SPORTSLINE (01/18/04)

SPORTSLINE

Figure skating

Ukraine's Olena Liashenko took first place in the women's event at the Cup of Russia Grand Prix in Moscow on November 20, 2003, while her teammate Halyna Maniachenko took third place. Italy's Carolina Kostner took second place.

Liashenko then took fourth place at an International Skating Union Grand Prix event in Colorado Springs, Colo., on December 14, 2003. Japan's Fumie Suguri took first place, while teammate Shizuka Arakawa took third place. Sasha Cohen of the United States took second place.

In the ice dancing competition, Ukraine's Olena Hrushyna and Ruslan Honcharov took fourth place, while Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the United States took third place. Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov of Russia won the event, while Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski of Bulgaria took second place.

Football

University of Oregon defensive lineman and native of Ukraine Igor Olshansky announced on January 9 that he would skip his senior season in order to enter the National Football League draft, according to a press statement posted on the school's football website.

According to the university, the 6-foot-6-inch, 305-pound Olshansky was born in Dnipropetrovsk on May 3, 1982. He ranked fifth at the University of Oregon with 58 tackles, 40 unassisted, last season. He led the Ducks with three fumble recoveries and was ranked second on the team and eighth in the Pac-10 football conference with 15 tackles for losses.

"I feel I am ready for the next challenge," the university press release quoted Olshansky as saying.

"I especially will miss my many Oregon fans, whose chants of 'Igor, Igor,' spurred me on," he said. "Hopefully with the coaching I've received at Oregon, the hard work and determination, I will hear those chants again at some distant city."

During his career at Oregon, Olshansky had 146 tackles, one interception and three blocked kicks.

Biathlon

Ukraine's Andrii Deryzemlia took 16th place in the men's 12.5-kilometer pursuit event at a World Cup event held in Pokljuka, Slovenia, on January 7-11. Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen took first place, finishing the race in 36 minutes and 18.88 seconds, while Russia's Nikolai Krouglov took second place with a time of 36:25.14. Fellow Russian Sergei Tchepikov took third place in the race with a time of 36:30.34, while Deryzemlia finished the race in 37:49.21. Ukraine's Ruslan Lysenko took 35th place in the race with a time of 40:07.45, and his teammate Viacheslav Derkach took 36th place, finishing the race in 40:15.80.

On the women's side, Oksana Yakovleva of Ukraine took 28th place in the 10-kilometer pursuit, finishing the race in 34 minutes and 55.39 seconds. Germany's Uschi Disl won the race with a time of 30:23.44, and Sandrine Bailly of France took second place with a time of 31:14.16. Russia's Olga Pyleva took third place with a time of 31:14.19.

Ukraine's Derkach then took the 18th spot in the men's 10-kilometer sprint, finishing the race in 25:30.2, while teammate Deryzemlia took the 19th spot with a time of 25:35.6. France's Raphael Poiree took first place with a time of 24:13.6, and Norway's Bjoerndalen took second place with a time of 24:22.5. Vladimir Dratchev of Belarus took third place with a time of 24:34.3. Ukraine's Lysenko took the 32nd spot in the event with a time of 26:01.5, and teammate Alexiy Korobeinikov took 47th place with a time of 26:26.8. Roman Pryma of Ukraine finished the race in 71st place with a time of 27:22.4.

In the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint, Ukraine's Yakovleva took 18th place with a time of 24:00.2, and Lilia Efremova of Ukraine took 52nd place with a time of 25:31.1. Norway's Liv Grete Poiree took first place with a time of 22:32.6, and Germany's Disl took second place with a time of 22:38.3. Frances' Bailly took third place with a time of 22:43.9. Ukraine's Iryna Tananaiko took 65th place with a time of 26:29.5, and teammate Tatiana Lytovchenko took 72nd place with a time of 27:30.1.

Cross country running

Ukraine's Serhii Lebid won the European Cross Country Championships in Holyrood Park, Scotland, on December 14, 2003. Lebid led the entire 10-kilometer race, finishing in 30 minutes and 47 seconds. Juan Carlos De La Ossa took second place with a time of 31:08, while Portugal's Eduardo Henriques took third place with a time of 31:15.

Yevhen Bozhko of Ukraine took fifth place with a time of 31:19, and teammate Vitalii Shafar took 58th place with a time of 33:13.

Weightlifting

Ukraine's Natalia Skakun won the women's combined event in the 63-kilogram weight class competition at the 2003 World Weight Lifting Championships in Vancouver held on November 14-22. China's Xia Liu took second place, while Hanna Batsiushka of Belarus took third place in the competition. The combined event is composed of clean and jerk as well as snatch weightlifting techniques. Skakun's clean and jerk lift of 138 kilograms (roughly 304 pounds) on November 18, 2003, in that competition set a new world record.

In the men's over 105-kilogram combined category, Ukraine's Artem Udachyn took second place, while Hossein Reza Zadeh of Iran took first place. Velichko Cholakov of Belarus took third place and Oleksii Kolokoltsev of Ukraine took sixth.

