2000: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Ukrainian sports calendar: doings around the globe

Olympic competition was the highlight of the year 2000 in sports. To be more precise, it was the XXVII Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, held on September 15.

Four months prior to the beginning of those Games, Ukraine looked poised to match its 1996 overall performance in Atlanta, where the Ukrainian team took 23 medals, nine of them gold, and achieved a very respectable ninth place in the medal standings.

The Sydney contingent was the first Ukrainian squad whose talents had been nurtured since national independence in 1991. "These are athletes who for the most part grew up in an independent Ukraine and have received their training in the system that Ukraine has developed," said Volodymyr Kulyk, an advisor to President Leonid Kuchma and longtime member of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. The Olympic team's 239 athletes competed in 26 sports.

Although it was a youthful squad, the Sydney team had some veteran athletes to provide guidance, insight and stability. Serhii Bubka, the 36-year-old superstar pole-vaulter, who has attended more Games than almost any of the athletes who gathered in Sydney, again captained the Ukrainian team as he did in Atlanta in 1996, when he carried the Ukrainian flag into the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremonies.

Heading the Ukrainian delegation was Vasyl Zabroda, chief of mission of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine (NOCU). Mr. Zabroda is also Ukraine's vice minister for sports. The official attaché of the NOCU was Roman Dechnicz, a Sydney-based lawyer who chaired the Australian Friends of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine (AFNOCU), the local community's vehicle for supporting Ukraine's participation. The Ukrainian delegation was supported by some 30 accredited volunteers from the Ukrainian Australian community who underwent official training through the Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG).

From a Ukrainian Australian community perspective, Mr. Dechnicz noted that the level of enthusiasm among the small local community is strong. "Over the last three years our community has tried to play a positive role in terms of securing training venues, organizing pre-Olympic logistics, and providing financial and human resources. It's great to see it coming to fruition when you walk into the [Olympic] Village and see the flag flying," Mr. Dechnicz said.

On the weekend of September 8-10, the Ukrainian Australian community held a major Ukrainian Olympic Festival in Albury-Wodonga. Organized by the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations, the festival's program included an official dinner for athletes and officials, flag-raising ceremonies with municipal officials and the broader local community, cultural displays and concerts, and church services. On September 14 some 500 members of the local community greeted their Ukrainian visitors and athletes with the traditional bread and salt at the Ukrainian Youth Hall in the suburb of Lidcombe, the base of Sydney's Ukrainian Australian community, only two kilometers from Olympic Park.

Ukraine's Yana Klochkova ruled the pool on September 16 when she won Ukraine's first gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games, smashing the old world record, which had stood since 1997, and the old Olympic record, which had stood since 1980, and turning in a time of 4:33.59 in the 400-meter individual medley. Three days later the 18-year-old swimmer from Kharkiv captured Ukraine's second gold by winning the 200-meter individual medley, setting a new Olympic record with a time of 2:10.68. On September 22 she took silver in the women's 800-meter freestyle. Among Ukraine's men swimmers, Denis Sylantiev of Zaporizhia Oblast led the way with a silver medal in the 200-meter butterfly, with a time of 1:55.76.

Ukraine's men's cycling team of Oleksander Symonenko, Serhii Matveyev, Oleksander Fedenko and Serhii Cherniavskyi captured the silver medal in the team pursuit competition on September 19 with a time of 4:04.520. World champion track cyclist Iryna Yanovych won the bronze medal in the women's sprint on September 20.

In gymnastics, one of the sports in which Ukraine was expected to field strong teams, the men's squad composed of Oleksander Beresh, Oleksander Svitlychnyi, Roman Zozulia, Valerii Honcharov, Valerii Pereshkura and Ruslan Mezentsev, on September 18 won the silver medal - a medal that was particularly gratifying as it represented a victory over the Russian team, which earned the bronze. Two days later, Ukraine's top male gymnast, Mr. Beresh of Kherson Oblast, won the bronze in the individual all-around competition. Ukraine's women did not fare as well, as the team finished in sixth place.

Ukraine's third bronze of the Games came on September 20 in judo, in the men's middleweight (90 kg) group, as Ruslan Mashurenko, who hails from Volyn Oblast, tied for third place in the event with Frenchman Frederic Demontfaucon. Ukraine earned its fourth silver medal on September 21 thanks to the fine work of the archery team of Olena Sadovnycha of Kyiv Oblast, Kateryna Serdiuk of Kharkiv Oblast and Natalia Burdeina of Odesa Oblast.

