Olympic champion wrestler racially abused
A Ukrainian wrestler who won his country's only gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics last week said he was racially abused in the street on Friday on his return from the games.
Zhan Beleniuk, 30, is a two-time world wrestling champion who became Ukraine's first Black lawmaker when he entered parliament for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's Servant of the People Party in 2019.
In a Facebook post, Beleniuk said he was accosted by some unknown young people who tried to start a confrontation with him and shouted racist abuse.
“If I am a Ukrainian for my state, what criteria of patriotism exists in it?!” he wrote in a post, adding, “How can an Olympic champion feel safe in his homeland and in his hometown ?!”
The post sparked many social media messages in support of Beleniuk, including from Zelenskiy himself.
“The Ukrainian anthem played at the Olympics @Tokyo2020 thanks to #ZhanBeleniuk! He is one of the most worthy sons of Ukraine, our people are proud of him!” Zelenskiy tweeted. “And any manifestations of racism or xenophobia in Ukraine are unacceptable! The police must respond harshly to such cases and stop them.”
Ukrainian police have launched an investigation.
“Beleniuk is our hero, this is a provocation,” said Oleksandr Pastukhov, Ukrainian Federation of Greco-Roman and Sports Wrestling spokesperson.
Speaking to Reuters by phone, he called the incident sad and unpleasant, adding Beleniuk had “proved that he is a patriot, he is a real Ukrainian.” Pastukhov said he had been with the wrestler on his return from the Tokyo games and seen dozens of Ukrainians come up to Beleniuk to congratulate him in Kyiv.
Beleniuk, who was born to a Ukrainian mother and a Rwandan father, has previously talked about being racially abused as a child.
Beleniuk won the Greco-Roman middleweight gold by beating Hungary's Viktor Lorincz in the final.