Sports

Ukrainian team won the ticket to the Super League by taking the second place in the First League of the European Cup Combined Events in Ribeira Brava, Portugal. Ukrainian team with 40,056 points overall was outrun by the Czech Republic athletes with 40,384 points. Sweden finished third with 39,753 points, while Spain (38,962), Norway (38,777), and Italy (38,032) placed fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively. Finland with 37,845 points and Portugal with 36,686 – were both relegated.

Ukrainian saber fencer Olha Kharlan won the title of a European Champion in the individual competition for the fifth time in her sports career. On June 9 in Strasbourg Kharlan managed to outrun her main rival – Ekaterina Dyachenko of Russia, who took the second spot in the championship. Italian Rosella Gregorio and Greek Vassiliki Vougiouka shared the third spot.

Ukrainian national Wushu team won 39 gold, 36 silver, and 31 bronze medals at the European Wushu Championships in Bucharest, Romania (May 8-12). Ukrainian athletes triumphed at the junior and adult mixed championship among the 32 participating countries.

Ukrainian athlete Andriy Protsenko won gold at the international track and field championships in Montgeron-Essonne, France, on May 11. At the second attempt Protsenko cleared the bar at 2.26 meters, which brought him to the top of the high jump pedestal. Russian Lev Missirov and Romanian Mihai Donisan cleared the bar at a height of 2.24 meters and occupied the second and third positions, respectively. Missirov managed to overcome the obstacle at his first attempt, while Donisau needed two attempts.

Ukrainian athletes brought home two gold medals from the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Taicang, China (May 3-4). First, Ruslan Dmytrenko, 28, made the senior men’s 20 km win for Ukraine; then, Dmytrenko together with Ihor Hlavan and Nazar Kovalenko celebrated their team gold medal in the men’s 20 km. All in all, the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Taicang featured 364 athletes (men and women) who represented 50 countries.

The representative of Lviv chess school, Stryi native, Hanna Muzychuk won the 2014 FIDE Women World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships. The championships took place in Russian Khanty- Mansiysk on April 26-28. Notably, the Ukrainian athlete represented Slovenia in the tournament. Muzychuk was born 1990 in Stryi and is still the resident of the city; she has been representing Slovenia in chess tournaments since 2004.

National Ukrainian Olympic Committee announced the winners of the Heroes of the 2013 Sports Year nomination. World High Jump champion Bohdan Bondarenko was recognized as the Sportsman of the Year. World champion, silver and bronze medalist of the Biathlon World Cup Olena Pidhrushna became the Sportswoman of the Year. Olha Harlan, world and European champion in individual fencing, world champion and silver medalist of the team European Championships won the nomination of the Hero of Ukrainian Sport 2013.

The 2014 Sochi Paralympics closed yesterday with the grand show, celebrating the international athletes, who chose to live their lives to the fullest. Even though the very nature of the competition suggests there are winners and losers, every participant of the Paralympic Games is a winner, even though some won medals and some – did not. This year the national teams of Russian, Germany and Canada spearheaded the Games as far as the total medal count is concerned, with Ukraine and France closing up the big five.

Team Ukraine won three medals – two bronze and one silver at the fifteenth edition of the international indoor track and field competition. The 2014 event organized by the IAAF was held on March 7–9 at the Ergo Arena in Sopot, Poland. Ukrainian athletes Andriy Protsenko, Olha Saladukha, and Alina Fiodorova climbed the podium in Sopot.

Ukrainian athletes – Vita and Valentyna Semerenko, Yuliya Dzhyma and their team leader – Olena Pidhrushna won gold at biathlon 4×6 km relay. The competition was held on February 21, 2014, on the 15th day of XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. This is the first such achievement in the national biathlon history. Additionally, this was the second time team Ukraine won gold at Winter Olympic Games since the XVII Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994.

Ukrainian Tetiana Omelchenko won gold competing in female wrestling discipline at 2nd Golden Grand Prix de Paris Seine Ouest. Tetiana became the top wrestler among women athletes in weight category up to 60 kilograms. Additionally, Ukrainians Albina Lekhanova and Rostyslav Pervachuk won bronze at the championship. The event was held on February 8-9, 2014 in Paris, France. Contestants of 29 countries competed in three styles: female, freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.

Ukrainian biathlete Vita Semerenko won bronze at Women’s 7.5 kilometer sprint, bringing first medal to Ukraine’s Olympic team. The competition was held on the third day of the Olympic Winter Games on February 9, 2014. Ukrainian athlete outstripped 81 sportsmen and finished third.

Ukrainian sportsmen took gold in the junior relay competition, which is currently taking place in Czech Republic (January 29 – February 4, 2014). The 21st Biathlon European Championship is held in Nové Město na Moravě and features contestants from 33 countries. There are 15 competitions held throughout the tournament.

15-year-old Ganna Dmytrenko of Zaporizhzhia was able to beat the strong opponent from China – Hanging Zhao at the World Junior Championships in the French town of Mirepoix-Sur-Tarn. Ukraine’s Dmytrenko took gold in blitz draughts. The Netherlands’ Jan Groenendijk took gold in boys’ blitz category.

According to the final list of the International Luge Federation, six representatives of the sport from Ukraine will compete at the Olympic Games in 2014, reports noc-ukr.org. The results of the five stages of the World Cup held in November and December 2013 brought the Eastern European athletes the Olympic licenses.