Marta Kostyuk beat Jasmine Paolini on Wednesday to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time in her career. Then she turned her attention to the International Olympic Committee.
The IOC announced Tuesday that it would provisionally lift a nearly three-year-old ban on the Russian Olympic Committee, according to Yahoo Sports. That suspension first landed in October 2023 after Russia invaded Ukraine, and it had prevented Russian athletes from competing as members of the ROC. Under the ban, Russian athletes have competed internationally as neutral athletes. Russian star Daniil Medvedev, for example, is playing at Wimbledon without a flag next to his name.
Kostyuk did not hold back after her win.
"My thoughts are that it's terrible," she said, via The Associated Press. "I think it's very, very far from fair play for all the countries involved here, not just for Ukraine. I 100% don't agree with this decision. ... I just want to go out there and hopefully beat every single Russian I play in the Olympics."
The IOC said it will make a decision about the display of the Russian flag, anthem, colors or any other identifications at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles "at the appropriate time." The committee also denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the same announcement.
The decision came as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues. On Monday, according to The New York Times, Russia mounted a massive attack on the Ukrainian capital that killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens of others. In total that week, Russian attacks killed more than 50 people.
For Kostyuk, the violence is not distant. She described a strike that landed close to where her parents live.
"It's not easy to disconnect entirely," she said. "It was really tough for me last week when the first big attack happened. Then, on Monday, they ruined like four streets of residential buildings. It was like 5 kilometers away from where my parents live. Again, another difficult night and a lot of dead people, innocent people, kids. It's not easy. I try to be aware of everything that's going on. Of course, I try for these things not to influence me too much."
Kostyuk will face Czechia's Linda Noskova in the semifinals on Thursday. In the other semifinal, American Coco Gauff will square off against Czechia's Karolina Muchova. A win for Kostyuk would make her the first Ukrainian woman to reach the Wimbledon final.
