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Photo a day from Sochi: Excitement, then a moment of silence for Ukraine

Ukraine won its first Olympic gold medal in Europe’s favourite winter sport. Four women put their country on the Sochi 2014 podium as Ukraine counted its dead and civil war threatened to engulf the athletes' homeland.
biathlon ukraine silence
Olena Pidhrushna, the anchor for Ukraine's women's relay, collapses after she crosses the finish line, giving her country its first Olympic gold medal in biathlon.

Ukraine won its first Olympic gold medal in Europe’s favourite winter sport.

Four women put their country on the Sochi 2014 podium as Ukraine counted its dead and civil war threatened to engulf the athletes' homeland. 

At the press conference after the race, Olena Pidhrushna asked for a moment of silence.

The gallery was silent, everyone stood and camera shutters whirred.

The President of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee and famed U.S.S.R pole vaulter, Sergei Bubka, had already appealed for peace and at the women's presser he again held court with the world's media.

He waved everyone to their feet when the team entered the room and led a lengthy applause.

Reporters debated if their win and brief, quiet vigil was the story of the Sochi Olympic Winter Games.

Pidhrushna addressed most of the questions.

"Are there no questions without politics," asked the athlete, whose husband is a member of Ukraine’s parliamentary opposition.

Valj Semerenko, who raced alongside her twin sister Vita, told reporters, "When I came to the podium I cried and tried to hide it behind the skis.

"It was not only my tears, but the tears of the whole Ukraine."