SOCHI, Russia, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Olympic alpine skier Bohdana Matsotska said she would no longer represent Ukraine at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, because of the Kiev bloodshed.
"In solidarity with the fighters on the barricades of the Maidan [Independence Square], and as a protest against the criminal actions made toward the protesters, the irresponsibility of the president and his lackey government, we refuse further performance at the Olympic Games in Sochi 2014," she said in a Facebook post with her father and trainer, Oleg Matsotskyy.
The skier, who also competed for Ukraine at the 2010 Winter Olympics, said she and her father were "extremely angry at President Viktor Yanukovych's latest actions, who instead of resolving the conflict through negotiations (which we had hoped he would [do] when we left for Sochi), has drenched the last hopes of the nation in blood."
She signed her message, "Glory to Ukraine and its Heroes!"
Earlier, Ukraine Olympic Committee head Serhiy Bubka said he was "shocked" to learn of Tuesday's deaths after protesters clashed with police, the Kyiv Post reported.
