2004: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Sports: individual and team triumphs

This year saw many triumphs for Ukrainian sports. From individual achievements to great national successes, 2004 is a year that will be remembered fondly in the annals of sports history.

Boxing

Or should this section simply be called "The Klitschkos"?

The retirement of Lennox Lewis in early 2004 crushed the hopes of many in seeing a rematch with Vitalii Klitschko, leaving many questions to the legitimacy of Lewis' championship. This forced Vitalii to seek a different opponent. Discussions began about a fight with South Africa Corey Sanders, who knocked out the younger Klitschko, Volodymyr nearly a year ago.

On April 10 Volodymyr Klitschko (42-3-0) lost by TKO to Lamon Brewster, who captured the World Boxing Organization (WBO) belt. Klitschko had dominated the fight but lost his strength just after the fifth round. After the fight a blood sample revealed an uncharacteristically high level of sugar in his blood. This loss, together with the previous, to Sanders, left many in the boxing world questioning Volodymyr's boxing future. Volodymyr later spoke of his desire for a rematch.

On April 24 Vitalii Klitschko (34-2-0) won the highly regarded World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight championship by pummeling Sanders at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Klitschko landed 230 punches, while Sanders managed to land only 51. After the dominating performance, Vitalii challenged Lewis to fight the re-match he was promised.

This win further catapulted the national star to glory as Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma signed a decree on April 26 awarding Vitali Klitschko the Order of Courage medal for his victory against Sanders. The decree said that Klitschko's achievements have made him an example of courage, self-sacrifice and the will to win.

On April 25, the day after his championship fight, Vitalii Klitschko flew to Chicago, where thousands of blue and yellow balloons and flags greeted the newly anointed heavyweight champ. Vitalii was in town for two city events: first, a welcoming ceremony to be attended by hundreds of Klitschko boxing fans and, later that evening, a formal banquet with 400 guests who would convene at Chicago's elegant Union League Club to celebrate Vitalii and Volodymyr Klitschko and their longtime advisor and confidante, Mayor Oleksander O. Omelchenko of Kyiv.

Meanwhile, in New York City, the Ukrainian Institute of America (UIA) will honor Vitalii and Volodymyr Klitschko with its 2004 "Man of the Year" Award, it was announced on July 12. The ceremony will be held early in 2005.

On November 15 the Klitschko brothers endorsed democratic opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko's bid for the presidency of Ukraine. Their appeal to fellow Ukrainians appeared on their website saying: "Put aside your affairs and go to the polling stations to cast your vote for the future of Ukraine - for Viktor Yushchenko!"

On December 11 Vitalii Klitschko defeated Danny Williams in the heaviest heavyweight fight ever, with a total of 520 pounds in the ring. Klitschko's victory by technical knockout came at 1:26 of the eighth round, after Williams was knocked down for the fourth time. Klitschko dedicated his victory to democracy in Ukraine.

The Associated Press quoted him in saying "I feel this was the best performance of my career, but this victory was not just for me, but also for democracy in Ukraine." Vitalii, who wore an orange flag on his trunks, dominated his opponent by outhitting Williams 296 to 44. Now Klitschko is seen as the top heavyweight boxer in the world.

In November, on the third day of the Orange Revolution, crowd of over 100,000 Ukrainians went wild when Vladimir Klitschko took the stage in Kyiv's Independence Square. Wearing a bright orange scarf and tie, he addressed the crowed: "Just as in sports, political battles are fought according to clearly defined rules. If an athlete breaks those rules, then he is disqualified and the results are annulled." The political involvement of the heavyweight boxing brothers surprised many, but also galvanized the immense crowds that had been protesting for weeks.

Olympics

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych announced on June 18 that Ukraine would pay double what it offered four years ago to athletes winning medals at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens. It meant that Ukrainian athletes received $100,000 for each gold medal won, $70,000 for a silver medal and $50,000 for a bronze, while coaches received half that amount.

Thousands of Ukrainians lined the streets on July 5 to watch as the official Olympic Flame made its way through the streets of Kyiv on its way to Athens for the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. Past Olympians, as well as regular citizens, had the honor of carrying the flame.

A couple of thousand people gathered on Independence Square in Kyiv on August 10 for a gala send-off for the 243 athletes who comprised Ukraine's Olympic team as they prepared to leave for the 28th Summer Games.

Once in Athens, Olena Kostevych, won Ukraine's first gold medal in sharp shooting (10-meter air pistol), while swimmer Yana Klochkova won two gold medals (400-meter and 200-meter individual medley). Other Olympic champion performances were turned in by: Yurii Bilonoh in shot put, Natalia Skakun in weightlifting (63 kg), Yurii Nikitin in trampoline, Valerii Honcharov on the parallel bars, Iryna Merleni in freestyle wrestling (48 kg), and Elbrus Tedeyev in freestyle wrestling (66 kg).

