Ukraine's incredible act at Winter Paralympics amid Russian invasion
The Ukrainian Paralympic team have made a bold statement for those fighting back at home following their outstanding Beijing Games campaign.
Ukraine finished the Paralympics with a remarkable 11 gold medals, and 29 overall, which put them second to only China on the medal tally.
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They finished the games with the cross country skiers winning gold in the open 4x2.5km relay.
And following the race, the team united to send a message to President Vladimir Putin and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The team appeared with a banner reading: "Peace for all" after the end of their Paralympics campaign.
Anatolii Kovalevskyi stormed home in the fourth leg and credited his teammates and friends back home for his performance.
"I saw how my partners in this race worked together. I saw how Ukrainian people are fighting for our motherland," he said.
"So I couldn't be worse than the others."
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It's the type of sentiment that's appeared frequently amid Ukraine's successes, with many athletes echoing Ukrainian Paralympic Committee president Valeriy Sushkevych in considering the Paralympics their own front line.
Dmytro Suiarko, for instance, noted in claiming bronze in the middle distance vision impaired biathlon that he missed twice because his house "was bombed and destroyed".
In remarkable circumstances, middle-distance biathlon star Anastasiia Laletina withdrew from her event after her father, fighting for the Ukrainian army, was captured.
"We must win for our country, and Ukrainians must win this war today," Grygorii Vovchynskyi said after the relay.
"This is for life after the Paralympic Games. Today, what's more important is life in Ukraine, life in the world, peace in the world, no war in the world. We are here for it.
"It means we want to come back to Ukraine, we want to stop war in Ukraine. We want life in Ukraine. We want our children walking outside in the park.
"This is like a union of all the Ukrainian people here. On this podium will be all of Ukraine together.
"It's fantastic work, everyone is like one. Together we are so strong. Our nation, so strong. Our president, so strong. We aren't afraid of fighting."
Ukraine's next step as a team remains to be seen.
IPC President Andrew Parson didn't want to disclose the plans for the Ukrainian team following the Games due to their safety being a concern.
On Saturday, Parsons expressed "solidarity" with the Ukrainians and pledged to "take the best decisions to protect them and support them."
"It's beyond what I can think ... to compete here at such a high level knowing their family and nation is under attack is just incredible," he said.
"It's one of the most incredible displays of resilience I've ever seen in my life, in or outside of sport."
with AAP
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