Ukraine completes Games with 23 medals
by Peter Shmigel
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly
SYDNEY - Ukraine added to its overall medal count during the last few days of the XXVII Summer Olympics here in Australia, but gold proved elusive for Ukraine's Olympians in Sydney.
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).
Two of Ukraine's three golds were the work of individual medley swimming star Yana Klochkova, who won the 200- and 400-meter events; she earned silver in the 800-meter freestyle.
The performance by Ukraine's delegation met one of the targets set by the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine (NOCU) of 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 on the medal table, 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."
Boxers in the limelight
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. In so doing they became the main contributors to Ukraine's overall medal count at the Sydney Games. Ukraine's boxers placed in nearly half of the boxing competition's weight categories.
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. A vastly more experienced fighter, Mr. Kindelan is the current world champion.
Mr. Kotelnyk, 23, the 1999 European champion, will be bringing home Lviv's only medal of the Sydney Olympic Games.
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.
This was Mr. Dotsenko's first major appearance on the international scene. In taking the silver medal he impressed onlookers not only with his hand speed and strength, but also his sportsmanship and gentle demeanor outside the ring.
In the 51-kilogram category, Volodymyr Sydorenko took bronze behind Bulat Jumadilov of Kazakstan (silver) and Wijan Ponlid of Thailand (gold). Mr. Sydorenko lost to the eventual gold medalist from Thailand by a tight score of 14-11 in a semifinal bout.
In the 54-kilogram category, Serhii Danylchenko took bronze behind Raimkoul Malakhebov of Russia (silver) and Guillermo Ortiz Rigondeaux of Cuba (gold). In another close bout, Danylchenko lost to Malakhebov by 15-10 in their semifinal match-up.
In the 81-kilogram category, Andrii Fedchuk took bronze behind Rudolf Kraj of the Czech Republic (silver) and Alexander Lebziak of Russia (gold).
In other action in the final days of the Sydney Games, wrestler Yevhen Buslovych took a silver medal in the 58-kilogram freestyle competition. Mr. Buslovych, a 28-year-old from Kyiv, lost in the final match to Alireza Dabir of Iran, the defending world champion. American Terry Brands took the bronze medal.
Davyd Soldadze, 22, of Donetsk, took silver in the 97-kilogram category of Greco-Roman wrestling. Mr. Soldadze met the Olympic challenge by significantly improving over his 13th place finish in the 1999 World Championships in Athens. He lost his final match to Sweden's Mikael Ljundberg, the highly experienced 30-year-old European champion, by a score of 5-2 in the decider.
Mr. Soldadze, who is of Georgian background, demonstrated the significantly multicultural make-up of Ukraine's delegation.
Both the boxing and wrestling squads were among the most disciplined of Ukraine's teams at the Sydney Games. They were constantly in each other's company and together with their trainers, undertook a strong program of pre-Olympic preparation in Albury-Wodonga and were among the last arrivals at the Olympic Village.
Other medals and disappointments
On September 28, Roman Schurenko, 24, of Kyiv, leapt to a bronze medal in men's long jump with a jump of 8.31 meters. He trailed Cuba's Ivan Pedroso, who took gold on his last remaining jump of 8.55 meters over Australia's Jai Taurima, whose best jump was 8.49.
Schurenko was a surprise medalist. Indeed, he narrowly beat teammate Oleksii Lukashevych, who finished fourth with a leap of 8.36 meters. The more highly favored athlete, Mr. Lukashevych placed first at the European Indoor Championships in 1998, while Mr. Schurenko's best result thus far had been first at the European Junior Championships in 1995.
Also in the long jump pit, Inessa Kravets - the world record holder and Atlanta gold medalist in the triple jump - pulled out of a potential head-to-head competition with Marion Jones of the United States and flew back to Ukraine.
Ms. Kravets, who in 1997 suffered a 30 percent tear of the left Achilles' tendon, had been hampered by a pain in her right Achilles' tendon for several weeks leading up to the competition. A variety of tests at the Olympic Village's Polyclinic showed chronic injuries to her leg.
