Bronze medal winner Ilia Burov (L) of ROC hugs silver medal winner Oleksandr Abramenko of Ukraine as they celebrate after the men's freestyle skiing aerials finals at Beijing 2022, in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, February 16, 2022. /AP
Defending champion Oleksandr Abramenko won Ukraine's first medal of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on Wednesday and celebrated by getting a hug from Russian skier Ilia Burov at a time of rising tensions between the countries.
Qi Guangpu of China won the men's aerials event, while Abramenko took silver. Burov earned bronze for the second straight Olympics.
"I'm so happy for this silver and really proud of myself that I've won the first medal for Ukraine at these Games," Abramenko said. "I'm really happy that I made my five twists, although the landing was not really good, but enough for second place."
Abramenko won gold in aerials at PyeongChang 2018.
Qi and Abramenko held up flags of their countries on the podium, while Burov pointed to a logo on his left arm for the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). Russians have been competing under that acronym after Russia's name and flag were banned at the Olympics as fallout from the country's doping scandal.
Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych flashed a small sign that read "No War in Ukraine" to cameras as he finished a run last week, and the Ukrainian Olympic team followed with a call for peace the next day. No Ukrainian athletes have protested in the competition.
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China's Qi Guangpu wins long-awaited Olympic gold in men's aerials