At the age of 22, Ukrainian boxer Maksym Galinichev, who took home the silver medal from the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games, lost his life in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
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At the age of 22, Ukrainian boxer Maksym Galinichev, who took home the silver medal from the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games, lost his life in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Galinichev reportedly died while on duty in the Luhansk region with Ukraine’s 25th Sycheslav Airborne Brigade. The boxer, who has been fighting in the conflict since May 2022, declined to compete in the EUBC Men’s European Boxing Championships in Armenia last May in order to devote his attention to supporting his nation’s military efforts.
Vladyslav Heraskevych, the Ukrainian skeleton racer, posted a tribute to Galinichev on social media after he passed away, ending it with the phrase “glory to hero.” Galinichev claimed a silver medal in the under-56 kilogram category at the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires 2018. Before moving on to fight in senior international competitions, he also won the gold medal at the EUBC European Youth Boxing Championships.
Galinichev’s passing is only one of many tragedies in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which has also claimed the lives of other Ukrainian athletes. Due to the presence of Russian and Belarusian boxers, the Boxing Federation of Ukraine (FBU) declined to send competitors to the International Boxing Association (IBA) Women’s World Championships. According to Oleg Ilchenko, the vice-president of the FBU, his boxers will not fight on the same platform as sportsmen from “aggressor countries.”
Due to the conflict in Ukraine, the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is governed by a Russian official named Umar Kremlev, lifted a prohibition on boxers from Russia and Belarus fighting under their own flags last October. Due to the war, athletes from Russia and Belarus have been mainly barred from taking part in international competitions. The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine has threatened to boycott Paris 2024 if athletes from Russia and Belarus are allowed, but the International Olympic Committee is considering readmitting them as neutrals.
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