Olena Krasovska hurdled to a silver medal (100 meters), while Roman Hontiuk fought to a silver in judo (81 kg). Ihor Razorionov earned silver in weightlifting (105 kg). Ukraine also earned two silver medals in sailing (yngling and 49er).

Vladyslav Tretyak added a bronze in fencing (saber), as did Andrii Serdinov in swimming (100-meter butterfly), Tetiana Tereschuk-Antypova in the hurdles (400 meters), Hanna Bezsonova in rhythmic gymnastics and Viktoria Stiopina in the high jump. Likewise, Ukraine earned bronze medals in men's team archery, women's team handball, men's rowing (quadruple sculls) and women's kayak fours (500).

Ultimately, Ukraine finished in the first dozen in both the gold medal (9) standings with nine and in the overall medal count with 23.

Hockey

Ukrainian Ruslan Fedotenko helped the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup by scoring twice in the seventh game of the final. The win marked a victory also for Ukrainian Canadian Dave Andreychuk in his 22nd NHL season.

The Stanley Cup arrived in Kyiv on July 19 accompanied by Fedorenko, a Kyiv native. At a ceremony at the Hall of Columns in Kyiv's City Hall, Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko offered congratulatory words and then presented Mr. Fedotenko, his wife, Debbie, and his father, Viktor Fedotenko, who had accompanied the hockey star to the ceremony, with watches. The mayor also bestowed the city's highest honor, the "Znak Poshany," or Award of Reverence, to the Stanley Cup champion, who also garnered the title of Merited Sportsman of Ukraine.

World's Strongest Man

Kyivan Vasyl Virastyuk, who hails originally from Ivano-Frankivsk, claimed the title of "World's Strongest Man" at the World Strongman Championship in the Bahamas on October 3.

Gymnastics

Ukrainian gymnast and Olympic medalist Oleksander Beresh was killed in a car accident when his Peugot collided with a BMW on February 29 in Kyiv. Beresh, 26, won an individual bronze medal in the men's all-around competition and shared a silver medal with teammates Valerii Honcharov, Ruslan Mezentsev, Valerii Pereshkura, Oleksander Svitlychnyi and Roman Zozulia in the men's team competition at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

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. 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

In individual competition: Ukraine's Iryna Krasnynskaya took third place in the uneven bars; Olha Sherbatykh of Ukraine took fourth place in the vault; and Iryna Krasnynskaya earned fourth place in the balance beam.

Swimming

Ukrainian Olympian Serhii Fesenko trained in Michigan in preparation for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. From the beginning of January until the middle of February, he trained with the Wolverine Club, a group of Olympic-caliber, non-collegiate swimmers from all over the globe. The club trains in Ann Arbor on the campus of the University of Michigan at Canham Natatorium, a world-class facility. Other individuals and institutions of the Ukrainian American community of southeastern Michigan welcomed Fesenko to the area, arranging visits to Detroit and to local Ukrainian churches, a radio interview, a visit to Saturday school to meet with Ukrainian American students and other such social events. "The Ukrainian community here left me with very nice impressions," said Fesenko. "They are hospitable, helpful and genuinely care about Ukraine despite their geographical distance from it."

Yana Klochkova took four first-place finishes and a second in various events at a Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA) World Cup event held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on February 6-8.

Ukraine's Fesenko took two third-place finishes at a FINA World Cup event held in New York on January 30-31.

Klochkova took two first places, a third and a fourth at the same New York FINA event. Ukrainian Canadian Joanne Malar took a second and a third as well.

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.

The Ukrainian pair of Roman Volodkov and Anton Zakharov took first place in the men's 10-meter synchronized platform competition at the same event. Volodkov added another first in the individual 10-meter event, Kristina Ischenko and Olena Fedorova took third in the women's three-meter competition, while Olena Zhupina of Ukraine took second place in the women's 10-meter platform

Figure skating

Ukraine's Elena Hrushina and Ruslan Honcharov took fourth place in the ice dance competition at the 2004 World Championships held in Dortmund, Germany, on March 22-28.

Track and field

Ivan Heshko of Ukraine took first place in the men's 1,500-meter event at the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Birmingham, England, on February 20.

Ukraine's Vita Pavlysh took first place in the women's shot put at the 10th International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Indoor Championships held in Budapest, Hungary, on March 5-7 with a throw of 67.22 feet.

Also in Budapest, in the men's 1,500-meter event, Ukraine's Heshko took second place, finishing the race in 3 minutes and 52.34 seconds. Ukraine's Denys Yurchenko took third place in the men's pole vault by clearing a height of 18.70 feet. Natalia Dobrynska of Ukraine took second place in the women's pentathlon, finishing the five-event competition with 4,727 points.