In the men's 62-kilogram combined category, Ukraine's Oleksander Lykhvald took eighth place, and Henadzi Aliashchuk of Belarus took third place. Turkey's Halil Mutlu won the event, while China's Zhiyong Shi took second place.

Ukrainian Oleksander Cherpak took sixth place in the men's 77-kilogram combined competition, while Iran's Falahati Mohammad Nejad took first place. Gevorg Davtyan of Armenia took second place, and Reyhan Arabacioglu of Turkey took third place.

Oleksii Petrov of Ukraine took 12th place in the men's 85-kilogram combined category, while Valeriu Calancea of Romania took first place. Aijun Yuan of China took second place, and Sergo Chakhoyan of Austria took third place.

In the men's 94-kilogram combined competition, Ukraine's Valeriy Pokrivchak took 11th place, while Milen Dobrev of Bulgaria took first place. Hakan Yilmaz of Turkey took second place, and Vadim Vakarciuc of Moldova took third place.

In the women's 58-kilogram combined competition, Ukraine's Svitlana Kokhanenko took 15th place, while China's Caiyan Sun took first place. Indonesia's Patma Wati took second place, and Turkey's Aylin Dasdelen took third place.

In the women's 69-kilogram combined category, Vanda Maslovska of Ukraine took seventh place, while Chunhong Liu of China took first place. Eszter Krutzler of Hungary took second place, and Valentina Popova of Russia took third place.

In the women's 75-kilogram combined competition, Ukraine's Nadia Shamanska took eighth place, while China's Shichun Shang took first place and set a new world record in the event with a combined total lift of roughly 601 pounds (264 pounds in the snatch and 337 pounds in the clean and jerk). Nahla Ramadan of Egypt took second place, and Slaveyka Ruzhinska of Bulgaria took third place. Kateryna Bilyk of Ukraine took 15th place.

In the women's over 75-kilogram combined category, Olha Korobka of Ukraine took third place, while China's Ding Meiyuan set a new world record and captured the gold medal in the event with her lift of 303 pounds in the clean and jerk. Russia's Albina Khomich took second place, and Ukraine's Viktoria Shaymardanova took eighth place.

Swimming

Ukraine's Oleh Lysohor took first place in the men's 50-meter breaststroke at the European Short Course Championships held in Dublin, Ireland, on December 11-14, 2003. Lysohor finished the race in 26.89 seconds, while Sweden's Remo Luetolf took second place with a time of 27.02. Mark Warnecke of Germany took third place with a time of 27.03.

Viacheslav Shyrsov of Ukraine took second place in the men's 50-meter backstroke on December 12, finishing the race in 24.16 seconds. Thomas Rupprath of Germany took first place with a time of 23.71, and fellow German Toni Helbig took third place with a time of 24.19.

Andrii Serdinov of Ukraine took third place in the men's 50-meter butterfly on December 14, finishing the race in 23.44 seconds. Mark Foster of Great Britain won the event with a time of 23.22, and Alexei Puninski of Croatia took second place with a time of 23.40.

In the men's 100-meter freestyle on December 13, Yuriy Yegoshin of Ukraine took fifth place with a time of 47.95, while Christian Galenda of Italy took third place with a time of 47.77. Pieter Hoogenband of the Netherlands won the event with a time of 46.81, and Filippo Magnini of Italy took second place with a time of 47.32.

Lysohor then took second place in the men's 100-meter breaststroke on December 12, finishing the race in 58.42. James Gibson of Great Britain won the event and set a new course record with a time of 58.03. His teammate Darren Mew took third place with a time of 58.78.

Ukraine's Serdinov then took a second bronze medal, this time in the 100-meter butterfly on December 12, finishing the race in 50.88 seconds. Serbia and Montenegro's Milorad Cavic took first place and set a new world record with his time of 50.02, and Germany's Rupprath took second place with a time of 50.43.

In the men's 4x50-meter freestyle relay on December 14, the Ukrainian team of Lysohor, Yegoshin, Shyrsov and Oleksander Volynets took third place with a time of 1 minute and 26.30 seconds. The Netherlands took first place and set a new world record with a time of 1:25.55, while Germany took second place with a time of 1:26.26.

Ukraine's Iryna Amshennikova took third place in the women's 200-meter backstroke on December 14, finishing the race in 2 minutes and 6.51 seconds. Antje Buschshulte of Germany took first place with a time of 2:04.23, and Stanislava Komarova of Russia took second place with a time of 2:05.42.

Amshennikova also took seventh place in the women's 100-meter backstroke on December 12, finishing in 59.28 seconds. Germany's Buschschulte took first place with a time of 58.40, and Ilona Hlavackova of the Czech Republic took second place with a time of 58.72. Laure Manaudou of France took third place with a time of 58.99.

- compiled by Andrew Nynka

| Home Page |