Some delegation members and sponsors questioned Ms. Kravets' decision to pull out. It is uncertain whether the 33-year old's elite competitive sporting career will continue.
In another medal-winning performance, the women's 470 class sailors took bronze after 11 rounds of competition in Sydney Harbor. However, Ukraine's sailing pair of Ruslana Taran and Olena Pakholchyk was highly favored before the Olympics and no doubt were disappointed with their result.
They had started the regatta ranked first, and skipper Ms. Taran had won world and European championships in 1997, 1998 and 1999. The Ukrainians were beaten by a wide margin by the gold medal-winning Australian pair (previously ranked fourth in the world) and by one sailing point by an American pair (previously ranked 13th).
Perhaps because of the strongly variable wind conditions, the Ukrainians' regatta was characterized by highs and lows. In two of the 11 races, the Taran/Pakholchyk duo finished completely out of the point system - beyond 11th place. In two others, they won first and second place.
A further disappointment was experienced by the men's 470 sailors who were defending a gold medal from Atlanta. Yevhen Braslavets and Ihor Matvienko had an even more inconsistent regatta. They finished sixth overall following several ups and downs of performance. On the one hand they finished second twice, as well as third and fourth in some qualifying races. On the other hand, they suffered more technical disqualifications than any craft in the field of 29.
Falling short of expectations
As the Olympic Games wound up, more celebrated sections of the Ukrainian delegation continued to fall short of expectations. Considered a powerhouse of the overall Ukrainian team going into the Games, the track and field squad finished the competition with only two bronze medals in Sydney.
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 Serhii 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.
In preliminary finger-pointing, some officials put the lack of performance of Ukraine's elite athletes down to Olympic pressure. Blame was placed on trainers and coaches for inadequate preparations. Some outside observers expressed their belief that the overall delegation and several of its squads appeared to lack focus and motivation, with little done to positively encourage athletes.
| COUNTRY | GOLD |
SILVER |
BRONZE |
TOTAL |
| United States | 39 |
25 |
33 |
97 |
| Russia | 32 |
28 |
28 |
88 |
| China | 28 |
16 |
15 |
59 |
| Australia | 16 |
25 |
17 |
58 |
| Gemany | 14 |
17 |
26 |
57 |
| France | 13 |
14 |
11 |
38 |
| Italy | 13 |
8 |
13 |
34 |
| Cuba | 11 |
11 |
7 |
29 |
| Great Britain | 11 |
10 |
7 |
28 |
| South Korea | 8 |
9 |
11 |
28 |
| Romania | 11 |
6 |
9 |
26 |
| Netherlands | 12 |
9 |
4 |
25 |
| Ukraine | 3 |
10 |
10 |
23 |
| Japan | 5 |
8 |
5 |
18 |
| Hungary | 8 |
6 |
3 |
17 |
| Belarus | 3 |
3 |
11 |
17 |
| Poland | 6 |
5 |
3 |
14 |
| Canada | 3 |
3 |
8 |
14 |
| Bulgaria | 5 |
6 |
2 |
13 |
| Greece | 4 |
6 |
3 |
13 |
| SPORT | GOLD |
SILVER |
BRONZE |
TOTAL |
| archery | 0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| boxing | 0 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
| cycling | 0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| diving | 0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| gymnastics | 0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| judo | 0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| sailing | 0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| shooting | 1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| swimming | 2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
| track/field | 0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| trampoline | 0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| wrestilng | 0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| TOTAL | 3 |
10 |
10 |
23 |
UKRAINE'S MEDALS AT A GLANCE
(listed by date)
September 16
September 18
September 19
September 20
September 21
September 22
September 23
September 24
September 26
September 28
September 29
October 1
TOTAL: 23 medals - 3 gold, 10 silver, 10 bronze
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, October 8, 2000, No. 41, Vol. LXVIII
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