Mahuchikh won her first world championship title in August, then successfully defended her Diamond League Final victory in September. That’s often a source of anxiety for Mahuchikh, especially when Russian attacks target the eastern city. This year’s Olympics, Mahuchikh believes, will enable Ukrainian athletes to promote a message of peace, though perhaps inevitably, the Games have also become entwined in geopolitics. However, international federations have the first say on whether Russian and Belarusian athletes can qualify for the Olympics. “When I see Russian athletes … I see every city destroyed, every life that was destroyed by Russian people, by the Russian Federation,” she says, adding that she would find it “difficult” to compete against athletes from Russia and Belarus.

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