As a veteran member of Israel's national judo team, I am used to fighting my opponents on the mat according to very clear rules that originated in Japan., and at their foundation is mutual respect.
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This holds when I walk out onto the mat and want to do everything I can to defeat my opponent, no matter what country he is from. When the match is over I bow toward my opponent – regardless of the result.
No matter what the relationship is between us, the rules are clear and mutual respect is observed. That is the essence of competitive sport. Respect is the supreme value on which I was raised from the moment I started training as a child and it remains so today, now that I am an Olympic athlete.
In view of the situation in Ukraine, I wanted to make sure that all the members of the Ukrainian team are safe and sound.
One of my rivals in my weight class (he asked to remain unnamed) against whom I fought several times in the past told me in a phone call that he and his family have spent day after day in shelters (sounds familiar, right?). He noted that they don't have an Iron Dome or anything like that and that the missiles that can be heard around the town make a deafening noise. They are scared for lives in the face of terrible uncertainty.
His wife, who is in the advanced stages of pregnancy, fled to her parents' home in a far-away town, while he has stayed behind to take up arms and defend his country. Since the war began, he hasn't been training regularly like me; instead, he is defending his home and is fearful for his relatives. I promised him that I would keep in touch and that I would pray that situation would return to normal. I hope it wasn't our last conversation and that he will soon resume training and return to the mat to fight.
In the face of this new reality, Marius Vizer, the head of the International Judo Federation, took a courageous decision to suspend Vladimir Putin as honorary president of the IJF and to cancel all competitions scheduled to take place in Russia. His brave decision follows previous courageous decisions, among them suspending Iran from the IFJ. All these decisions were motivated by the same value: the respect and principles that this amazing sport which I represent is based on.
I also have close relatives who find themselves caught up in the chaos and have told me about the horrors they have been exposed to. One of my closest friends, Andre (a former soccer player) told me in a phone call:
"Peter, if there is a hell, then this is what it looks like…"
I wish we could help them escape and not have to deal with this terrible situation. When I spoke to them I told them that I am ready to host them in Israel for as long as necessary!
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My heart goes out to all the citizens of Ukraine, the members of its national judo team, and my close friends and family who find themselves in a reality that was forced upon them all of a sudden.
Take care of yourselves.
Peter Paltchik is a Ukrainian-born Israeli judoka competing in the under 100-kg weight category of which he is the reigning European champion.
