FILE – Athletes hold flags before the start of the Olympic Truce Commemoration Ceremony in the Olympic Village during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 22, 2024, in Paris, France. For Ukrainian competitors in Paris for the Olympics, joy is mixed with sadness. Athletes strive to enjoy the dream of competing in one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events while carrying the burden of war at home. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

PARIS (AP) — For Ukrainian competitors at the Paris Olympics, joy is mixed with sadness. Athletes strive to enjoy the dream of competing in one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events while carrying the burden of war at home.

“When we read the news, we feel very upset,” said Polina Buhrova, a 20-year-old badminton player at her first Games. “But it is also our strength and our opportunity to show how strong we are that we are here, that we will fight until the end.”

The living quarters for athletes from around the world are decorated with flags and slogans in the Olympic village. The Ukrainian house displays children’s drawings with messages such as “The resilient do not give up and strive for victory” and “Glory to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.” These drawings, a tradition of supporting Ukrainian soldiers at the front, have been expanded to include cheering on their athletes.

“It warms my heart,” said fencer Olga Kharlan, laughing at the drawings. She added: “We want to finish this season successfully, because we do it for our country.”

Kharlan had a unique route to the Paris Games. She was drawn against Russian fencer Anna Smirnova at last year’s world championships. Smirnova protested after Kharlan refused to shake her hand, and the Ukrainian was disqualified. The International Olympic Committee awarded Kharlan a spot in Paris anyway.

The fencer said that preparing for this year’s Games had been challenging, not only because of the gruelling routine that is typical of an Olympic athlete, but also because she had to train abroad due to the war in Russia and had not seen her family for a long time.

But she is determined and says her achievements extend far beyond a sports stadium.

“We fight and act for those who unfortunately cannot come here because they were murdered by Russia,” she said. “This is dedicated to them and to all our defenders.”

This year, Ukraine will be represented by the smallest number of athletes in the history of participation in the Summer Games, with 140 participants in 26 sports. Most are in athletics, 25, while there is only one — Buhrova — in badminton. The war has deeply and negatively affected the Ukrainian sports industry.

The International Olympic Committee has banned Russians and Belarusians from team sports in Paris, and those who pass a two-step screening process will be allowed to compete individually as neutral participants. They must not have publicly supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or have any ties to the military or state security services.

“I would feel much better if they weren’t there,” Ukrainian rower Anastasiya Kozhenkova said at a news conference on Friday.

In Ukraine, Buhrova said the war has undermined the importance of sports and their accessibility for many, and that she knows many athletes who quit sports after the Russian invasion.

“When you try to choose between life and sport, you choose life first,” she said. “If the government has a choice, it is understandable that they choose to save our lives first and then support sport.”

Buhrova, originally from the eastern city of Kharkiv, which has been heavily bombed by the Russians for three years, said she had to evacuate abroad to continue training. The trauma of the war still affects her deeply: she said that even after she left Ukraine, loud noises often reminded her of the bombings back home.

Despite these challenges, she is enthusiastic and determined.

“I am really happy that I have the chance to show my performance, my best,” she said. “I will try to make my country proud.”

Diver Oleksii Sereda, 18, told reporters Friday that he feels “always stressed” about his 53-year-old father, who serves in the Ukrainian National Guard.

“He has to do his job. I have to do my job,” Sereda said, acknowledging that it is harder for him to focus on the competition.

“My father, before the war, he, with my mother, they had a company in Ukraine. They made furniture. But when the war started, everything changed, so now he is a soldier,” he said. “Everything changed for me, for him, for all of us.”

Kozhenkova, a Ukrainian rower who won a gold medal with her team at the 2012 Summer Olympics, said it was a significant achievement for Ukraine to be represented at all during the war.

“In the winter there were a lot of explosions and it was very scary because despite the training you didn’t know if you would make it to the Olympics or not,” she said.

Kozhenkova said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the team online on Wednesday, wishing them luck and noting that their participation would help the country take a break from the harsh realities of war.

She hopes that there will be fewer power outages and no major attacks so that Ukrainians at home can enjoy the games.

“This will be a small relief for our people,” she said. “Maybe when there is electricity and people can cheer, they will experience (positive) emotions.”