The basement gym where the classmates train is worn. On the walls hang pictures of Ukrainian lifters in leotards, and in the trophy cabinet there are trophies from long before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The floor creaks when Alina Hosjovska takes the plunge, then she pulls the barbell up with straight arms in a single movement.
Ukraine is a powerhouse in weightlifting with several Olympic, WC and EC medalists. In most major cities there are clubs with active members of all ages and in Lviv, where Alina Hosjovska studies, the sport is even part of a university program.
Although she has only been weightlifting at more than a hobby level for a few years, she is approaching the national elite in the two disciplines of the deadlift and the deadlift. Participating in the world championships has been one of her big goals.
But the announcement from the International Weightlifting Federation, that Russia will be allowed to host the WC 2030, put all future plans on hold. Now a boycott of all the association's competitions is the only way forward, according to Alina Hosjovska.
- This is completely unacceptable and unfair to us. We cannot accept that a state that terrorizes Ukrainians and destroys our cities on a daily basis should have the right to organize competitions. Something must be done and other countries must also protest against this.
In recent days, the training sessions have been fewer and now Alina Hosjovska doubts her future in weightlifting.
- I ask myself: why should I even keep doing this? When I compete, I do it with the aim of putting Ukraine on the map – for us to be seen, for people to hear about what's going on here, she says and continues:
- Now they want us to go to the enemy and promote the sport?
With everything that is going on in the country, it is tough enough as it is to train and keep the motivation up even without such announcements, she notes.
Alina's coach Oleksandr Tovstonoh is a veteran of the sport and remembers the days when the Ukrainian and Russian lifters trained together. Until the full-scale invasion, he himself had a lot of contact with coaching colleagues in Russia.
- When the war started, that contact ended immediately because they have a completely different opinion about the invasion, there was silence between us.
Since then, Russian and Belarusian weightlifters compete under a neutral flag. In many countries they have been refused visas, but formally they have never been ported from the major competitions.
- The lifters say they are neutral, then you see that they posted pictures on social media in uniform and with the bandage badge on their shoulder, says Oleksandr Tovstonoh.
For the Ukrainian athletes, it is difficult to only see the Russians, he explains and recalls that many lifters from Ukraine have joined the country's defense. Several of them have fallen at the front.
In May 2024, 30-year-old Oleksandr Pyeljeshenko was killed in action. He was a two-time European champion and had a fourth place from the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 on his resume. The Ukrainian lifter then became the first Olympian to be killed in the war.
In order for weightlifters to receive an Olympic ticket, it is mandatory to participate in the world championships during the qualification period. For the athletes that Oleksandr Tovstonoh trains, it will therefore be impossible to participate in the Brisbane 2032 games unless the decision on Russia is changed.
- Now it is as if we are hit by sanctions, instead of the Russians, says Oleksandr Tovstonoh.
He says that the announcement was shocking, but that there had been some warning signs that the international federation was about to turn on Russia.
- Athletes who turned away from the flag during the awards ceremony or reacted against the Russian national anthem have received warnings from the leadership of the federation.
He now hopes that the political leadership in Ukraine will succeed in putting enough pressure on the weightlifting association to get the decision changed.
- Sports Minister Matviy Bidny has already protested against this and I know that formal appeals will be filed.
21-year-old Adam Skakun and 18-year-old Ivan Lahno invest in the closely related sport of powerlifting. Russia is a major power factor in sports and now they are afraid that their international federation may make the same decision as the weightlifters.
- Weightlifting is like our sport's big brother, it is the most prestigious of the lifting sports. So what is stopping the other unions from making the same decision? says Ivan Lahno.
At the lifting club, all athletes agree. Going to Russia for the world championships in just under four years is out of the question, regardless of whether the war would be over by then.