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. "From now on, she will never ... have any relations with athletics, even coaching or participating in any delegation," Yurii Karpiuk, head of the Ukrainian shot put federation, told the AP.

Cycling

Ukraine's Serhii Honchar took second place in the Tour of Italy bike race on May 31. At several points during the multi-stage race Ukraine's Yaroslav Popovych had the over all lead of the multi-stage bike race, but he could not beat back a surging Italian team that eventually took first and third place.

Volleyball

Ukrainian Lena Ustymenko was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Midwest Region First Team on December 10, 2003. Ustymenko is a sophomore middle blocker and outside hitter on the University of Louisville's varsity volleyball team. Additionally, Ustymenko earned First All-Conference USA honors and was named Conference USA tournament most valuable player, leading her team in kills and attacks. The Louisville Cardinals volleyball team won the Conference USA tournament title and a share of the regular season crown.

Baseball

Baseball has become quite popular in Ukraine, where the Ukrainian Little League Championship celebrated its 10th anniversary. The Little League team from Kirovohrad won its third consecutive championship by defeating the Kyiv entry 11-2 in the finals. U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst awarded the first-place medals to the winners. Also noteworthy was the first ever appearance of Little League teams from two orphanages who played a series of exhibition games. The teams from the Zhytomyr and Radomyshl orphanages played their first games on a Little League field. Some of the players actually ran toward third base instead of first after hitting the ball, but after a little coaching all went well.

On July 20-25 Ukraine's National Junior Team traveled to Zagreb, Croatia, to compete at the European Junior Baseball Championships, Group B. Ukraine faced Austria, Hungary and Moldova in group play and won all three games with a combined score of 72-6. Next up was Croatia, host country, in the semifinal. Ukraine won easily 17-0. Only Poland stood in the way of Ukraine winning its second European title. Ukraine eked out a 4-3 victory to capture the European Championship.

On July 31-August 6 the Senior European Baseball Championships were held in Rybnik - Zory, Poland, where Ukraine won regardless of a three-way tie for the best record.

Sports in the diaspora

• The Carpathian Ski Club held its 50th anniversary ski races at Ski Windham in upstate New York on February 28, with racing in age groups ranging from 6 and under to 55 and over. Ninety-nine competitors signed up for the jubilee races - the vast majority of them skiers, although there was a sprinkling of snowboarders among the participants. That evening, approximately 180 people - athletes of all ages, their families and friends, as well as supporters of KLK who had traveled from near and far, including such cities as Reno, Nev., and Ternopil, Ukraine - attended the awards banquet held at nearby Hunter Mountain Ski Lodge.
  
  
• On May 29 and 30 the Ukrainian Sport Club Chernyk was home to the ninth annual Great Lakes Cup soccer tournament. The games and festivities were held at Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic School in Warren, Mich. Thirteen teams competed in the Great Lakes Cup men's open and men's over-30 divisions. In the championship game of the men's open Toronto Ukraina faced Yonkers Krylati. The match ended in a 1-1 tie and continued through overtime. Ultimately, the tie was resolved through penalty shots, which resulted in Krylati's victory.
  
  
• The Ukrainian Athletic-Educational Association Chornomorska Sitch of Newark, N.J., celebrated its 80th anniversary this year. It was also the 35th anniversary of the Chornomorska Sitch Sports School held at Verkhovyna, N.Y.
  
  Anniversary celebrations consisted of several stages: the first was a series of jubilee sports events: the chess championship of the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. and Canada (USCAK); the USCAK-East soccer championship hosted by Sitch; and the USCAK swimming and tennis championships held at Soyuzivka. In the summer months there was also a three-week jubilee training camp for Ukrainian youth at the Chornomorska Sitch Sports School. The jubilee celebrations were topped off with a banquet and ball on October 2 attended by some 200 guests, including representatives of other Ukrainian sports organizations, as well as individual sports activists, at the Ramada Hotel in East Hanover, N.J.
  
  
• The 48th annual swimming championships of the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. and Canada (USCAK) was held on September 4 at the Soyuzivka resort, where more than 60 swimmers participated.
  
  It was also the site of the 49th annual Tennis Tournament, where 67 entrants battled the heat and each other in friendly tennis competition. The winner of the men's final was Eric Matkiwsky of New Jersey, who overcame Rostyslav Orach 6-2, 6-2. Last year's women's winner, 14-year-old Maryana Milchutske, originally from Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, won both the women's and girls' final without losing a single set.
  
  
• The fifth annual Co-Ed Quads Volleyball Tournament sponsored by the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) was held on August 9, at the SUM resort (Oselia) in Ellenville, N.Y. Nine teams played in the tournament.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 16, 2005, No. 2, Vol. LXXIII

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