Ukraine’s only other Winter Olympic gold medal was won by figure skater Oksana Baiul in the women’s individual event at the Lillehammer Games in 1994. “We are so happy that the people of Ukraine are happy back home and that something good happened for our country,” added Olga Pidhrushna.
They were tears of happiness, not only mine, but of the whole country, our team,” team member Valj Semerenko told reporters. I tried to calm down and was trying to hide it behind my skis. “When I was on the podium I couldn’t stop crying. There will be few more popular winners at Russia’s first Winter Games than the women’s biathlon relay team from Ukraine, who edged out the hosts at the end of a week when anti-government protests had left at least 77 people dead.Ī Ukrainian skier had already pulled out of Sochi in protest at President Viktor Yanukovich’s handling of the crisis, and other athletes from the team said they struggled to focus as their country went up in flames. Germany's Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle leaves the shooting range during the mixed biathlon relay at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, in this picture taken February 19, 2014.
