About a year ago, everything seemed idyllic to Andrei Prochenko. His preparations for the Oregon World Championships in Athletics continued as normal, and along with his wife Katerina, they welcomed their fourth family member, Polina, who was then 9 months old, and they already had another daughter, Sophia, who was just five years old.

But on February 24, 2022, everything was about to change for the Ukrainian high jumper from Kherson. The Russian invasion turned him into a refugee, as now his first concern was not to get on a plane to the United States, but to save his family and escape with his wife and daughters to safer places, from the area where he grew up. up.

“Our first attempt to leave was not successful, because in the end the route we chose was occupied by the Russians,” he later said. “At the beginning of the invasion, it was like silence. We spent a month in possession. When an alternative route was finally found, we managed to leave, and after passing through seven Russian checkpoints, we reached the territories controlled by Ukraine. When we moved in, I could train a maximum of four times a week. But it was not something that athletes usually do, especially when the World Championships were to be held in a few months.”

Prochenko managed to make it to Spain and his family took refuge in France until reunification. Now his goal was to go to Oregon. And he did it by making his own training equipment. Improvised weights, truck tires, wood and everything else that could help him at least stay in shape.

The 34-year-old Ukrainian jumper has repeatedly posted photos of the “training center” he created on social networks. At the same time, he managed to maintain his physical form with the help of plyometric exercises so that he could get to the competition on a large treadmill.

“There was no high jump, but I discovered the ability to run. It wasn’t that hard to find something to craft equipment. The main thing was to find the motivation to train – but, fortunately, I succeeded, ”he emphasized in a previous interview. As a result, he not only made it to Oregon, but also climbed to the third step of the podium with a jump of 2.33 meters, winning a bronze medal.

Something similar happened a few days ago at the Pan-European Indoor Championships in Istanbul, when he hung a silver medal on his chest in the 2.29m jump, losing first place to the surprise of the evening to the Dutchman Duva Almes, who, with a result of 2.31m, took first place and gold.

In fact, this time for Andrei Prochenko, the second place was considered a failure, since he went to Polis as a favorite, having clearly the best jumps in the race, while he no longer needed to train with tires and scrap metal.

But even so, he won the biggest battle of survival for himself, as well as for his family.