Zhan Beleniuk ended his career as a three-time Olympic medalist.
Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler Zhan Beleniuk spoke about winning the “bronze” at the -2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
On air on “1+1” as part of the telethon, the 33-year-old Ukrainian athlete shared his impressions of winning the third Olympic medal in his career and told how our country is supported by the world community at the Games in the capital of France.
“This is an award for the entire country, because today our athletes are not just athletes who win awards, they are ambassadors of our country. The messages that they relay here and call on the whole world to help our country are extremely important now. Of course, all these victories are for our military, who protect and support our athletes, who follow the events at the Olympic Games. This is a two-way motivation. On the one hand, athletes are motivated by the victories of our fighters, who desperately defend our country. On the other hand, our fighters are inspired, among other things, by the achievements of our athletes.
Definitely, we are supported everywhere when Ukrainian athletes perform. Everyone supports and tries to say certain words of support and gratitude for their achievements. You can hear “Glory to Ukraine” everywhere. The only thing is, today I even talked to international media, they once again said that they feel that people are tired of the war. And we are trying with our calls to give an understanding on our own stories about the fact that Ukraine has been living in such a context for more than 2.5 years. That is, in such conditions. And we do not get tired, because we are fighting for our survival.
All our partners should not get tired, because if Russia manages to defeat Ukraine, they will be next. They must take this responsibly. People who will hear these own stories, in what conditions our athletes prepared for the competition, what it cost them, when they last saw their relatives and friends, who may be in the occupied territories. We have quite a few such cases. And all this touches the strings that give impetus to put pressure on their governments so that they help our country more actively. This is important, when we have everything we need, we can, first of all, save as many of our people as possible,” Beleniuk said.
Interview with Zhan Beleniuk about the last Olympic medal in his career
After winning the bronze medal match, Beleniuk danced the hopak and symbolically announced his retirement by taking off his wrestling shoes and placing them in the center of the mat.
Jean is retiring from Greco-Roman wrestling as a three-time Olympic medalist. In addition to the bronze from Paris 2024, his track record includes silver from Rio 2016 and gold from Tokyo 2020.
Ukraine is represented at the XXXIII Summer Olympics by 140 athletes competing in 23 sports. The Games in Paris will last until August 11.
Before the start of the 15th day of competition, Ukraine has eleven awards for the 2024 Olympics: three gold, four silver and four bronze. “The Blue-Yellows” are in 18th place in the medal standings.
Results of the 2024 Olympic Games for Ukraine: achievements and successes
