Ukrainian skier Ivan Kovbasnyuk, a two-time Olympian, can't train at home in the Carpathian Mountains because war in the country has damaged the power grid so severely that there's not enough energy to make the chairlifts operate.
That's just one of the reasons why he thinks athletes from Russia and Belarus shouldn't be allowed to compete at the next Olympics - or in any international sports events. "It's not fair when Ukrainian sportsmen don't have a chance to participate in the Olympics because they are dying on the battlefields while Russian athletes are just silently supporting (Vladimir) Putin's crime regime," Kovbasnyuk said after competing in the combined race at the Alpine skiing world championships on Tuesday.
"This is absolutely not OK," he added through a translator. "We will do everything in our powers to prevent them from being a part of the Olympic family again. And we will defend ourselves until the end, down to the last soldier, to the last person in Ukraine."
Then, to make sure his message got through, Kovbasnyuk added in English to The Associated Press, "Russia is killing my people. Not good situation for Olympic Committee."