Paris 2024: One of Australia’s most valued coaches is fighting to stay on home soil
After fleeing war-ravaged Ukraine, Andrey Voronstov helped one of Australia’s medal hopes in his bid for the Paris Olympics. But he will be in the battle of his life next year when he faces deportation.
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One of Australia’s most influential Olympic mentors is in a grapple to remain on Australian soil.
Andrey Voronstov, who is assisting wrestler Jayden Lawrence in his maiden Olympic bid, fled war-ravaged Ukraine in June 2022 with his wife, daughter and the clothes on his back.
After trekking across Europe, Voronstov selected Australia, where he had previously worked at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as a wrestling operations manager.
Voronstov has been working as the National Performance Lead at CombatAus since August last year but his humanitarian visa expires in August 2025.
If his application for permanent residency fails, Voronstov – now also a father of a nine-day-old son – will need to return to Ukraine or seek an alternative country.
“I am working closely with all of the coaches here in Australia, I am lucky to be here but they see the benefit in having me here,” he said.
“When we left Ukraine we just had to cross the border, we didn’t know where we could go – we had two backpacks and that’s it.
“I got this humanitarian visa on the very last day they were open and got the documents for three years here.”
The Australian wrestling team, which has been typically starved of success at the Olympics, has aspirations to medal at the Brisbane Games.
The team is planning for the future with Voronstov in their ranks.
Voronstov suspects building the program to reach medal-winning heights will take the time between now and 2032.
“I would love to stay here, I hope the Australian government allows us to do that,” he said.
“Some people have offered support and there are some pathways for other occupations but sport is unfortunately not on the list – it’s not a priority.
“The home games coming up in eight years ... it seems like a long time but in order to build a sustainable program, it probably takes eight to 10 years.”
Originally published as Paris 2024: One of Australia’s most valued coaches is fighting to stay on home soil
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