Dhe Ukrainian para-biathlete Anastasiia Laletina has prematurely withdrawn from competition at the Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. The background is the capture of her father, who serves in the Ukrainian army, by Russian troops.
A spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee confirmed this to the FAZ. The 19-year-old athlete will be flown to Poland at the end of the games. According to media reports, Laletina’s father was beaten after his capture.
Industry portal Inside The Games reported on Thursday that another Ukrainian biathlete competing in Beijing, Dmytro Suiarko, is said to have lost his home as a result of Russian bombing. Suiarko won the bronze medal last Tuesday.
So far in Beijing, the Ukrainian Paralympic team has won a total of 19 medals, trailing only China (32nd). Russian and Belarusian athletes are absent from this year’s Paralympics after they were International Paralympic Committee were completely excluded as a result of the war of aggression against Ukraine.
