Dortmund/Kyiv – They were opponents on the track. But the war in Ukraine brought the two track and field athletes together…
Former middle-distance runner Jana Hartmann (40) from Dortmund has taken in her former competitor Yuliya Krevsun (41) from Kyiv. For years they competed against each other in competitions such as the 2009 European Team Championship. Yuliya is now living with her son Danilo (16) after a long flight via Warsaw with Jana and her husband Marcus in Dortmund.
The two athletes last had contact in 2014. “I wrote to her and asked for a jersey. I wanted to collect all the shirts from my former competitors,” says Jana, who retired in 2013. After that there was no contact for eight years. “When I heard about the outbreak of war in Ukraine, I immediately wrote to Yuliya: Are you sure? Do you want to come to Germany with us?” says the six-time German champion.
At the European Team Championships 2009 in Portugal, Jana (back left) and Yuliya competed against each other. Yuliya (far right) won the 800 meter dash
The Ukrainian, who was in the 800-meter final of the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 and ended her career in 2012, hesitated for two days. She says to BILD: “I didn’t want to leave my country. But when the fighting was already near Kyiv and it was getting dangerous, I was glad that I had somewhere to go.”
Her husband had to stay in the Ukraine, the two of them talk on the phone every day. Yuliya: “I’m very worried about him and also about my friends. Many are still in Kharkiv. Every day starts with news from Ukraine and ends with news from Ukraine.”
To get your mind off things, Yuliya goes running with Jana – almost like before…