Ukrainian athletes capture five gold medals at Athens Olympics (08/22/04)

Ukrainian athletes capture five gold medals at Athens Olympics

by Roman Woronowycz

KYIV - August 18 turned out to be a "golden" day for Ukraine as its Olympic squad captured two additional gold medals, this time in the men's shot put and women's weightlifting, helping the team to reach its goal of five gold medals with the 28th Olympic Games in Athens less than a week old.

Yurii Bilonoh and Natalia Skakun were the latest Ukrainian Olympic heroes. The 30-year-old Bilonoh, who hails from Odesa, managed to top U.S. shot-putter Adam Nelson by virtue of his claim to the second longest toss after the two tied for the longest single heave. Mr. Bilonoh won his medal in the first event of the track and field portion of these Games with a throw of 21 meters, 16 centimeters. The shot put event took place in the town of Olympia, the namesake for these international Games, in the reconstructed remains of the thousand-year-old stadium used by the ancient Greeks.

Performing earlier in a contemporary, air-conditioned auditorium, Natalia Skakun also discovered gold when she took first place in weightlifting, managing an Olympic record 135 kilograms in the clean and jerk.

With Ukraine hovering in fifth place in the medal count, Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych hosted a soiree in Athens on August 16 attended by international dignitaries and businessmen, including Prince Albert of Monaco, in honor of the Ukrainian National Olympic Team.

Even though the event was planned a while ago, the 243-member team received acknowledgment for its unexpected early success at the 28th Olympic Games. On that day the team already had two gold medals and a bronze to its credit. Yana Klochkova, who had won a gold medal in swimming the previous day and would take another one the following day, giving her four gold medals in her two Olympic Games, had thus far been the shining star of this surprising team.

"It is much harder to retain Olympic glory than it is to reach it," explained Ms. Klochkova during the evening ceremony, as a host of prominent politicians and celebrities, including Prince Albert, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, looked on, reported Interfax-Ukraine.

The "gold fish," as the Ukrainian media has dubbed Ms. Klochkova, won the 400-meter medley on August 15 for her first gold medal. She followed with a victory in the 200-meter medley on August 17. The Kharkiv native, who looked more exhausted than ecstatic after her 200-meter medley win, was presented a Suzuki automobile by the team sponsor in honor of her achievements. A day later President Leonid Kuchma signed an executive decree conferring on her the designation "Hero Of Ukraine." She will also receive $100,000 from the government of Ukraine for each one of her gold medals, as will each first place finisher from the Ukrainian Olympic team.

Ms. Klochkova took the 400-meter medley in a photo finish with American rival Kaitlin Sandeno, who surprised the field by staying with the Ukrainian swimmer with a strong breaststroke in the second 25 meters and taking the lead just before the third turn. Ms. Klochkova made up the small distance between them in the final 25 meters of the free style portion of the event and touched the wall at 4 minutes and 34.83 seconds, just 12/100 of a second ahead of Ms. Sandeno, but short of the world record mark of 4:33.59, which Ms. Klochkova set in Sydney in 2000.

"I didn't expect such a fight from Sandeno, but at the last turn I decided that although I could die doing it, I would win," exclaimed Ms. Klochkova, according to Ukraina Moloda. Traditionally Ms. Klochkova's principle rivalry in the medley events had been with Hungarian Eva Ristov, who finished fourth.

While Ms. Klochkova's gold added to her stature as the best female swimmer in the world, Ukraine's first gold medal was won by a 19-year-old gunslinger that few had considered for a medal. Yet Olena Kostevych, the gold medallist in 10 meter sharp shooting from Chernihiv, had already ascended to the heights of the sport two years ago when she won both the World Cup and World Championship in sharp shooting. Her victory in Athens came after Ms. Kostevych barely squeezed into the finals. It was followed by a shoot-off with Serb Jasna Sekarych, who took silver. Bulgarian Maria Grezdevii finished third.

Adding to Ukraine's medal count, Ukrainian fencer Vladyslav Tretyak took a bronze in the sabre on August 15. Two days later judoist Roman Hontiuk of Ivano Frankivsk won Ukraine's first silver medal in the 81-kilogram class.

The Ukrainian woman's gymnastics team just missed out on a team medal on August 17, finishing fourth behind gold medal winners Romania, the United States, which took silver, and bronze medallist Russia.

Ukraine's five gold medals and seven overall put it in the fifth spot in the gold medal standings on August 19. Following in sixth was Russia with three gold and 15 overall medals. China led the count with 11 gold and 22 overall, followed by the United States in second with 10 gold and 29 overall medals. Japan came next with eight gold and 13 overall, followed by Australia in fourth place with six gold medals and 16 overall.

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