The ESPY Awards venerated Vitali Klitschko, mayor of Kyiv and an Global Boxing Corridor of Popularity member, for his courageousness on Wednesday.
The sports activities award display named the Ukrainian mayor this 12 months’s recipient of the Arthur Ashe Award for Braveness, described as an award intended for somebody who presentations “power within the face of adversity, braveness within the face of peril and the willingness to rise up for his or her ideals it doesn’t matter what the associated fee,” ESPN mentioned.
Klitschko, Kyiv’s longest-serving mayor and multiple-time global heavyweight champion in conjunction with his brother Wladimir, is a vocal Vladimir Putin critic and has defended Ukraine in conjunction with his brother whilst in Kyiv.
Actor Dwayne Johnson accredited the honour on Klitschko’s behalf and, in step with other folks, remarked that he’s “a person who will inform you very it appears that evidently, that sports activities is a part of the explanation he’s the place he’s.”
“Vitali is a hero, who has proven the arena what braveness in reality seems like.”
Previous recipients of the award have integrated Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Billie Jean King and Jim Valvano.
Klitschko, in a video speech shared on Twitter, quoted Mandela who as soon as mentioned “recreation has the ability to modify the arena.”
You’ll be able to watch Klitschko’s complete speech in regards to the award beneath.