The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 5-21 will be Ukraine’s sixth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era. In London at the 2012 Olympics, Ukraine won a total of 20 medals (six gold, five silver and nine bronze) – its lowest in Summer Olympic history since the country’s debut in 1996. Five of the medals were won in boxing, three each in athletics and sprint canoeing, and two each in fencing, shooting and weightlifting.
Ukraine is sending 203 athletes competing in 22 sporting disciplines to Rio – 35 less athletes than four years prior in London. Athletics (65), gymnastics (13), wrestling (11) and fencing (11) are the sports with the most participants. Badminton, table tennis and triathlon are three disciplines sporting only a pair of Ukrainians. Men rule in athletics, shooting and wrestling. Most popular women’s sports are athletics, synchronized swimming and gymnastics.
Some of the 2012 medalists return four years later with all entering the international competition as repeat favorites. They include fencers Yana Shemyakina and Olha Kharlan, sprint canoer Yuriy Cheban, shooter Olena Kostevych and the women’s quadruple sculls team.
Experts in the international sports scene have designated several more Ukrainians as medal favorites in Rio. Probable medalists are Oleh Vernyayev (gymnastics), Iakiv Khammo (judo), the duet of Lolita Ananasova/Anna Voloshyna (synchronized swimming), Yuliia Tkach (wrestling) and Zhan Beleniuk (Greco-Roman wrestling).
In addition, do not be surprised to see Ukraine win medals in team epée, team sabre and team synchronized swimming. A first-time qualifier and participant in synchronized swimming, Ukraine already has attained medal favorite status.
Ukraine qualifies in synchronized swimming
It was a performance that sent shock waves throughout the world of synchronized swimming. To say Ukraine made a big splash at the sport’s qualification tournament held in Rio de Janeiro in early March would be an understatement. The performance earned a fledgling nation a maximum nine athletes in a sport in which Ukraine will be making its Olympic debut.
Synchronized swimming is described as an aquatic ballet and has been an Olympic event since 1984. It is a women-only discipline with duet and team competitions.
Having previously qualified in duet, Ukraine won the team event over Japan at the Rio tournament, with the final margin of victory a scant 0.0525 points. Ukraine also won the gold medal of the entire tournament and gave notice it would be a force at the Rio Olympics.
Swimmers perform two routines, one more technically challenging based on a list of compulsory moves, and another with few restrictions, assessed solely on choreography, interpretation and skill. Duets can last 2 minutes, 20 seconds.
Performing pool-based gymnastics, teams of swimmers demonstrate choreographed moves on and under water to a musical soundtrack, with judges grading scores based on a wide range of criteria.
Olympic profile: Bohdan Bondarenko
Born August 30, 1989, in Kharkiv, Bondarenko is a high jumper with a personal best jump of 2.42 meters, a European record set on June 14, 2014, and third best all-time. He uses the Fosbury Flop technique, jumping off his right leg. In 2013 he was recognized as the European Athlete of the Year.
Bondarenko is coached by his father, Viktor. He has won seven gold medals at international competitions including the World Juniors (2008), European U-23 (2011), Universiade (2011), European Team (2013), World Championships (2013), European Championships (2014) and Continental Cup (2014).
He was a finalist at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, clearing 2.29 meters and finishing in seventh place. Six jumpers tied at 2.29 with a three-way tie for the bronze medal. Bondarenko was relegated to seventh place because he needed two tries to clear that height.
Olympic profile: Oleg Vernyayev
Born September 29, 1993, in Donetsk, Vernyayev is an artistic gymnast who is the 2014 world champion and 2014 European champion in parallel bars. He was educated at the Donetsk State Institute of Health, Physical Education and Sport and is coached by Gennady Sartynsky.
His passion for gymnastics came about early in life, when as a lively child with much energy he was channeled into gymnastics by his parents. His greatest hero is Ihor Korobchynskyi, a past world champion who is president of the Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation and the most famous Ukrainian gymnast.
Vernyayev has won nine gold medals at international competitions, including the World Championships (parallel bars, 2014), Baku Games (all-around and vault, 2015), European Sofia (parallel, 2014), Montpelier (all-around, parallel and vault, 2015), Summer Universiade (all-around and parallel bars, 2015) and Bern (vault, 2016).
He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men’s artistic team all-around (finishing fourth) and the individual all-around (11th place).
Olympic profile: Olha Saladuha
Born June 4, 1983, in Donetsk, Saladuha is a triple jumper who took up athletics at the same club as Serhiy Bubka. She was originally a sprint hurdler prior to switching to triple jumping. At age 15 she set a European age-group record of 13.32 meters. After struggling with injuries for two years and briefly retiring from the sport, she returned to win gold at the 2007 Summer Universiade with a personal best of 14.79 meters.
In late 2008 Saladuha took a year off to start a family, giving birth to a daughter, Diana. She returned in 2010, winning gold at the European Championships in Barcelona. In 2011 she set a personal best of 14.98 meters and then won gold at the 2011 Worlds in Daegu. She won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games and won two additional gold medals at the European Championships in 2012 and 2014.
Saladuha is married to Ukrainian racing cyclist Denys Kostyuk.