Mykola Milchev of Odesa shot perfect 25s in all five rounds of the skeet shooting competition to win gold on September 23 by one shot over Petr Malek of the Czech Republic. The experienced Mr. Milchev's performance equaled the current world record for the event.

In trampoline - an event debuting at the Sydney Olympics - 27-year-old Oksana Tsyhuliova won a silver medal on September 22.

Triple jumper Olena Hovorova turned in a personal best on September 24 to win bronze in that event. Another jumper, Roman Schurenko, earned bronze in the long jump competition on September 28.

At the diving pool on September 23 longtime partners from Zaporizhia, Hanna Sorokina, 24, and Olena Zhupina, 27, took bronze in synchronized 3-meter springboard diving. The pair had previously held the title of European champions in the event.

Ukraine's Davyd Soldadze delivered silver in Greco-Roman wrestling (97 kg class) on September 26; Yevhen Buslovych took a silver medal in the 58-kilogram freestyle wrestling competition on October 1.

In sailing, where Ukraine's chances of medaling were promising, the duo of Ruslana Taran and Olena Pakholchyk won bronze in the 470 class.

Ukraine's young Olympic boxers joined the Klychko brothers, Volodymyr and Vitalii, on the world's boxing stage with a surprise haul of two silver and three bronze medals. With five medals, Ukraine's fighters surpassed all expectations and strongly improved on their previous international record, placing in nearly half of the boxing competition's weight categories. In so doing they became the main contributors to Ukraine's overall medal count at the Sydney Games.

In the 60-kilogram category, Andrii Kotelnyk made it a contest for the heavily favored Cuban boxer, Mario Kindelan, but ultimately went down by a score of 14-4 in the gold medal bout. Mr. Kotelnyk, 23, is the 1999 European champion. In the 67-kilogram category, Serhii Dotsenko fought a tenacious bout against Oleg Saitov of Russia in the gold medal decider. Ultimately, Mr. Dotsenko lost on points, 24-16, to the defending gold medalist and world champion. In the 51-kilogram category, Volodymyr Sydorenko shared the bronze with Frenchman Jerome Thomas. In the 54-kilogram category, Serhii Danylchenko took bronze in a tie with American Clarence Vinson. In the 81-kilogram category, Andrii Fedchuk took bronze jointly with Sergei Mihailov of Uzbekistan.

Team Ukraine completed the Olympics with three gold medals, 10 silver and 10 bronze, for a total of 23 medals. Boxers led the way with five medals (two silver and three bronze), followed by the swimmers with four (two gold and two silver). The performance by Ukraine's delegation met one of the targets set by the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine (NOCU): winning a total of 20 to 25 medals. However, the NOCU's other target of a top-10 finish based on gold medals was not met (the official Olympic tally is based only on gold medals, not all medals). Ukraine finished 21st overall, and the mood in the Ukrainian camp as the Olympic Games came to a close was one of general disappointment. As one official put it: "We won a reasonable number of medals, but we lost many more opportunities."

In general, Ukraine's medals at the Sydney Games were taken by rising stars, while many established athletes did not meet the test. For example, most of Ukraine's previous and current world champions - including Mr. Bubka in men's pole vault, Inga Babakova in women's high jump, Zhanna Pintusevych in women's sprint, Denys Gotfrid in weightlifting, Elbrus Tadeyev in freestyle wrestling, Olena Vitrychenko in rhythmic gymnastics and Serhii Holubytskyi in men's fencing - failed to place.

Our man in Sydney, Peter Shmigel reported:

"Beyond Yana Klochkova in the pool, Ukraine's moments of sporting glory were generally limited. Ukraine won only three gold medals, finished 21st on the official overall tally list (based on the number of gold medals won), and choked in traditionally strong sports such as track and field. And, its key contenders for placings simply did not deliver. Now Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko is publicly questioning the performance and looking for some explanations. He might well do so.

"... anybody with their eyes open at such a close distance would have noticed some characteristics peculiar to Ukraine's Olympic experience in Sydney. ... There was simply no strategy or plan for Team Ukraine. On an overall basis, or day to day, and despite the pleading of the Australian Friends of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, the management of the delegation was ad hoc and disorganized. ... There was little effort to motivate or positively reinforce the athletes. Athletes seemed to have second-class citizen status in the context of the overall delegation. Those in first class were the senior members of the administrative committee and their various cronies - many of whom trace their generally bureaucratic careers well back into the Soviet era. Athletes' concerns were summarily dismissed and their victories perfunctorily marked with a certificate and a handshake.

