ZHANGJIAKOU, China — Defending champion Oleksandr Abramenko won Ukraine’s first medal of the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday and celebrated by getting a hug from Russian skier Ilia Burov at a time of rising tensions between the countries.
Qi Guangpu of China won the men’s aerials event, while Abramenko took silver. Burov earned bronze for the second straight Olympics.
Qi and Abramenko held up flags from their countries on the podium, while Burov pointed to a logo on his left arm for the Russian Olympic Committee, or ROC. Russians have been competing under that acronym after Russia’s name and flag were banned at the Olympics as fallout from the country’s doping scandal.
