SPORTSLINE (06/27/04)

SPORTSLINE

Shot put

Ukrainian shot putter Vita Pavlysh, a two-time European champion, was banned from international competition for life and stripped of her world indoor title after having twice tested positive for steroids, the Associated Press reported on July 2.

The head of the Ukrainian shot put federation, Yurii Karpiuk, told the AP that Pavlysh tested positive a second time during the world indoor championships in Budapest in March.

"From now on, she will never ... have any relations with athletics, even coaching or participating in any delegation," Karpiuk told the AP. Under international rules, athletes committing a second steroid violation receive a life ban.

Pavlysh tested positive for an illegal substance a first time after winning a gold medal in the shot put event at the 1999 world indoor championship in Japan and was suspended for two years.

She won a silver medal at the 1997 world outdoor championships and bronze medals at the 2001 and 2003 championships. The Budapest gold medal will go to the original second-place finisher, Svetlana Krivelyova of Russia.

Olympic news

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych announced on June 18 that Ukraine will pay double what it offered four years ago for winning medals at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, the Associated Press reported that same day. The newswire wrote that the move was meant to boost the national team's performance.

Yanukovych said the idea, endorsed by the country's National Olympic Committee, would mean that Ukrainian athletes receive $100,000 for each gold medal won, $70,000 for a silver medal and $50,000 for a bronze.

Coaches, meanwhile, would receive half those amounts, said Yanukovych, who also heads Ukraine's Olympic Committee.

At the Sydney Olympics four years ago, the Ukrainian team garnered three gold, 10 silver and 10 bronze medals.

Gymnastics

Ukraine's Alina Kozich took the gold medal in the all-around competition at the 2004 European Women's Gymnastics Championships held in Amsterdam on April 29-May 2. Kozich finished the competition with a score of 37.262, while Romania's Daniela Sofronie took second place with a score of 37.224. Russia's Yelena Zamolodchikova took third place with a score of 37.149, and Iryna Yarotskaya of Ukraine took sixth place with a score of 35.936.

Ukraine took second place in the women's senior team competition, finishing with a combined score of 111.247. The Romanian team took first place with a score of 112.772, while Russia took third place with a score of 110.423.

In individual competition, Ukraine's Iryna Krasnynskaya took third place in the uneven bars with a score of 9.562, while her teammate Yarotskaya took fourth place with a score of 9.525. Russia's Khorkina took first place with a score of 9.662, while Britain's Beth Tweddle took second place with a score of 9.587.

Olha Sherbatykh of Ukraine took fourth place in the vault with a score of 9.200, while Romania's Monica Rosu took first place with a score of 9.499. Russia's Anna Pavlova and teammate Zamolodchikova tied for second place with a score of 9.381.

Krasnynskaya then took fourth place in the balance beam with a score of 9.200, while her teammate Kozich took fifth place with a score of 8.875. Romania's Catalina Ponor took first place with a score of 9.725, and Alexandra Eremia took second with a score of 9.575. Russia's Khorkina took third place with a score of 9.325.

Ukraine's Yarotskaya took fifth place in the floor event with a score of 9.262, while her teammate Olena Kvasha took eighth place with a score of 8.500. Romania's Ponor took first place with a score of 9.637, and Spain's Elena Gomez took second place with a score of 9.575. Maria Teresa Gargano of Italy took third place with a score of 9.350.

Swimming

Ukraine captured the team title at the 2004 European Swimming Championships held in Madrid on May 5-16 with a total of 12 gold medals, two silver and two bronze.

Yana Klochkova kicked off the gold rush for Ukraine by taking first place in the women's 200-meter individual medley, finishing the race in 2 minutes and 12.56 seconds. Hanna Shcherba of Belarus took second place with a time of 2:15.03, and Beatrice Caslaru of Romania took third place with a time of 2:15.70.

Klochkova then won the 400-meter individual medley, finishing the race in 4:38.52, while Hungary's Eva Risztov took second place with a time of 4:40.34. Slovakia's Anja Klinar took third place with a time of 4:46.05.

Ukraine took second place in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay, while France took first place with a time of 4:05.96. The Ukrainian team of Klochkova, Iryna Amshennikova, Svitlana Bondarenko and Olha Mukomol finished the race in 4:06.35, while the Netherlands took third place with a time of 4:07.41.

Serhii Breus of Ukraine took first place in the men's 50-meter butterfly, finishing in 24.02 seconds. Russia's Nikolay Skvortsov took second place with a time of 24.05, and Ukraine's Andrii Serdinov took third place with a time of 24.16.