"... The discipline and morale levels of some teams within the delegation were low. Aside from their training sessions, many athletes drifted around aimlessly with no information and no structure from their administrators and/or trainers. Track and field particularly stood out. The opposite was true for teams such as the boxers, and their unprecedented performance tells a story. The demeanor of other national delegations - upbeat, positive and committed - served as a stark contrast. ... The primary concern of the delegation's leadership was pecuniary. Countless hours were spent by some members of the administrative committee organizing cars to head for beaches, dinners and shopping excursions. ... The few genuinely committed members of the administrative committee - who tended to be younger, educated and female - were treated poorly."

Mr. Bubka, considered the greatest pole vaulter ever, had announced in June that he would retire after the Sydney Olympics. The 36-year-old phenom had resumed full training three months prior to that, after undergoing tendon surgery for the second time in three years. Mr. Bubka said he was working hard to be in his best form for the Olympics. He won his sixth consecutive world title in 1997 after missing 10 months of competition due to an Achilles' tendon injury that has plagued him for several years.

At the conclusion of the Sydeny Games he was elected as an athlete representative to the International Olympic Committee. Polling took place during the Olympics with all participating athletes eligible to cast a ballot. As Mr. Bubka's election was announced at the closing ceremony of the Games, he and the other elected athletes were asked to march onto the main dais. The record-breaking pole vaulter's name was the first to be read during the ceremony, and the announcement was greeted with much enthusiasm.

Ukraine's soccer players also were in the news this year, but mostly for the wrong reasons. A sports "Notebook" column published on May 9 in The New York Times, headlined "From Ukraine, with skill," reported: "Practically the only exports these days from the nations of the former Soviet Union are world-class athletes. That is a situation that is not likely to change, particularly with the top club in Ukraine, Dynamo Kiev [sic]." The article went on to point out that Kyiv had already sold its international defender Oleh Luzhny to Arsenal of the English Premier League and striker Andriy Shevchenko to A.C. Milan in Italy for a $25 million transfer fee, and noted that Dynamo's top scorer, striker Serhii Rebrov, might soon wind up with Tottenham, Milan or Arsenal. Ultimately, Rebrov went to Tottenham.

Dynamo President Hryhorii Surkis told The Times: "Right now it's natural for our players to want to leave. ... For us to ever be able to import players is not so simple. I compare Ukraine to a desert where a tree finds it hard to grow. We don't only want mediocre players. A star player is like a tree, and that tree will find our country to be a desert."

In other Dynamo news, under the direction of Coach Valerii Lobanovsky, the club played extremely well in the European Champions League before being eliminated in the second round of group play. Playing against FC Bayern Munich during the Group C Champions League soccer match at the Olympic stadium in Kyiv on March 22, Kyiv won the match 2-0, but failed to reach the Champions League quarterfinals. Dynamo failed to progress from group C after Real Madrid defeated Rosenborg Trondheim to reach the last eight on the strength of a better head-to-head record against Kyiv.

"We did what we could against Bayern, but unfortunately it wasn't enough," Dynamo Assistant Coach Oleksii Mykhailychenko told Reuters. "We have been playing real well lately, taking 10 points from four matches after the winter break, but those points we lost last autumn will haunt us now."

Earlier in the year Mr. Lobanovsky, 61, former "national" team coach of the USSR in the 1970s and 1980s, had agreed in principle to manage the Ukrainian national soccer team, replacing Josef Szabo who had resigned following a loss to Slovenia in qualifying for the European Championships. The Ukrainian national team began its World Cup 2002 qualifying group matches in autumn.

The president of the Ukrainian Football Federation (UFF) Valerii Pustovoitenko announced on August 11 that he would not seek re-election when his term expired the following week. Mr. Pustovoitenko, who had resigned as prime minister of Ukraine in December 1999, faced a severe criticism in the country's media after Ukraine's failure to reach the Euro 2000 soccer finals. Mr. Surkis, the powerful boss of Dynamo Kyiv, was elected to take over the UFF reigns. Mr. Surkis, Mr. Pustovoitenko's main adversary and his chief critic, then resigned from his other position as president of the Ukrainian Professional Football League.

