More Olympic medalists join Ukraine’s defense: Alexander Volkov, basketball champion in Seoul 1988 with the USSR is the latest

Every day new names of well-known Ukrainian athletes who have taken up arms against the Russian military intervention are known.

The most recent is that of Alexander Volkov who, at 57, could be the oldest among the Olympic medalists enlisted in the territorial defense of his native country.

His playing years included a gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics basketball tournament with the Soviet Union, along with two silver medals at the FIBA World Cup in 1986 and 1990.

The former star also added one gold, one silver and one bronze in the EuroBasket editions from 1985 to 1989. At that time he played for various clubs in the USSR, Italy and Greece.

A photo of Volkov in military clothing and inside a vehicle with a rifle has been posted on social media.

The former player served as chairman of the State Sports Committee in Ukraine from 1999 to 2000 and has been active in politics ever since.

In 2007 he was elected president of the Ukrainian Basketball Federation. He was among the pioneers of European players in the NBA, after being selected by the Atlanta Hawks in 1986, a club with which he played three seasons.

Seven months ago Stanisław Horuna won a bronze medal in the 75kg karate tournament at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Today he patrols the streets of his hometown Lviv as a soldier.

Horuna says if there had been no war he would be in a training camp or teaching children today. But he is still confident he will be able to compete at the European Championships in Turkey and in July at the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

“I have qualified for those Games so I have the opportunity to participate in this great competition,” the Olympic medalist told Polish outlet Fakt.

Horuna is convinced he will compete in Turkey and the United States.

“According to the forecasts of our Defense Ministry, the fighting will last another month, maybe a month and a half. Later, perhaps we can push the Russians to the borders. I hope that later life returns to normal in the cities and you can go to a cafe or to the cinema,” he commented.

“The Games were only seven months ago. If you have any sporting achievement, it becomes part of your personality. It influences how people see you and how you feel about yourself. But that doesn’t mean anything now. In the situation we find ourselves in now, all people are equal. It is not your past that counts, but how you can help here and now.”

Two famous current boxers, Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk, canceled their upcoming professional commitments to join defense units. Both have been photographed in military uniform and weapons in their hands.

Lomachenko was Olympic champion in Beijing 2008 and London 2012 and world champion in two categories, and was in negotiation to fight Australian George Kambosos for the WBA, WBO and IBF lightweight belts (135 pounds).

Now he temporarily exchanged his gloves for a rifle in the Belgorod-Dnetrovsky region, near the borders with Romania and Moldova, on the Black Sea coast.

A native of Crimea, Usyk was the Olympic heavyweight champion in London 2012. He was in the United Kingdom negotiating the final details of his rematch against Brit Anthony Joshua when the Russian invasion took place and he immediately returned to Ukraine to be with his family.

With his triumph over Joshua in September 2021, Usyk became one of only three boxers (alongside American Evander Holyfield and England’s David Haye) to have unified the cruiserweight world titles and later become world heavyweight champion. .

Two other former boxing champions, the famous Klitschko brothers, joined the Kyiv defense early on.

Vitali, mayor of Kyiv since 2014, and Vladimir became the only brothers who were world heavyweight champions simultaneously, and at the time, in different professional organizations.

Vladimir was Olympic champion in Atlanta 1996. That year Vitali was removed from the Ukrainian national team after failing a doping test.

Vitali posted a video on Twitter on Monday of a tour with his brother through the destroyed streets of his city.

A month ago biathlon world champion Dmytro Pidruchnyi was competing in the Winter Olympics in Beijing, and today he is serving in the National Guard in Ukraine in his hometown of Ternopil.

This group of athletes has been joined by others in defense of Ukraine such as Yaroslav Amosov, nicknamed Dynamo, a European champion in Mixed Martial Arts, tennis player Serhiy Stakhovsky, former cyclist Yaroslav Popovich, FC Sheriff club coach Yuriy Vernidub , and footballers Oleksandr Aliyev, Mykhailo Kopolovets, Vitaliy Mandzyuk, a former defender now retired from Dynamo Kyiv, and Oleg Luzhnyi, the first Ukraine footballer to win the Premier League, with Arsenal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24 under the argument of defending Russia’s national security. The Russian invasion has provoked condemnation in the vast majority of countries and strong sanctions against Moscow, including those applied by more than 30 international sports federations.