In JUDO, Svitlana Iaromka won first place in the over-78 kg. division at the European Open in Bulgaria on February 7-8. Iaromka won gold at the Judo Grand Slam in Baku, Azerbaijan, on May 8-10. Maryna Cherniak (48 kg) won gold at the Judo Grand Prix in Georgia on March 20-22. Iakiv Khammo (+100 kg) and Georgii Zantaraia (66 kg) won gold medals in their weight divisions at the International Judo Federation Grand Prix in Zagreb, Croatia, on May 1-3. Daria Bilodid (44 kg) won a gold medal at the Cadet European Judo Championship in Bulgaria on July 3-5. Ukraine’s junior judo won seven medals (two gold) at the Junior European Judo Cup in Poland on July 18-19. Asim Mameidov (60 kg) and Sergei Zvieriev (100 kg) won the gold medals. At the Junior European Judo Cup in Prague on July 25-26, Artem Khomula (73 kg), Rezo Mesablishvili (81 kg) and Sergei Zvieriev won gold medals. Daria Bilodid (44 kg) won gold at the World Cadet Championships in Sarajevo on August 5-9. Oleksandr Kosinov, Nataliya Nikolaychuk, Inna Cherniak and Iryna Husiova won gold at the International Blind Sports Association Judo Euro Championships on November 27-28 in Portugal.
Oleksandr Yeremenko won a fifth title in the 90 kg division at the 29th Kyokushin KARATE European Championship on May 9 in Berlin.
Olena Shurkhuo and Vitaly Skatar won the Macao Galaxy International MARATHON in China on December 6. Eldar Ismailov (-90 kg) won his third title at the competition. Three athletes from Ukraine (Ruslan Kramariuk, Sergii Vaskurin and Ivan Heshko) won gold medals at a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, marathon event on May 31.
Victor Mihalchan won three gold medals and one silver medal at the Chinese MARTIAL ARTS Tournament 2015 in San Francisco. Two of his students also won gold and silver medals. Mihalchan won the top spot in the overall competition.
Olena Kostevyck won gold in the women’s 10-m air pistol event at the European SHOOTING Championship on March 2-8. Ihor Kizyma, Volodymyr Strutskyi and Dmytro Melnyk won gold in the 10-m running target men’s junior team shooting event.
Oleksandr Abramenko won the Freestyle SKIING World Cup in Minsk on March 3, scoring 117.70 + 122.62 points.
Andriy Pavelko was selected the new president of Ukraine’s Football Federation on March 6, getting 122 out of 137 votes. Two Ukrainian SOCCER clubs, Dynamo Kyiv and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk advanced to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Europa League in March after winning in the round of 16. Dnipro defeated Napoli 1-0 in a semifinal on May 14 to advance to the final against Seville, only to come up short, 3-2, on May 26 in Warsaw. Dynamo Kyiv topped the Ukrainian Premier League standings joining Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2015-2016 UEFA Champions League. Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Zorya Luhansk earned entry into the Europa League. Dynamo Kyiv defeated Shakhtar Donetsk, 5-4, in penalty kicks in the Ukraine Cup final on June 5 in Kyiv. Mariupol’s soccer club was seeking a new name due to Ukraine’s ban on Soviet symbols. Illichivets Mariupol got its name from Illich, a steelworks sponsor named after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Serhiy Rebrov’s personal coaching style worked miracles as Dynamo Kyiv’s new coach led his club to its 14th Ukrainian title, ending the five-year dominance of Shakhtar Donetsk. Ukraine’s national team advanced to the Euro 2016 soccer championship upon eliminating Slovenia 3-1 on aggregate goals. Ukraine defeated Slovenia 2-0 on November 14 and tied 1-1 on November 17. Ukraine drew Group C with Germany, Northern Ireland and Poland. Ukraine’s Under-17 team qualified for the U-17 Euro 2016, finishing in first place (Group 13) with two wins, one draw, no losses, with six goals for and one against.