Two Ukrainians continued to make their mark in boxing during 2000.

World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Vitalii Klychko (or Klitschko, as his name often appears in the news media) lost his title on April 1 in a bout in Berlin against American Chris Byrd. Telecast by HBO, it was Mr. Klychko's third title defense; he entered the contest with a record of 27 knockouts in 27 fights. Byrd, the 1992 Olympic silver medalist, had a record of 31-1. Mr. Klychko stopped fighting in the 10th round of the 12-round contest after a shoulder injury became so aggravated that he could not continue.

According to the Associated Press, Mr. Klychko said: "It had pain since the third round. I hit with heavy pain." The judges, one German and two Americans, had scored Mr. Klychko as the winner of six of the nine rounds fought. But, when he dropped out, they declared Mr. Byrd the winner. Various news media reported that Mr. Klychko saw his loss as merely a temporary setback and vowed to return and regain his title once his injury has healed.

On July 15, Boxer Volodymyr Klychko - Vitalii's brother - retained his European heavyweight title by scoring a TKO over Monte Barrett in a bout in London. Mr. Klychko knocked Mr. Barrett down three times in the seventh round on the way to a technical knockout at 2:42 of that round.

Volodymyr Klychko won the WBO world heavyweight championship by beating Chrys Byrd of the United States in a bout in Cologne, Germany, on October 14. It was a victory made sweeter by the fact that Mr. Byrd had won the world champion's title over the other Klychko, Vitalii, in April.

There was news in the world of baseball, too. Thanks to Mr. Ukraine Baseball, Basil Tarasko, The Ukrainian Weekly's readers learned about the progress Ukraine's baseball teams have made this year.

The first Little League Baseball Country Championship of Ukraine was held in Kyiv on July 1-4. Teams with players age 11 and 12 were invited to compete at one of six regional sites, with the winners advancing to the finals in Kyiv. The regions were: Western Ukraine (Rivne), Northern (Sumy), Eastern (Donetsk), Crimea (Symferopol), Central (Kirovohrad) and Capital (Kyiv).

Each Little League team in Ukraine had to compete in a regional tournament; the winner of that tournament could form a regional all-star team, or the winning team could advance to the country tournament in Kyiv intact. The winning team in Kyiv would then qualify to represent Ukraine at the European Little League Championships in Poland in early August. The prize for winning the European title was an all-expense-paid trip to Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League World Series in late August.

To raise awareness of the Little League baseball program in Ukraine, the championship game was scheduled for July 4 to coincide with the American Chamber of Commerce festivities in Kyiv, and the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Steven Pifer, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Dozens of fans and parents witnessed the final game between Sumy and Kyiv. The weather cooperated, all the boys wore smiles, the sound of baseballs striking aluminum bats echoed off the apartment buildings on the left bank of Kyiv. Shouts of encouragement motivated the local Kyiv team to play harder, but the team from Sumy was just too strong that day. Final score; Sumy 17, Kyiv 8.

Thus, Team Sumy captured the first Ukraine Little League title.

Next stop: Kutno, Poland. The Sumy team traveled by bus to Poland, to represent Ukraine at the Little League Baseball European Region Tournament on August 5-14. With a 3-1 record - wins against Germany, Nigeria and England and a loss to Romania - Ukraine advanced to the quarterfinal game. The result: Ukraine 1, Poland 10. Poland advanced to the semifinals.

Ukraine finished with a record of 3-2 - just two victories short of the World Series in Williamsport, Pa., which is has now been expanded to include 16 participating teams instead of eight - as a result of which Europe is entitled to send two teams, instead of one, from its region to the World Series.

In Junior League (age 13-14) news, Ukraine sent a team from Kirovohrad to the Baseball Europe Region Tournament in Kutno, Poland, on July 28 - August 5. After defeating the Netherlands and Bulgaria, and losing to Belgium, England and Russia, Ukraine had a final record of 2-3.

Mr. Tarasko noted: "Little League baseball is growing in popularity in Ukraine. Much more equipment is needed to expand the number of participants. Many Little Leagues in the United States have sent me baseball equipment and have pledged to send even more. All donated baseball equipment is classified as humanitarian aid and is shipped directly to the National Olympic Committee in Kyiv and distributed to schools, Little League teams, National teams and, in the future, to orphanages."

Ukraine's senior national team competed in the European Championship in Slovakia, in the cities of Bratislava and Trnava on July 31-August 5.

