Valentyna Veretska, Ukrainian runner who fled the war, wins the Jerusalem Marathon

A month after the start of the war, a symbolic victory. On Friday, Ukrainian Valentyna Veretska won the marathon in Jerusalem, Israel, finishing the race in 2 hours, 45 minutes and 54 seconds. “I’m stressed, obviously I’m nervous about everything that’s going on in Ukraine, but it helped me. It was a very difficult race, with a lot of climbs, really a lot of climbs”, she declared at the end of the marathon, according to the “New York Times”.

The 31-year-old sportswoman fled Mykolaiv, a city in southern Ukraine between Odessa and Kherson, last month in the face of the Russian invasion. Her husband Pavlo Veretska, also a professional runner, stayed to fight in Ukraine, where his parents are also. Valentyna Veretska and her 11-year-old daughter waited 15 hours at the border before being able to enter Poland, with the few belongings they were able to take before fleeing the bombardments and their destroyed house, finding members of their family in the country. family. The sportswoman managed to contact the management of the Jerusalem marathon, in which she was registered, to help her participate in the race despite her refugee status, according to “Israel Hayom”. “We have a difficult situation in Ukraine and I am running for peace,” she said, brandishing a Ukrainian and an Israeli flag on arrival.

To read: “In Ukraine, no one had anticipated the seriousness of this war”

“I do not wish peace only for Ukrainians, but for the whole world, in the name of a better future for our children. Here in Jerusalem, the whole world can hear me. My family is still in Ukraine, I cannot reach them every day because they live in a bunker. They are safe, and that’s all that matters,” she added. According to the “Jerusalem Post”, about forty Ukrainian refugees took part in the marathon on Friday, where the Israeli Agadi Guadi won in the men’s category.