SPORTSLINE (05/21/06)

SPORTSLINE

Soccer

Dema Kovalenko, the seven-season MLS veteran mid-fielder and three-year starter for D.C. United, announced on January 12 that he will not return to the MLS club and plans to sign with a team in Ukraine. This comes after the MLS club refused to renew his contract for $175,000, which is well above the league average.

"I'm definitely not coming back," he said before boarding a plane for Europe. "I wish it could have been different," he said.

Contributing to the refusal of D.C. United included Kovalenko's rambunctious playing style that has earned him three yellow cards last year, an average of seven in the previous five years, and a total of five red cards in his career with MLS.

United technical director Dave Kasper said: "He told us he was leaning [toward the Ukrainian offer]. We talked in general terms about a new contract, but we were going to be too far apart."

Para-Olympic Games

Ukraine finished third overall at the Para-Olympic Games in Torino, Italy with 26 medals (seven gold, nine silver and 10 bronze) - all in biathlon and cross-country skiing events.

In women's biathlon, Ukraine took three medals in the first 10-km race, with Olena Yurkovska winning gold in the sitting disabled race, and Ludmyla Pavlenko and Svitlana Tryfonova winning the silver and bronze, respectively. In the seated 7.5-km race, Olena Yurkovska took the gold again with Svitlana Tryfanova taking silver. Olena Yurkovska went on to win six medals in all (four gold medals, one silver and one bronze), and was named the Games' best athlete. Tetyana Smyrnova, who is visually impaired, won the silver in the 12.5-km race.

In women's cross-country skiing, Yuliya Batenkova from Kovel, Volyn Oblast, won the silver medal in the 10-km race for standing skiers, the bronze in the 5-km race, and the bronze in the women's 3x2.5-km relay.

Men's biathlon had Ukrainian Vitaliy Lukayenenko, who is visually impaired, winning the gold in the 12.5-km race.

Men's cross-country skiing had Yuriy Kostiuk winning the gold in the 15-km seated race, silver in the 7.5-km and 5-km races, and bronze for the 10-km race. Oleh Munts won the gold in the 20-km race and the bronze in the men's 1x3.75-km + 2x5-km relay with teammates Vitaliy Lukyanenko and Vladislav Morozov. Serhiy Khyzhnyak won the bronze in the 7.5-km race for the sitting disabled.

Boxing

A German court ruled on April 18 that the former IBF heavyweight champion Chris Byrd falsely accused Ukrainian boxer Vladimir Klitschko of using a chemical substance on his gloves to affect his opponent's vision in a world title bout in 2000. Byrd "had no authority to repeat such a statement," the Berlin high court said.

The claim was made by Byrd after he lost the WBO heavyweight match on points.

Klitschko and Byrd met again on April 22 in Mannheim Germany after their last fight six years ago. Byrd's IBF title was taken by Klitschko, dropping Byrd to the canvas twice, before winning by TKO in the seventh round. Klitschko's record currently stands at 46 wins, three losses, zero draws and 41 wins by KO.

Track and field

The Ukrainian team finished third at the Moscow World Indoor Track and Field Championships, with golds being won by Lyudmilla Blonskaya in the women's pentathlon and Ivan Heshko in the 1,500-meter run.

Archery

The men's team for Ukraine, comprising Viktor Ruban, Markian Ivashko and Pavel Bekker, won the gold at the 10th Indoor Archery Championships in Jaen, Spain, beating Germany, France and Italy.

Ukraine's women's team, composed of Kateryna Palehka, Tatyana Dorokhova and Viktoriya Koval, won the silver medal.

Junior archery teams for Ukraine succeeded as well, with the boys' team (Yuriy Havelko, Dmitry Shamatrin and Oleksandr Onyshchuk) winning gold and the girls' team (Marina Veselovska, Yuliya Pesnikova and Valeriya Yakovleva) winning bronze.

Strongman competition

Kyiv hosted the United Strongman Series competition on April 23 on the maidan, or Independence Square, where Viktor Yurcenko won third place. Other Ukrainian competitors included Michael Starov, who won eighth place, and Kyrylo Chuprynin, who won fifth place. A second competition is to take place on July 28 for four days.

Mountain climbing

Two Ukrainian climbing clubs battle for staking flags on mountains all over the world. The Donetsk club recently planted its flag on Kiliminjaro. This came after the Kharkiv club planted its flag on Cho Oyo in Tibet. The Donetsk club is planning its next trip to Mount Cook in New Zealand.

Marathons

Two Ukrainian women placed first and second in the Freescale Austin Marathon in Texas. Fifty-one-year-old Tatyana Pozdnykova set a world record for her age group in the race, and finished 2 minutes and 33 seconds ahead of Ilona Baranova in the Olympic development marathon.

- compiled by Matthew Dubas and Yarema Belej

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