Pleasant View welcomes Ukrainian Olympic Curling Team with open arms on Founder’s Day
Photo Supplied, Emily Lee
From left to right, Artem Suhak, Eduard Nikolov and Anastasia Kotova pose for a photo during the Pleasant View Veterans Monument 5K and Breakfast are pictured on Sunday, June 25, 2022.
PLEASANT VIEW — Residents of Pleasant View were in for a one-of-a-kind surprise at their annual Founder’s Day celebration last weekend — the Ukrainian Olympic Curling Team. Irina Baron, a Pleasant View resident and Ukrainian national, met the team in Salt Lake City while running in a 5K in support of Ukraine.
She said her heart was “seized” when she discovered that some of them are from her birthplace of Irpin, a city in the Kyiv Oblast province.
According to Baron, the team was offered a safe haven in Utah after Russia declared war on Ukraine, thanks to Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation President and CEO Colin Hilton and Ukrainian Olympic Association President Sergey Bubka.
Individuals and organizations in northern Utah banded together to support the Ukrainian teens and their coach, Erkki Lill. The University of Utah is providing shelter, food and transportation while the Weber County Ice Sheet in Ogden offered them a place to practice.
Despite having only just met, Baron and her family did not hesitate to open their home to them. The Barons even served the team borcht, a traditional Ukrainian beet soup.
Photo Supplied, Kyle Scoville
The Ukrainian Olympic Curling Team pose for a photo during the Pleasant View Veterans Monument 5K and Breakfast on Sunday, June 25, 2022.
“My family love them so much,” she said. “I call them my kiddos from Ukraine.”
Baron, who was registered to run in her community’s 5K race on Founder’s Day, said she wanted her kids to join her, but could not afford to pay the registration fees for all ten of them.
Kevin Bailey and his wife Christy, organizers of the race and the subsequent breakfast, said they did not know the teens were Olympians, at least not at first.
The Baileys entered the team in the race, and three of them were among the top finishers in their category.
Following the race, the team was asked to walk in the Founder’s Day Parade, an opportunity they all enjoyed.
“They loved the attention,” Kevin Bailey said.
Amy Mabey, who attended the parade, said it was an incredible moment to see the athletes be recognized by her community, to see them in spite of everything they have been through with the ongoing invasion of their country.
While the team is happy to be in Utah receiving love and support, Baron said they miss their families and friends back home.
-
- From left to right, Artem Suhak, Eduard Nikolov and Anastasia Kotova pose for a photo during the Pleasant View Veterans Monument 5K and Breakfast are pictured on Sunday, June 25, 2022.
-
- The Ukrainian Olympic Curling Team pose for a photo during the Pleasant View Veterans Monument 5K and Breakfast on Sunday, June 25, 2022.