1995: THE YEAR IN REVIEW: Ukrainians in sports: a pre-Olympic year (12/31/95)

1995: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Ukrainians in sports: a pre-Olympic year

Olympic champion figure skater Oksana Baiul and pole vaulter Sergei Bubka, Ukraine's two most prominent athletes, continued to make world headlines in 1995.

Mr. Bubka first did so in February when he dominated sports headlines in the New York area with his appearance at the Millrose Games in Madison Square Garden. The normally unbeatable star was very human, coming in second to Russian Igor Trandenkov. He resurrected at the World Championships in Goteberg, Sweden, held August 6 to 13, winning the pole vault after clearing 19 feet, 8.75 inches. Also taking medals were Inessa Kravets, with a gold in the triple jump, and Inga Babakova, who took a bronze in the high jump

Meanwhile, Ms. Baiul decided that the allure of dollars was stronger than that of Olympic gold and announced on April 3 she would remain professional, thereby disqualifying her from the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. Ms. Baiul said she preferred "the special artistic freedom" she was enjoying as a professional.

In New Haven, Conn., what occurred during the week of July 1-9 was more special than any triple salchow on ice or 20-foot pole vault could ever hope to be - 12 handicapped athletes from Ukraine won a host of medals while competing for the first time in the Special Olympics.

After torch ceremonies, a parade down Main Street and the associated hoopla, they maintained their stamina to run, jump and thrust, and capture seven gold, 10 silver and six bronze medals, along with over a dozen ribbons. They joined more than 7,000 athletes from 139 countries.

At the other Olympic Games, scheduled for July of 1996 in Atlanta, close to 200 athletes from Ukraine are scheduled to compete in events ranging from boxing to synchronized swimming.

The road to Atlanta started for the Ukrainian team an hour's drive west of the city, where some folks decided early on that they have the wherewithal and the desire to become part of the Ukrainian Olympic movement.

The town of Carrollton has put its mark on the map. With Laryssa Barabash-Temple from Atlanta, who is the U.S. representative of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine coordinating the effort, the "Carroll '96" committee was formed. Carroll Chamber of Commerce President J. Thomas Vance explained that the Ukrainian contingent fell into their lap. "We knew they were available. We knew they had good athletes, and competitive teams," he said. "But the bonus was that they were an emerging team from Eastern Europe."

That team trained around West Georgia College in Carrollton during the summer and fall to acclimatize and prepare for the Atlanta Games, which will celebrate 100 years of Olympic competition. The group has numerous stars and hopefuls, including, of course, Mr. Bubka, pole vaulter par excellence.

The Atlanta Journal labeled them: "a dark horse to finish in the top three... [that] produces medal-winners like Florida turns out football players."

That would be Lilia Pidkopayeva, on top of the world in gymnastics, weightlifter Timur Taimazov, super heavyweight class champion, track star Ms. Kravets, world champion in the triple jump, Ms. Babakova, bronze medalist in the high jump, Kateryna Serebrianska, golden in rhythmic gymnastics, and an assorted cast of rowers, yachtsmen, boxers...

...And 1995 World Short Course Swimming champion Svitlana Bondarenko, who took it all in Rio de Janeiro, repeating her performance in the European championships.

In addition a team of researchers was with the athletes in Carrollton studying their performances in their new environment to assure that they are their peak for next year's Games.

To help the Ukrainians with finances, the Regional Olympic Committee of Philadelphia hosted a pre-Olympic Sports Jamboree in conjunction with the Tryzub Ukrainian Sports Center on May 27-29 in Horsham, Pa.

More than 1,500 people watched close to 350 participants from around the United States and Canada compete in soccer, volleyball, tennis and golf, raising approximately $10,000 for the Ukrainian Olympic Committee.

Baseball also got some attention in the world of Ukrainian sports in 1995. Not yet Olympic champions but ever hopeful, a team of Abner Doubledays is awaiting its day while steadfastly preparing. Led by Basil Tarasko, who hails from New York (no not Cooperstown), the team of enthusiasts is making its way through the European circuit.

