Ukraine's medalists at the Paris Olympics face a long trek home. For some, it's up to a 30-hour trip

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — There won’t be any quick trips home for Ukraine’s medalists at the Paris Olympics.

High jumpers Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Iryna Gerashchenko and hammer thrower Mykhaylo Kokhan picked up their hardware on Monday following a memorable night 24 hours earlier in track and field for the war-torn country.

Gold for Mahuchikh and bronzes for Gerashchenko and Kokhan.

None of them can hop on a direct flight to Ukraine.

All three athletes were fled their country following Russia’s invasion, and only Gerashchenko will return immediately.

Her itinerary? A flight from Paris to Vienna, another plane from Vienna to Moldova. Then a 13- or 14-hour bus ride to Kyiv.

“It’s not easy,” Gerashchenko said.

These days, nothing comes easy for Ukrainian athletes. But they have been given a helping hand from World Athletics president Sebastian Coe.

The track and field federation has taken as strong a stance as any Olympic sport against Russia, stating shortly after the invasion started in February 2022 that Russian athletes would not be allowed to compete in international track competitions.

So it was fitting that Coe placed the medals around the necks of Mahuchikh and Gerashchenko during the high jump ceremony. When he gave Mahuchikh her gold, he stopped to say something in her ear.

“He congrats me and say that he knows how it’s difficult to compete here,” Mahuchikh said. “But we did it and we deserve it.”

A little more than a month ago, Coe visited Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv to reiterate his sport’s support during the war. Coe also invited Zelenskyy to the track and field meet in Paris.

“He’s very brave,” Gerashchenko said, noting that “not everybody” wants to visit Ukraine these days. “We are very thankful for him about his position.”

While Zelensky has not shown up in Paris, he did post a congratulations message to the Ukrainian medalists on social media.

“Ukrainians know how to be strong and how to win,” Zelensky wrote.

The three medals that Ukraine earned were more than any other country took home from the Stade de France on a blockbuster Sunday when Noah Lyles won the 100 meters.

“I wish every day we had the same result,” Kokhan said.

Kokhan is from Zaporizhzhia, the capital of the region that is partially occupied and where Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is located. Russian troops occupied the plant shortly after invading.

Kokhan took up residence in Antalya, Turkey, after the war started. He’s still based there, along with his mom, his sister and his five cats.

It’s a 30-hour trip back to Zaporizhzhia.

“Unfortunately this is the situation we have now,” Kokhan said.

Mahuchikh is from Dnipro, a city of nearly 1 million located only about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the front lines of the war.

She won’t make it home until October, after she finishes her Diamond League season with a few more meets in Europe.

Mahuchikh added Olympic gold to her world and European titles.

“Today I really realized that I’m Olympic champion,” she said. “I finally got it.”

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Ukrainian high jumper and Olympic gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh poses for a photo at the Ukrainian house at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hanna Arhirova)

Men's hammer throw gold medalist Ethan Katzberg, center, of Canada, poses for a selfie with silver medalist Bence Halasz, of Hungary, and bronze medalist Mykhaylo Kokhan, right, of Ukraine, on the podium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Women's high jump gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, second left, of Ukraine, stands with silver medalist Nicola Olyslagers, left, of Australia, and dual bronze medal winners Eleanor Patterson, of Australia, and Iryna Gerashchenko, right, of Ukraine, on the podium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Women's high jump gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, second left, of Ukraine, silver medalist Nicola Olyslagers, left, of Australia, and dual bronze medal winners Eleanor Patterson, of Australia, and Iryna Gerashchenko, right, of Ukraine, pose for a selfie on the podium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Men's hammer throw gold medalist Ethan Katzberg, centre, of Canada, stands with silver medalist Bence Halasz, of Hungary, and bronze medalist Mykhaylo Kokhan, right, of Ukraine, on the podium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Women's high jump gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, of Ukraine, poses for a photo on the podium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Women's high jump gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, of Ukraine, poses for a photo on the podium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Women's high jump gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, second left, of Ukraine, stands with silver medalist Nicola Olyslagers, left, of Australia, and dual bronze medal winners Eleanor Patterson, of Australia, and Iryna Gerashchenko, right, of Ukraine, on the podium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Ukrainian Olympic medalists from left to right, Mykhaylo Kokhan, bronze medalist in the men's hammer throw, Iryna Gerashchenko, bronze medalist in the women's high jump, and Yaroslava Mahuchikh, gold medalist in the women's high jump, speak at the Ukrainian house at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hanna Arhirova)

NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of writers, editors and publishers are to gather Thursday night for PEN America's annual gala, hosted by Amber Ruffin and featuring a tribute to actor-publisher Sarah Jessica Parker.

Ruffin, the writer-comedian, will have a high-profile platform after she was disinvited from April's White House Correspondents Association dinner. Ruffin is known for her blunt criticism of President Donald Trump, and the WHCA said it wanted the event to focus on journalism.

Soon after the association's decision, PEN announced that Ruffin had agreed to preside over its signature event, a dinner-fundraiser held at the American Museum of Natural History.

“She is truly emblematic of the talented creators who we need on stages and in writers’ rooms during a time of unprecedented censorship in this country,” PEN co-interim CEO Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf said at the time.

PEN itself, the century-old free expression organization, is still recovering from a tumultuous 2024. Allegations that leadership was reluctant to criticize Israel's invasion of Gaza and slow to respond to the suffering of Palestinians, including Palestinian writers and journalists, led so many writers to withdraw from PEN's spring awards ceremony and World Voices festival that both were canceled. PEN CEO Suzanne Nossel departed at the end of the year; a permanent replacement has not yet been announced.

The awards night and World Voices returned this month, although with reminders of the ongoing war in Gaza. Several prize nominees withdrew from competition, including two of the five finalists for the $75,000 Jean Stein Book Award for a work of “originality, merit, and impact.” The daughters of Stein, the late author, editor and philanthropist, decided that the prize money would be donated to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund and to Palestine Legal, a U.S.-based defense organization.

On Thursday, PEN will honor the imprisoned Egyptian poet and activist Galal El-Behairy with the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, given to dissidents who have been jailed. Members of his family will accept the award for him.

Parker is to receive the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, presented in previous years to Patti Smith,Robert Caro and Stephen Sondheim among others. Parker has been a longtime champion of books and literacy and runs the publishing imprint SJP Lit, where authors include Lucy Caldwell, Linda Grant and Elysha Chang.

Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth, a leading critic of Trump's threats to cancel research funding at Columbia University and other schools, is this year's winner of the PEN/Benenson Courage Award. PEN is giving its Business Visionary award to Macmillan CEO Jon Yaged.

Governor of Maine Janet Mills attends the PEN America Spring Literary Gala at The American Museum of Natural History on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Author Sebastian Junger attends the PEN America Spring Literary Gala at The American Museum of Natural History on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Actor Sarah Jessica Parker attends the PEN America Spring Literary Gala at The American Museum of Natural History on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Actor Sarah Jessica Parker attends the PEN America Spring Literary Gala at The American Museum of Natural History on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Comedian Amber Ruffin attends the PEN America Spring Literary Gala at The American Museum of Natural History on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Sarah Jessica Parker appears at the premiere of "Hocus Pocus 2" in New York on Sept. 27, 2022, left, and Amber Ruffin appears at the 28th annual Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 15, 2023, (AP Photo)