned Lomatchenko sat ringside. Both had been urged by President Zelenskyy to lay down their arms to go out and symbolize Ukrainian independence to the whole world. Lomatchenko is now in the USA, where he is expected to box again in October. Usyk’s next fight is expected to be in December against a new Briton, Tyson Fury, for all four heavyweight boxing world championship belts. Unfortunately, this too could quickly become an opportunity to represent and inspire a country at war. A country that has lost more than 50 of its best athletes since the start of the war. Boxing is called “the noble art of self defence”. For the Ukrainian sports stars, unfortunately, in the last six months, the art has turned into all too serious realities.
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