Oleh Lisohor of Ukraine took first place in the men's 50-meter breaststroke, finishing the race in 27.55. Hugues Duboscq of France took second place with a time of 28.23, and Matjaz Markic of Slovakia took third place with a time of 28.24.

Lisohor then took first place in the 100-meter breaststroke, finishing the race in 1:01.13, while his teammate Valerii Dymo took sixth place with a time of 1:02.00. France's Duboscq took second place with a time of 1:01.25, and Hungary's Richard Bodor took third place with a time of 1:01.54.

Ukraine's Bondarenko took first place in the women's 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:09.23, while Russia's Elena Bogomazova took second place with a time of 1:09.37. Mirna Jukic of Austria took third place with a time of 1:09.41.

Serdinov took first place in the men's 100-meter butterfly with a time of 52.31, while his teammate Denys Sylantiev took fourth place with a time of 52.85. France's Franck Esposito took second place with a time of 52.65, and Russia's Skvortsov took third place with a time of 52.75.

Sylantiev then took first place in the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 1:56.71, and his teammate Serhii Advena took sixth place with a time of 1:58.53. Romania's Loan Gherghel took second place with a time of 1:56.82, and Russia's Anatoly Polyakov took third place with a time of 1:57.45.

Klochkova took a bronze medal in the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 4:10.53, while France's Laure Manaudou took first place with a time of 4:07.90. Romania's Camelia Potec took second place with a time of 4:09.31.

The Ukrainian team of Volodymyr Nikolaychuk, Lisohor, Serdinov and Yurii Yegoshyn took first place in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay, finishing the race in 3:37.14. France took second place with a time of 3:37.77, and Hungary took third place with a time of 3:37.86.

Ukraine's Oleksander Volynets took fourth place in the men's 50-meter freestyle with a time of 22.49, while Russia's Alexander Popov won the event with a time of 22.32. Sweden's Stefan Nystrand took second place with a time of 22.42, and Italy's Lorenzo Vismara took third place with a time of 22.45.

Mukomol of Ukraine took eighth place in the women's 50-meter freestyle with a time of 25.73, while Sweden's Therese Alshammar took first place with a time of 25.12. Svitlana Khakhlova of Belarus took second place with a time of 25.20, and Sandra Volker of Germany took third place with a time of 25.24.

Ukraine's Viacheslav Shyrsov took sixth place in the men's 50-meter backstroke with a time of 26.23, while Germany's Stev Theloke took first place with a time of 25.61. Darius Grigalionis of Lithuania took second place with a time of 25.67, and David Ortega of Spain took third place with a time of 25.69.

Amshennikova of Ukraine took eighth place in the women's 50-meter backstroke with a time of 29.70, while Ilona Hlavackova of the Czech Republic took first place with a time of 29.00. Spain's Nina Zhivanevskaya took second place with a time of 29.03, and Italy's Alessandra Cappa took third place with a time of 29.28.

Ukraine's Bondarenko took fifth place in the women's 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 32.37, while Sweden's Maria Ostling took first place with a time of 31.68. Russia's Elena Bogomazova took second place with a time of 31.90, and Denmark's Majken Thorup took third place with a time of 32.05.

Ukraine's Yegoshyn took seventh place in the men's 100-meter freestyle with a time of 49.84, and Filippo Magnini of Italy took first place with a time of 48.87. Pieter Van Den Hoogenband of the Netherlands took second place with a time of 49.33, and Italy's Christian Galenda took third place with a time of 49.55.

Amshennikova of Ukraine took sixth place in the women's 100-meter backstroke with a time of 1:03.06, while France's Laure Manaudou took first place with a time of 1:00.93. Stanislava Komarova of Russia took second place with a time of 1:01.89, and Spain's Zhivanevskaya took third place with a time of 1:02.38.

Amshennikova took fifth place in the women's 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:14.73, while Russia's Komarova took first place with a time of 2:10.97. Slovakia's Anja Carman took second place with a time of 2:13.12, and Croatia's Sanja Jovanovic took third place with a time of 2:13.95.

Ukraine's Serhii Fesenko took seventh place in the men's 400-meter freestyle with a time of 3:52.77, while Italy's Emiliano Brembilla took first place with a time of 3:49.14. Russia's Yuri Prilukov took second place with a time of 3:49.51, and Romania's Dragos Coman took third place with a time of 3:49.52.

Ihor Chervynskyi of Ukraine took second place in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle with a time of 15:11.94, while Russia's Yuri Prilukov won the event with a time of 15:04.35. Romania's Coman took third place with a time of 15:15.42.

