Preparations for Sydney Games in final phase (09/10/00)

Preparations for Sydney Games in final phase

by Peter Shmigel
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

SYDNEY - Ukraine's athletes, officials and Ukrainian Australian community volunteers this week entered the last phase of preparations for the Sydney 2000 Games, as some 70 participants moved into the Olympic Village and draped their quarters with the blue and yellow.

As the rest of Ukraine's Olympic delegation arrives in the Olympic Village over the coming week, Ukraine will have 239 athletes and approximately 150 accredited officials. Ukrainian athletes will be competing in 26 separate sports, mostly in individual disciplines.

Coming up to the opening ceremony on September 15, many of Ukraine's athletes continue training outside the main Olympic precinct, including rowers based near their competition venue in western Sydney, a large group of track and field athletes, cyclists and swimmers based in Albury-Wodonga, sailors based in Sydney Harbor, and gymnasts, divers and trampolinists based in Melbourne.

Heading the Ukrainian delegation is 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 is Roman Dechnicz, a Sydney-based lawyer who is also the chairman of the Australian Friends of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine (AFNOCU), the local community's vehicle for supporting Ukraine's participation.

The Ukrainian delegation will be supported by some 30 accredited volunteers from the Ukrainian Australian community who have undergone official training through the Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) over the last year.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko is currently scheduled to make an appearance at the Sydney 2000 Games. His visit would be the highest level official presence that Ukraine has had in Australia since Ukraine's independence in 1991. Leaders of Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Kharkiv oblasts also are expected to attend parts of the Sydney 2000 Games, as their oblasts' residents are the most numerous in the Ukrainian contingent.

Mr. Zabroda commented that he is satisfied with Ukraine's level of preparation for the Sydney 2000 Games and hopeful that Ukraine could at least repeat its performance in Atlanta, where the team earned nine gold medals

"To the extent that our resources have allowed it, we have done everything possible to give our athletes the opportunity to succeed here in Sydney. Obviously, this has not been easy in the context of Ukraine's pressing economic problems, but the government has been continuously committed," Mr. Zabroda said.

"We have no specific targets for our participation. Indeed, in light of our resources and the fact that there are so many other pressing questions in Ukraine, the only goal is to be truly competitive," Mr. Zabroda added.

"The current challenge is to manage the masses of information and logistical issues associated with the early days of the Olympic Games. We need to do everything we can to ensure the fundamentals are in place in terms of training sessions, transport, accommodations, catering and other matters for the athletes. At the same time, we need to fulfill our responsibilities to the local community, the people and government of Ukraine, and the Olympic movement," Mr. Zabroda explained.

Seasoned hands from past Ukrainian and Soviet participation in Olympic Games noted that Sydney's Olympic Village is easily the best ever and that preparations look very thorough.

Beyond training, the Ukrainian delegation has begun to settle into the patterns of Olympic Village life - getting haircuts, figuring out how to work mobile phones, flirting with the scores of Australian volunteers, sourcing cured herrings to supplement the village diet, and finding out, not just the best routes to training venues, but also to petting zoos for kangaroos and koalas.

From a Ukrainian Australian community perspective, Mr. Dechnicz noted that the level of enthusiasm among the small local community is strong - and that this is reflected in the funds raised and volunteers recruited.

"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.

The Ukrainian team also has sponsorship support from Coca-Cola, Adidas, Samsung and telecommunications providers in Ukraine.

As athletes focus on their training, two major events will take place before the opening ceremonies of the Sydney 2000 Games on September 15. On the weekend of September 8-10, the Ukrainian Australian community will be holding a major Ukrainian Olympic Festival in Albury-Wodonga, a provincial city halfway between Sydney and Melbourne that has been the key pre-Games training base for many of Ukraine's elite sportspeople.

Organized by the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations, the festival's program will include an official dinner attended by 30 athletes and officials, flag-raising ceremonies with municipal officials and the broader local community, cultural displays and concerts, and church services. Attendance by more than 5,000 of Australia's total 25,000 Ukrainians is hoped for and expected.

On September 13, Ukraine's delegation will be welcomed to the Olympic Village by its mayor. It is expected that Prime Minister Yuschenko will be flying in for this ceremony when Ukraine's flag is formally raised for the first time at the Sydney 2000 Games. Mr. Yuschenko will remain in Australia to represent Ukraine at the opening ceremonies of the Games.

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