The European Baseball Championships B Pool began in Bratislava, with Ukraine defeating Austria 5-4. In Trnava, Ukraine faced Slovenia, easily winning 12-1. Ukraine then met the host team Slovakia, in front of the largest crowd of the championships - 650. The final score was 18-11, with Ukraine the victor. Poland faced the powerful Ukrainian team in the semifinal game. Ukraine continued to dominate, quietly beating Poland 11-1. The championship game was a rematch with Austria, with Ukraine emerging victorious, 11-2.

Ukraine won this important championship, and now moves on to Bonn, Germany, next summer to compete in the European A Pool Championships. Lithuania captured third place, followed by Poland, Slovakia, Yugoslavia, Slovenia and Belarus. The top two finishers in A Pool competition qualify for the next Olympic games.

At the closing ceremonies in Trnava, the Ukrainian national anthem was heard, reminding all that Ukraine was the champion. Ukraine was awarded five out of nine individual awards: Roman Yatsuk, best pitcher, based on wins/losses record; Ihor Chornomaz, most valuable player of the tournament; Vasyl Antoshko, most runs batted in; Mykola Taran, most home runs; and Konstantyn Tarasenko, most runs scored.

Ukrainians in professional hockey during the year 2000 can best be summed up as a continuing work in progress. Despite diminished scoring and the retirement of the NHL's most prolific superstar, Wayne Gretzky, the New Jersey Devils, with veteran Ken Daneyko, capped off an exciting playoff chase by capturing another Stanley Cup.

Some 29 players of Ukrainian descent skated on NHL rinks during both the 1999-2000 and current 2000-2001 seasons. Another 124 pucksters of Ukrainian origin toiled away in professional hockey's seven minor league circuits. To top it all off, the "Great One" proved hockey is truly in his blood when he assumed part ownership of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Work in progress? Witness Mr. Daneyko, two-time Stanley Cup champ with the Devils. Speaking with The Hockey News, Mr. Daneyko said: "I had my best season at age 34. I've had a long career and I know what I bring to a team. I feel confident that I'm a better player at this age."

Ukes making progress as professional rink rats? We have our share of proven NHL All-Stars like Keith Tkachuk and Peter Bondra, and up-and-comers Oleg Tvedovsky and Denis Shvidki. Down on the farm, from Maine to Alaska, the roster of Ukrainians spans the full alphabet: from A (Alex Alexeev) to Z (Darius Zabawa). In between there is a Boh (Aaron), someone Dowhy (Steve), another Gretzky (baby brother Brent), a Huska (Ryan), a Lylyk (David), a Metropolit (Glen), and even a Mucha (Roman).

At the recent league meetings the NHL's Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to a group that includes Wayne Gretzky. Real estate developer Steve Ellman and Gretzky have until February 15 to close their $7 million purchase. Among Gretzky's responsibilities will be player personnel decisions and marketing the team.

Sounds like progress on and off the ice!

In other sports news:

• Wayne Gretzky, the soft-spoken superstar who rewrote the NHL's record book (it takes a page and a half in the NHL Record Book 2000 just to list all his records), and who is Ukrainian on his father's side, was in both hockey and philatelic news this year. As the NHL celebrated its 50th All Star Game in Toronto (the site of the first such contest), on February 5, the day before the game, Canada Post issued a special souvenir sheet that depicted six of the sport's greatest players, living and past. The men honored were: Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard, Doug Harvey, Bobby Orr and Jacques Plante. Round-action vignettes of each of the players appear on square stamps (each denominated 46 cents) in the center of the souvenir sheet. Each stamp is flanked by a portrait of the player. A set of three first-day covers was also prepared for the occasion. Gretzky's stamp appears with that of Gordie Howe, Mr. Gretzky's boyhood idol. The two men also appear on the cachet portion of the cover. It was Mr. Howe's many records that Wayne Gretzky spent his career chasing; in most cases he was able to break the established benchmarks. In all, Mr. Gretzky retired holding or sharing 61 records: 40 for the regular season, 15 for the Stanley Cup championship playoffs, and six for the All Star Game.
  
  
• Olympic champions in figure skating Oksana Baiul and Victor Petrenko - still identified as being athletes from Ukraine though both now live and train in the United Sates - and the specialty comedy duo of Vladimir Besein and Oleksiy Polischuk of Kyiv added their superb talents to the John Hancock Champions on Ice Summer Tour 2000 that covered 34 cities between April 6 and May 27. (Stay tuned for some wonderful news about Ms. Baiul and Mr. Petrenko in 2001.)
  
