EDITORIAL: Olympic moments (08/04/96)

EDITORIAL

Olympic moments

As of August 1, Ukraine had seven gold medals, two silver and seven bronze, earning ninth place (tied with Cuba) in terms of the number of medals won at the Summer Games. [For the record, the top eight countries in terms of medals standing were United States, 72; Russia, 45; Germany, 43; China, 41; Australia, 34, France, 33; Italy, 26; Canada, 17. In 10th place were South Korea and Romania with 15 medals each.] Not bad for a state that has been independent for just short of five years and one that is competing independently for the first time in the history of the Summer Olympic Games.

Ukraine's debut in the Summer Games already has been marked by precious Olympic moments that will go down in history. Some of them, we saw on TV. Others are documented in this and the previous issue of The Weekly.

It all began with proud Sergey Bubka carrying the Ukrainian blue-and-yellow flag into the Olympic Stadium followed by the large contingent of Ukraine's athletes. And, in the first 12 days of competition, the determined Liliya Podkopayeva, a powerful and graceful athlete, proved to the world why she is the world champion in women's gymnastics. During the same period, Timur Taimazov set a new world and Olympic record in weightlifting, Inessa Kravets took gold in the triple jump, Rustam Sharipov was golden in the men's parallel bars, and the men's duo of Yevhen Braslavets and Ihor Matviyenko sailed into first place in the 470 class in yachting. And there were others who will go home to Ukraine with silver and bronze medals; and many others who will return knowing they did their best against the world's best in Olympic competition.

Perhaps the most significant medal was Vyacheslav Oliynyk's win in wrestling, as it was Ukraine's first gold in these Games and independent Ukraine's first gold in Summer Olympic history. When asked by our staff editor Roman Woronowycz (who is on special assignment at the Olympics) about his future plans, Ukraine's first champion said: " ... I will not turn my back on this sport. No way. If I do not become a trainer, then at least I will support young talent financially - those kids who have a difficult life, just as mine was difficult."

Such idealistic words coming from an athlete like Vyacheslav Oliynyk portend that Ukraine's Olympic future will be brighter still.

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A postscript: The photo above shows an Olympic moment we could not enjoy. Oleksander Bahach (left) bronze medalist in the shot put, shares the winners' pedestal with Americans Randy Barnes and John Godina. He did not share the NBC spotlight, however, as the unabashedly jingoistic network's cameras focused in on the two Americans, leaving Bahach out of the picture. Was there no room for Bahach on our TV screens?

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