Paris mayor celebrates Ukrainian Olympic athletes

PARIS: Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo awarded Ukrainian athletes on Thursday with the Grand Vermeil Medal, the French capital’s highest distinction, as a move of solidarity during the 2024 Olympics.

“I can imagine today both your sadness and your pride,” Hidalgo said. “The sadness of knowing that your country is still being attacked and is at war, that many of your friends, your relatives are on the front lines and fighting.”

Ukrainian rower Anastasiia Kozhenkova and diver Oleksii Sereda received the medal on behalf of all Ukrainian athletes, and both already have finished their Olympic competitions. They led a group of other Ukrainian athletes who attended the reception at Paris’ imposing City Hall.

The athletes who won two of the country’s Olympic medals so far – bronze in women’s individual saber fencing and silver in men’s 50-meter rifle – were not at the event.