![\"Anna](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/9-20240712185948005.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnna Pysmenska hiding in a basement in February 2022. Courtesy Anna Pysmenska<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She then moved her training to Kyiv until February 2022, when Russia again tried to invade the city where she lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the start of the war, Psymenska moved to Croatia with her team before returning to Kyiv in the summer of 2022. But constant Russian attacks make preparation and concentration challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe train every day. Physically, we are ready. But morally, it\u2019s quite difficult. I was hysterical a few days ago. Because of the constant blackouts, I eat incomprehensibly. You can\u2019t plan anything. The lights are never on. It\u2019s the Stone Age. It\u2019s very unnerving,\u201d said Psymenska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blackouts and sirens<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
As Russia continues to strike Ukraine\u2019s energy facilities across the country, blackouts have become longer. The Ukrainian Diving Federation had to buy a powerful generator for the swimming pool where the divers train to deal with constant power outages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If an air raid siren sounds during practice, the athletes immediately stop and go down to the bomb shelter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDiving is a difficult sport,\u201d Ilya Tselutin, the national team coach, said to CNN. \u201cBefore jumping, you have to prepare and warm up. Coming back after, athletes have to prepare again from scratch before jumping.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n National diving team coach Ilya Tselutin with team members. Courtesy Ukrainian Diving Federation<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are set to be 136 divers from around the world who will participate at the 2024 Olympic Games in France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A panel of judges will score each dive based on various criteria, including how aesthetically pleasing a diver\u2019s movements are, the complexity of the dive and how well they enter the water. Synchronized diving is also scored on how well the two divers match each other\u2019s movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But for Tselutin, these Games are more than just about the sport of diving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe task of the divers is to win top-level medals and to raise the Ukrainian flag as high as possible. This is their front right now. To show that our country is very strong, that the nation is invincible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Paris Games will be 21-year-old Danylo Konovalov\u2019s first Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each day he begins at 7 a.m. and has two training sessions. If there are air raid sirens, he tries to do some physical exercises as he waits in the basement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Konovalov was born in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, but because of the invasion, he couldn\u2019t train in his hometown.<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In April 2022, the Russians blew up a water pipeline, leaving the city without drinking water. As a result, Konovalov first moved away from Ukraine, though he soon returned to train in Kyiv. His parents still live in Mykolaiv, a city that Russian forces constantly hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not reading the news. I feel much calmer this way. My mom calls me and tells me how things are so that I can concentrate on a sport,\u201d Konovalov said to CNN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On July 5, the diving team had a farewell ceremony in Kyiv. It began with a priest\u2019s blessing at a church near the pool where the athletes train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Konovalov admits that he has a few superstitions that he religiously observes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have my lucky swimwear in which I jump well. It\u2019s also important to find the right place for your slippers. If the jump goes well, I only put my slippers in the same place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If he wins a medal, Konovalov says he will dedicate his success to Ukraine and its soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite everything that is happening in his country, Konovalov says he will try to do his best and stay focused on the Olympic Games \u2013 this is his battle for Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The memory of Russia invading Ukraine on February 24, 2022, is lodged in Ukrainian Olympic diver Anna Pysmenska\u2019s mind. \u201cWhen the invasion happened at 4 a.m., I was so shocked and didn\u2019t know what to do, so at 7 a.m.,\u00a0I went to the swimming pool to train,\u201d the 33-year-old told\u00a0CNN Sport.\u00a0\u201cIt was very scary.\u201d One […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7360,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,47],"tags":[9,20],"class_list":{"0":"post-7359","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-sport","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-sport"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"National](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/1-20240712185817653.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nA debut in Paris<\/h2>\n\n\n\n