Two-time and youngest European diving champion, 17-year-old Oleksiy Sereda – called the “prodigy” of Ukrainian sport – won a silver medal at the World Diving Cup, which the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee announced on Sunday, April 16.
Oleksiy received the highest sports award for his final jump of “two and a half backward turns with two and a half screws,” second only to Chinese Hao Yang.
Oleksiy Sereda is from Mykolaiv. The young man is known for his athletic talent and moral position in the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the 2024 Olympic Games.
According to Sport24, the athlete publicly cited how the Russian army damaged a house in his hometown.
“A shell hit my house in Mykolaiv. I worry about my family every day. The entire civilized world is standing behind Ukraine. Why don’t high-ranking sports officials understand the grief and injustice all Ukrainians feel toward those who will never compete or live again? There are no neutral Russians and Belarusians. Stop Russian and Belarusian sports,” the channel’s website said Wednesday.
Despite numerous calls by the UWC and its worldwide member organizations for excluding Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee has postponed the decision until the summer.