  
• Ukraine's figure skaters placed no higher than seventh at the 2000 World Figure Skating Championships held in late March/early April in Nice, France. Closest to the top in final standings among the championship's four groups - women, men, pairs and ice dancers - were Ukraine's ice dancers Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov, who came in seventh. In the men's group, the best Ukraine could do was 13th place, earned by Vitali Danilchenko. Dmitri Dmitrenko came in 15th. Among women, Elena Liashenko of Ukraine finished 10th and teammate Galina Maniachenko was 21st.
  
  
• At the Women's European Artistic Gymnastics Championships that concluded in Paris on May 14, the Ukrainian national team under head coach Oleg Ostapenko finished second after the Russian team and ahead of world champions Romania. Ukraine's Viktoria Karpenko, considered a leading contender for a medal in Sydney Olympics, won silver in the beam and floor exercises.
  
  
• At the DN-Galan track and field meet in Stockholm in August, three Ukrainian women won medals in their respective events: Zhanna Pintusevych Blok took silver in the 100-meter dash, finishing behind Marion Jones; Inga Babakova took silver in the high jump, coming in second to Kajsa Berzvist of Sweden; and Anzhela Balakhanova won gold in the pole vault, beating Stacy Dragila of the United States.
  
  
• Stanislav Medvedenko, a 6-foot-10-inch forward and member of the Ukrainian National Basketball Team since 1998, signed a contract on August 15, with the Los Angeles Lakers. Mr. Medvedenko, 21, will become the third Ukrainian player in the NBA, according to the Eastern Economist. He has played pro basketball in Ukraine and Lithuania.
  
  
• In November, VeloNews reported on the 2000 World Road Championships held in Plouay, France. The winner: Serhii Honchar, 30, of Ukraine who took home the gold medal with a decisive win over Germany's Michael Rich. Honchar, 30, trains in Italy.
  
  
• The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said on December 1 that it had granted Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko European Union status after heeding an appeal from his club, AC Milan. Mr. Shevchenko has a Ukrainian passport but has been seeking European Union legal status since he arrived in Italy from Dynamo Kyiv at the start of last season. Milan made an appeal on his behalf on the basis of an accord between the governments of Italy and Ukraine. Shevchenko had said that he felt like a second-class citizen in Italy, where clubs are allowed only five non-EU players on their books and a maximum of three non-EU players on the pitch at any one time.
  
  
• Olympic champion swimmer Yana Klochkova continued her domination of her signature event - the individual medley - as on December 18 she won the 400-meter medley with a time of 4:35.11 at the European swimming championships in Spain.
  
  
• In late December it was announced that Milan's Andriy Shevchenko had finished third in the annual poll by France Football to determine the European Player of the Year 2000. A delighted Mr. Shevchenko said that "I am happy to be third for the second time in a row. Objectively, I couldn't hope to win as Ukraine didn't qualify for Euro 2000, and goals for Milan are not enough. Can I win it in 2001? First, I should help my national team to reach the World Cup finals and should help Milan to win the scudetto or the Champions League." Luis Figo of Real Madrid won first place and France's Zinedine Zidane came second.

Sports in the diaspora

In terms of diaspora sports, the year 2000 also saw Olympic competition - at the 2000 Ukrainian Diaspora Olympiad held July 1-4 in the Philadelphia area, at and near the resort of the Tryzub Ukrainian American Sports Center.

Nearly 500 athletes - ranging in age from elementary school kids to seniors - competed in six sports at and near "Tryzubivka."

The participating organizations included the sports clubs Tryzub-Philadelphia, Chornomorska Sitch-Newark, N.J., Levy (Lions)-Chicago, Chernyk-Detroit, Lviv-Cleveland, Ukrainian Sports Club-New York, Ukraina-Toronto and the Ukrainian Soccer Club-Yonkers, N.Y., as well as the Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization. In addition, many independent athletes also competed in individual sports events.

The largest number of athletes - nearly 250 - were registered for the soccer events, which encompassed myriad groups from kids under age 7 to adults over age 30. The next most popular sport in terms of the number of registrants was volleyball. Other sports included swimming, tennis, golf and chess.

