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Biathlon sisters in the war dilemma: one man is Russian, one is Ukrainian

2023-02-15T13:17:51.240Z


Selina Gasparin is married to a Russian, her sister Aita's husband is Ukrainian. The difficult balancing act of two biathlon sisters.


Selina Gasparin is married to a Russian, her sister Aita's husband is Ukrainian.

The difficult balancing act of two biathlon sisters.

Munich – They are the backbone of Swiss biathlon: Selina (38), Elisa (31) and Aita (29) Gasparin have been shaping the sport in their home country for well over a decade.

For a long time, the trio of sisters remained stubbornly at the top of the world.

Selina, the eldest, ended her career last year, her two sisters are still active.

The Ukraine war poses a major challenge to family peace. Because: Selina's husband is Russian, Aita's spouse is Ukrainian.

The constellation contains explosive material - the front line of the war runs almost in the middle of the family.

But they will “master the challenge together”, as Aita told the Aargauer Zeitung

last year

.

Biathlon sisters Gasparin between the fronts of the war: "We all want peace"

“Family is the most important thing for us.

And the connection through sport is stronger than any conflict.

We all want the same thing: peace!” Selina's husband Ilya Tschernoussow is a Russian ex-cross-country skier, the two married in 2014. Aita's spouse is the Ukrainian ex-biathlete Serhij Semenow.

The wedding to former top biathlete Semenov was planned for spring 2022, but the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine made such a venture unthinkable.

Semenow was not drafted because he has been living in Switzerland for a long time.

From one day to the next, however, his family was in the middle of the war.

Check out this post on Instagram

A post shared by Aita Gasparin (@aitagasparin)

Biathlon star Aita Gasparin married ex-biathlete Semenow

After a few months delay, it finally worked out.

"We both cried at that moment," Aita said.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine weighed heavily on Semenov.

“You can read the tragedy of the situation in his face.

I've never seen him cry so much," she said of her Ukrainian husband.

The Russian Ilja and the Ukrainian Serhij want to remain friends despite the war, as they were before the war.

They get along well and have trained together in the past.

While Aita and Elisa Gasparin are in Oberhof, a Belarusian biathlete is not allowed to take part in the current Biathlon World Championships.

Instead, she walks through the Russian Olympic Park with her husband and child.

(epp)

Source: merkur

All sports articles on 2023-02-15

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