After winning the European Senior Championship in Group B in 1994, the team was thrust upward to the A gouping, where the sluggers succumbed to about everybody with a stick and a ball, placing ninth in a 10-team competition. Mr. Tarasko jokingly lamented, "I already had fantasies about Hollywood contracts, telling the story of Team Ukraine, the underdog going to the Olympics."

Legendary soccer club Kyiv Dynamo did not have to deal with delusions of grandeur in 1995 - only officials and fur. The team was banned from all European competition for three years for allegedly bribing a referee to fix its match with a club from Greece. The Union of European Football Association said the coach bribed a referee by sticking $30,000 worth of furs in his hotel room before a match of the UEFA Champions League. "We have clean hands," said Dynamo Club President Hryhoriy Surkis. Nonetheless the team was replaced by a Danish team.

Greg Rusedski also stirred up a few people when he returned to his country of birth for the Canadian Open at the end of July, after having done well at Wimbledon, where he went to the quarterfinals before bowing to Pete Sampras, the eventual winner. The Canadian of Ukrainian descent, who as a teen had played at the Ukrainian National Association's estate, Soyuzivka, on several Labor Days during tournaments sponsored by the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. and Canada, had forsaken his Canuck passport and had become a Brit, which caused consternation for some Canadians. At Soyuzivka he'd had other problems: he never made it past the semi-final round.

On February 10 the Montrealer, while playing Michael Chang, unleashed a 132 m.p.h. serve, the fastest ever recorded on the men's tour of the Association of Tennis Professionals.

Another Ukrainian Canadian, Terry Evanshen, a Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductee, was honored on November 30 by the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry Foundation of Toronto with the "Courage to Comeback Award." The award honors individuals from Ontario "who triumph over illness, injury or addiction and use the experience gained during the recovery to help others."

Mr. Evanshen, who lost most of his memory and suffered serious internal injuries in an automobile accident in 1988, has since then led a determined struggle to recover and has become a public speaker for the disabled.

Mr. Evanshen spent 14 years in the Canadian Football League from 1965 to 1978 with teams from Montreal, Calgary, Hamilton and Toronto. The wide receiver known as the "Flea" was twice honored as the league's most outstanding Canadian player.

A regular column by Ihor Stelmach, Ukrainian Pro Hockey Update, kept track of the accomplishments of dozens of Ukrainians in the National Hockey League, including such standouts as Ken Daneyko, captain of 1995 Stanley Cup winners, the New Jersey Devils; Peter Bondra, born in Lutske, Ukraine, who emerged as a top goal scorer; seasoned pros Dave Andreychuk, Dale Hawerchuk, Mike Krushelnytsky and the Great One, Wayne Gretzky. Thirty-three players of Ukrainian origin skated in the NHL in 1994-1995, which grew to 57 by the beginning of the 1995-1996 season.

A team of amateurs from Ukraine experienced some success at the World Junior Hockey Championships held December 26, 1994, to January 4, 1995, in western Canada, when they stunned Team USA 3-2. Their success was fleeting, getting blasted in the same series by the Czech Republic, 10-1, and by Canada 7-1. It could have been worse for those the Canadian press dubbed "Team Poverty" if not for the Ukrainian goalie, Ihor Karpenko, who regularly handled 50 to 60 shots per game, keeping his team competitive.

In other sports news, ex-boxer Viktor Lietkewycz, known in the ring as Vic Diamond, was inducted on May 21 into the Boxing Hall of Fame "for his distinctive ring record, and because of the credit he brought to the sport of boxing." Mr. Lietkewycz grew up in Kharkiv and made his home in Philadelphia after emigrating to the United States.

Kickboxer Danylo Cupko lead the Ukrainian team with a gold medal in its first time visit to Canada on September 14-17. Six other team members also took home medals.

Finally, Ukraine participated for the first time as an independent state in the World Orienteering Championships held in Detmold, Germany, on August 15-20. Yuri Omelchenko took home the gold in the men's short course event.

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