The Ukrainian Diaspora Olympiad's events went beyond sports to include a banquet on Saturday evening, July 1, at which the keynote speaker was Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Mykola Zhulynskyi, who brought greetings to the historic sports gathering from President Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko. Dr. Zhulynskyi also presented a certificate of recognition issued by the government of Ukraine to Ihor Chyzowych, president of the Tryzub sports club, who served as chairman of the committee that organized the Ukrainian Diaspora Olympiad 2000.

During the course of the four-day event Olympiad participants also had an opportunity to relax and socialize at a dance held on the evening of Sunday, July 2. Several performances during the course of the long holiday weekend featured the artistry of the Syzokryli and Voloshky dance troupes, as well as the Oberehy and Lviviany music ensembles.

The Ukrainian Diaspora Olympiad 2000 was the third such mega-meet organized by Ukrainian sports enthusiasts of North America. It is notable that all three were held in the Philadelphia area.

The First Ukrainian American Olympiad, as it was billed, was held in 1936 on Labor Day in Philadelphia. Representatives of various youth clubs in Philadelphia formed an organizing committee to plan and conduct this sports gathering to be held in conjunction with the Fourth Ukrainian Youth Congress. More than 150 Ukrainian youths competed; also participating as guest competitors were some 100 non-Ukrainian athletes.

The second games, dubbed the Ukrainian American Millennium Olympiad and Youth Rally, took place over the Memorial Day weekend in 1988. The Olympiad was held in cooperation with the National Committee to Commemorate the Millennium of Christianity in Ukraine and under the sponsorship of the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. and Canada. More than 700 athletes participated in diverse sports events.

• The annual ski races of the Carpathian Ski Club (KLK) were held at Ski Windham on March 11. Fifty-six racers from six different states and one from Ukraine competed on the NASTAR-sanctioned course. The races were held at Ski Windham in the Catskills in New York, while the awards banquet was held at nearby Hunter Mountain. Trophies were awarded for the top three places in the six youth divisions. Medals were awarded for all older age brackets.
  
  In addition to these awards, two special trophies were awarded. The transitional trophy, presented to the best all-around skier posting the best time among all age groups and sexes (skiers cannot win this trophy more than once) this year was awarded to Severin B. Palydowycz, who turned in a time of 30.68 in the men's age 35-49 group. A special trophy was awarded to Dr. Valeriy Hrebeniuk, consul at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, who competed in this year's races.
  
  
• In the world of Ukrainian tennis, Lesia Bilak, a native of Uzhhorod who arrived in the United States seven years ago to pursue her studies, retained the title of women's national champion at the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. and Canada (USCAK) tennis tournament held over the Labor Day weekend at Soyuzivka in Kerhonkson, N.Y. Ms. Bilak defeated Anne-Marie Shumsky.
  
  In the men's division Andriy Samets of Ukraine, competing for the first time at Soyuzivka, took the men's title by defeating the 1999 champion, Dennis Chorny. In the senior men's group of players over age 35, Dr. George Charuk earned the title with his victory over Adrian Kutko, while among senior men over age 55, George Sawchak succeeded in defending his title by defeating George Petrykewych. In the older senior men's group, Jaroslaw Tymkiw took home the championship trophy by defeating Bohdan Kutko; he also earned the Mary Dushnyck Sportsmanship Trophy.
  
  
• At the 44th consecutive USCAK swimming championships held at Soyuzivka on September 2, the Chornomorska Sitch team established a new record by winning the USCAK club championship for the 17th time out of 44. The Tryzub team, which can boast of eight USCAK championships, became the club vice-champions for 2000. The All-Star teams of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) and Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization, came in third and fourth, respectively. Competition was held from swimmers in several age groups, ranging from age 10 and under to age 10 and over.
  
  
• For the third year in a row Soyuzivka presented an opportunity for golfers to display their competitiveness in the hills of the Catskills of New York State. Golfers came from Canada, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts and, for the first time, from Kyiv, to compete in the four-day event held August 28-September 1 at course in the vicinity of the Ukrainian National Association's resort. Winners of team prizes included: team net - Ihor Zwarycz and Andrej Olexy; team gross - Alex Popovich and Dr. Andy Kuchtaruk; and Blue Ball - foursome of Taras Jaworsky, Paul Masny, Bohdan Puzyk and Dr. Yurij Charuk. Among individual prizes awarded were: low net - Mr. Zwarycz; and low gross - Mr. Popovich.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 7, 2001, No. 1, Vol. LXIX

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