Ukraine's take at Torino Games: two bronzes, five top-10 finishes

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Ukraine's athletes returned home from the Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy, with two bronze medals - one in biathlon and the other in ice dancing.

The first medal was won on February 16 by Lilia Efremova in the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint of the biathlon; the second was earned four days later by ice dancers Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov, a husband-and-wife duo.

Otherwise, Team Ukraine's results included five top-10 finishes - in women's luge, biathlon and cross-country skiing, and men's biathlon - and a host of lesser achievements. (See complete results on page 13.) Ukraine was ranked 20th in terms of the medal count among the 85 countries participating in the Torino Olympics.

During the Games' closing ceremonies on February 26, short-track speed skater Volodymyr Grygoriev was given the honor of carrying the Ukrainian flag.

While in Torino, the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine held a reception at the Ukrainian House. The Ukrinform press service reported that well-known athletes, including figure skater Viktor Petrenko and hockey player Viacheslav Fetisov, participated in the reception.

The event was also attended by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, who noted that, since figure skater Oksana Baiul's gold medal in the 1994 Olympic Games, Ukraine has been contributing to the development of Olympic sports.

According to Ukrinform, National Olympic Committee of Ukraine President Serhiy Bubka congratulated Team Ukraine and offered his opinion that Ukraine's athletes will continue setting new records. Family, Youth and Sports Minister Yurii Pavlenko stated that President Viktor Yushchenko supports the development of sports in Ukraine.

Deputy Mayor Ihor Lisov of Kyiv announced that Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko had stipulated that Ukraine's medalists at the Games will be awarded apartments in Kyiv.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, March 5, 2006, No. 10, Vol. LXXIV

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