Ukrainian Paralympian Oleksandr Lytvynenko was defeated by Russian Yevgeny Torsunov in the long jump at the Paralympic Games in Paris and, after the competition, called him a “misunderstanding” and claimed the Russian supports the Russian military special operation (SVO). Torsunov set a new Paralympic record and brought Russia its seventh gold at the Paris Games. “It scrapes at my soul that I lost to this misunderstanding” Russian Paralympian Yevgeny Torsunov won the gold medal in the long jump at the Paris Paralympics in the T36 class, where athletes with coordination disorders such as hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, and cerebral palsy compete. Torsunov jumped 5.83 meters, setting a new Paralympic record. Interestingly, before the decisive attempt, all gold contenders had the same result — 5.76 meters. However, Torsunov managed to deliver the best jump of his career at the last moment. The Russian Paralympian’s victory infuriated Ukrainian athlete Oleksandr Lytvynenko, who only won the bronze medal. He failed to improve his result of 5.76 meters and lost to Brazilian Azer Ramos, who jumped the same distance but took fewer attempts. After the competition, the 34-year-old athlete emotionally commented on his defeat in an interview with Ukrainian media. “It scrapes at my soul a little that I lost to this misunderstanding. I have resentment towards myself,” Lytvynenko told the Ukrainian National Public Broadcasting Company. The athlete clarified that by “misunderstanding” he meant Torsunov. He also claimed that none of the Russian Paralympians were truly neutral athletes, and all of them supported Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. Lytvynenko expressed confidence that upon returning home, Russian athletes would take photos with SVO heroes. Not all Ukrainian athletes support Lytvynenko’s position. For example, track and field athlete Igor Tsvetov, who competes in the T35 category (among people with coordination disorders), gets along well with the Russians. This was stated by Russian Paralympians Artem Kalashyan and Dmitry Safronov, who won silver and bronze in the 100-meter race where Tsvetov took victory. “He gets along with us normally, just like with all athletes. He just doesn’t do it on camera. We wish him good luck. He won — well done. It means he was better today,” Safronov said in an interview with “Match TV.” The Russian athlete noted that Tsvetov is from eastern Ukraine and, therefore, has a more favorable attitude toward Russians. “Our rivalry is only on the track. In everything else — we’re not politicians, but athletes. We do our job,” said Safronov. Russians shine at the Paralympics The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) allowed 88 Russian athletes to compete in Paris under neutral status. All Paralympians underwent additional checks, which showed they had not publicly expressed support for the SVO. After five days of competition, the Russians won 31 medals: seven gold, 14 silver, and 10 bronze. Russia’s gold medals were won by swimmers Andrei Kalina, Roman Zhdanov, Dmitry Chernyaev, and Valeria Shabalina, runners Aleksandr Yaremchuk and Yevgeny Torsunov, and club thrower Alexei Churkin. At the regular Olympics in Paris, only 15 Russians participated, winning one medal — silver in tennis, earned by young athletes Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider, who competed as a pair.