Power of sport: Making it loud & clear

Defending champion Oleksandr Abramenko won Ukraine’s fi rst medal of the Beijing Olympics 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 fi rst medal for Ukraine at these Games,” Abramenko said.

“I’m really happy that I made my fi ve twists, although the landing was not really good, but enough for second place.” Abramenko won gold in aerials at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Qi and Abramenko held up fl ags from their countries on the podium, while Burov pointed to a logo on his left arm for the Russian Olympic Committee, or ROC.

Russians have been competing under that acronym after Russia’s name and fl ag were banned at the Olympics as fallout from the country’s doping scandal.