Ukraine's team of Shyrsov, Yegoshyn, Pavlo Khnykin and Denys Syzonenko took fifth place in the men's 4x100-meter freestyle with a time of 3:20.56, while Italy took first place with a time of 3:15.66. Russia took second place with a time of 3:17.00, and France took third place with a time of 3:18.10.

The Ukrainian team of Fesenko, Advena, Maksym Kokosha and Dmytro Vereitinov took sixth place in the men's 4x200-meter freestyle with a time of 7:26.05, while Italy took first place with a time of 7:11.93. Russia took second place with a time of 7:16.95, and France took third place with a time of 7:19.00.

Diving

Also at the European swimming championships, the Ukrainian pair of Roman Volodkov and Anton Zakharov took first place in the men's 10-meter synchronized platform competition with a score of 354.72. Germany took second place with a score of 345.78, and Russia took third place with a score of 345.78.

In the women's 3-meter synchronized event, Ukrainians Kristina Ischenko and Olena Fedorova took third place with a score of 289.59. Russia took first place with a score of 337.38, and Germany took second place with a score of 302.64.

Dmytro Lysenko of Ukraine took fourth place in the men's 3-meter springboard event with a score of 637.53, while his teammate Yurii Shlyakhov took sixth place with a score of 633.42. Germany's Andreas Wels took first place with a score of 695.76, and Joona Puhakka of Finland took second place with a score of 676.80. Russia's Vassily Lissovsky took third place with a score of 668.28.

Olena Zhupina of Ukraine took second place in the women's 10-meter platform event with a score of 507.45, while Italy's Tania Cagnotto took first place with a score of 538.56. Valentina Marocchi of Italy took third place with a score of 504.93.

The Ukrainian duo of Lysenko and Shlyakhov took third place in the men's 3-meter synchronized springboard event with a score of 321.24. Italy took first place with a score of 322.50, and Russia took second place with a score of 321.90.

Ukraine's Zhupina and Olha Leonova took sixth place in the women's 10-meter synchronized platform event with a score of 279.75, while Germany took first place with a score of 303.72. Spain took second place with a score of 294.60, and Italy took third place with a score of 294.06.

In the women's 3-meter springboard event, Ukraine's Fedorova took third place with a score of 524.31, while Russia's Yulia Pakhalina took first place with a score of 575.94. Vera Ilyna of Russia took second place with a score of 573.99, and Ischenko of Ukraine took 10th place with a score of 473.43.

Ukraine's Volodkov took first place in the men's 10-meter platform with a score of 186.51, while his teammate Zakharov took 10th place with a score of 173.13. Italy's Francesco Delluomo took second place with a score of 184.26, and Germany's Heiko Meyer took third place with a score of 180.99.

Ice hockey

Kyiv-born Ruslan Fedotenko scored two goals for the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup finals on June 7, giving his team their first ever Stanley Cup championship.

For Tampa's team captain, Ukrainian Canadian Dave Andreychuk, it was his 22nd season in the NHL and his first championship. The New York Times reported, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, that Andreychuk played more seasons, more regular-season games (1,597) and more regular-season and playoff games combined (1,752) than any other player without reaching the championship round.

Fedotenko, who played with the Ukrainian national team during the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, finished the playoffs with 12 goals and 2 assists for 14 points. Fedotenko's performance nearly earned him playoff most valuable player honors, though teammate Brad Richards took home the award.

Cycling

Ukraine's Serhii Honchar took second place overall in the Tour of Italy bike race on May 31, finishing 2 minutes and 2 seconds behind race winner Damiano Cunego of Italy. Giuseppe Simoni of Italy took third place finishing 2:05 behind the winner. At several points during the multi-stage race Ukraine's Yaroslav Popovych had the overall lead of the multi-stage bike race at various points, but he could not beat back a surging Italian team that eventually took first and third place.

Fencing

Ukraine's Volodymyr Lukashenko took fifth place in the men's individual saber competition at the 2004 New York City Grand Prix of Fencing held on June 10-13. Russia's Stanislav Pozdniakov took first place, while his teammate Serguei Charikov took second place. Ivan Lee of the United States and Balazs Lengyel of Hungary tied for third place, while Ukraine's Vladislav Tretiak and Volodymyr Kalujny took 11th and 14th places, respectively.

In the men's saber team competition, Ukraine took sixth place, while the United States took first place. The Spanish team took second place, and France took third.

- compiled by Andrew Nynka

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