“The war taught us to thank the indomitable and brave soldiers every day for the protection of Ukraine – for the fact that we can live, work, study, and play sports. The war taught us stress resistance and endurance. The war emphasized the real values for each of us. We learned to empathize, we learned to support each other. We have become more humane, kinder. The war taught me to appreciate love.”
Ukrainian Olympic gold medal winner Oleksandr “Sasha” Abramenko writes the words above. His life, like all Ukrainians, has been disrupted by war. It wasn’t too long ago that his gold medal victory in aerial skiing at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics was his life-defining moment.
Winning the Winter Olympic gold medal, the first of any kind in a winter sport won by a male Ukrainian athlete, changed his life. It brought him recognition, financial stability, and a move to Kyiv, the capital city.
Becoming An Olympic Champion
At one point, his ascension to first place was a long shot. At 18, Abramenko finished 27th at his first Olympic Games in Turin in 2006. Four years later, he placed 24th in Vancouver. But in 2014, he had a breakthrough, finishing sixth in Sochi. And then, in 2018, he struck gold.
“For a long time, I could not believe this really happened,” Abramenko told SC Daily via email. “I was proud and happy when I received my medal at the awards ceremony, and then looked at the rising flag of my country and listened to the anthem.”
He was also pleased that his victory brought more funding to aerial skiing, which allowed new talent in Ukraine to develop.
“The country began to allocate more finances, which made it possible to attract new promising athletes,” Abramenko said. “Today [many] are already competing with everyone in the international sports arena.”
Abramenko was a reigning Olympic champion. He picked up a silver medal in aerials at the World Championships in 2019. At the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, he made the podium with a silver medal. It was, again, the only medal won by Ukraine. While not gold, the silver medal cemented Abramenko as an Olympic hero in Ukraine. Life was good.
But the twists and turns of aerials, a gravity-defying event that combines agility, strength, speed, and an uncommon amount of fearlessness, could also be said of Ukraine’s geopolitical situation. There were grumblings about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine leading up to the 2022 Olympics. Soldiers massed in eastern Ukraine bordering Russia.
“It was hard to prepare for the Olympics,” Abramenko said. “Listening to the news and seeing how the situation was heating up, it was not easy to do my job.”
War
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Life as Abramenko and his fellow Ukrainians knew it changed forever. Abramenko, in Kyiv, took refuge in the basement of his apartment building with his wife and then two-year-old son.
Two weeks earlier, he was in China celebrating his silver medal triumph.
“When the invasion of Russian troops began, and many missiles flew into Ukraine, it was very scary,” Abramenko said. “I was scared for my family, for my child. In the first days, we lived in the underground parking lot of our house.”
The media images of the attack sent global shock waves. It was the largest attack on a European country since WWII. Entire towns were abandoned, and innocent civilians were massacred and caught in the crossfire. Kyiv was bombarded.
In a war that has been raging for more than two years, Ukrainians have managed to defend their country.
“There were many injured people who lost everything and were forced to move to another place,” Abramenko said. “From the first days, the volunteer movement in Ukraine began its work. I also helped whenever possible.”
Abramenko became involved with military and civilian organizations, getting intimately involved on the ground. But money was tight, and resources became more scarce.
Then, in late 2022, another of Ukraine’s Olympic heroes, Yura Cheban, decided to sell his two Olympic gold medals and a bronze medal through SCP Auctions. The two gold medals sold for more than $96,000 combined. All the proceeds went to Ukraine’s Olympic Circle, a charity that benefits Ukraine’s military and recovery efforts.
Abramenko, taking inspiration from Cheban, emailed SCP in June 2023 about what his gold and silver medals could sell for.
“Olympic medals won as recently as 2018 rarely come up for auction, and when they do, demand is always much higher since it’s usually the first buying opportunity,” said Brendan Wells, VP at SCP Auctions.
Auctioning a Gold Medal
The war changed priorities, and Abramenko had to continue providing for his family while supporting Ukraine’s war efforts.
“This was not an easy decision,” said Abramenko about auctioning off the medals. “I thought about what these medals meant to me. But I decided these were just pieces of metal that remind me of my achievements. I can make copies for myself, and the memories will not go anywhere. But I can also help people.”
It took months to find a secure shipping method out of Ukraine. Abramenko entrusted his medals to a friend who transported the package into Poland, where DHL shipped them to the United States.
In December 2023, his silver medal sold for $20,000. According to SCP, it was the first winner’s medal from the 2022 Winter Olympics to be offered for auction. Four months later, Abramenko’s gold medal and event-worn shirt from 2018 were sold for more than $50,000.
“It took an unjust war to force a world-class athlete to give up his most prized possession in desperate times,” Wells said. “We were pleased with the $50k result and certainly very happy to help Oleksandr and his family.”
The Future
Abramenko is in Kyiv with his family, and the sound of sirens warning of impending missile strikes is now a normal part of life.
“When missiles fly everywhere, no one knows where they are aimed,” he said.
Abramenko will not compete in the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, but he is considering attending as a coach.
“I have a dream to build a training hall,” he says, “where children can train, and I can pass on my skills and knowledge to them.”
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