Ukraine concludes Olympics with 23 medals
by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau
KYIV - Ukraine finished in the first dozen in both the gold medal standings and the overall medal count at the Athens Olympics with a flurry of wins in the last two days of the Games.
First, on August 28, wrestler Elbrus Tedeyev took a gold in the 66-kilogram weight class with a convincing victory over Jhamil Kelly of the United States. Then, on the final day of competition, Ukraine finished strongly, taking three bronze medals with third-place finishes by Hanna Bezsonova in rhythmic gymnastics, Viktoria Stiopina in the high jump and the women's handball team.
For Tedeyev, for whom these were the third Olympics, it was the culmination of an eight-year effort. He finally achieved a gold medal in freestyle wrestling after taking a bronze in Atlanta in 1996 and then failing to medal in Sydney in 2000.
The Ukrainian wrestler's win gave Ukraine a total of nine gold medals for these Games, equaling its best previous effort, which occurred at the Atlanta Games, where the Ukrainian Olympic squad finished in ninth place in the gold medal count and 10th overall.
Ironically, Ukraine has totaled 23 medals in each of the three Summer Olympic Games in which it has taken part as an independent national squad. Its worst showing occurred in Sydney, Australia, when it could muster only three gold medals, along with 10 silver and 10 bronze medals and finished in 21st position.
Ukraine started the Athens Games strongly with wins in Olympic swimming, shot put, weightlifting and shooting, putting it in fifth place after the first week of the 16-day games, which began on August 13. While Ukraine continued to take medals during the second week, larger and stronger teams that had lingered behind, such as Great Britain, Italy and South Korea, began to pick up wins, surpassing Ukraine. In the end, Ukraine came just behind Cuba, which finished strong with a series of medals in boxing, its traditional strong sport and one of the final competitions of the Games.
Following the Ukrainian Olympic team in the medal count were Hungary and Romania with eight gold medals each, Greece with six gold medals, Norway with five, the Netherlands, Brazil and Sweden with four each and Canada and Spain with three each. Thirty-six other countries followed with one or two gold medals each.
Ukraine's showing was all the more impressive because Ukraine failed to medal in several sports in which it traditionally has been strong, including boxing, Greco-Roman wrestling and diving.
Some controversy developed on the last day in the rhythmic gymnastics event, one of the very final competitions of the Olympic Games, when Bezsonova, a favorite to take the gold, finished third. Her coach, Iryna Deriugina, complained bitterly to no avail when judges consistently gave higher scores to performances by the two Russian competitors, Alina Kabayeva and Irina Chashina, who ended up taking the gold and silver, respectively.
The controversial final performances followed an earlier complaint filed by the U.S. team with the International Gymnastics Federation seeking a review of the routines of American competitor Mary Sanders, who was upset with the technical marks given to her the previous day. Sanders finished 18th in a field of 24 competitors and did not qualify for the finals.
Meanwhile, Ukraina Moloda reported that the Ukrainian women's handball team expressed disenchantment with the fact that, while Ukrainian medal winners would receive individual monetary awards of $100,000 for a gold, $70,000 for a silver and $50,000 for a bronze from the Ukrainian government, their 15-member team would have to share the government prize for their third-place finish.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, September 5, 2004, No. 36, Vol. LXXII
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