In the international sports competition arena these days, the United States, Russia, China and Great Britain are almost always atop the leader board. Every four years the above four countries rule the medals tables at the Olympics and Paralympics.
The last dozen years have seen one underdog nation turn into a world superpower once the Paralympics begin. Sixth in Athens (2004), fourth at both Beijing (2008) and London (2012), Ukraine went one better in 2016, finishing a remarkable third in the medal table at Rio – a position Ukraine held for most of the competition. Ukraine proudly accumulated 117 total medals, including 41 gold, 37 silver and 39 bronze.
Canoe sprint gold medalist Serhii Yemelianov celebrates the win in the (KL3) 200-meter race with a time of 39.810 seconds.
Ukraine’s performance in Rio is especially amazing taking into account the country’s plight with a deepening economic crisis, ongoing war versus Russian and Russia-backed forces in the east and the loss of its premier training center in Crimea after the region was annexed by Russia.
Petro Poroshenko, president of Ukraine, described the performance of the Ukrainian Paralympic team as “incredible,” adding that these athletes prove “the impossible is possible.”
Canoe sprint gold medalist Serhii Yemelianov celebrates the win in the (KL3) 200-meter race with a time of 39.810 seconds.
Valeriy Sushkevych is the person receiving most of the credit for Ukraine’s Paralympics success. The president of the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine developed a training program called Invasport, which works by having schools and facilities dedicated to Paralympic sports in every Ukrainian oblast. The goal is to set up the best system possible of physical education, sports and rehabilitation for people with disabilities.
The program requires infrastructure all over Ukraine with schools for disabled children. Based on the results in Rio, the system appears to be working. The system is based on people who withstand and overcome problems like lack of money, political crisis, war and other troubles. Almost all involved are extremely dedicated.
Silver medalists Iaroslav Denysenko (100-meter backstroke) and Viktoriia Savtsova (100-meter freestyle) celebrate their medals.
Sushkevych has spent most of his life using a wheelchair for mobility, having been stricken with polio as a child. His system stresses rehabilitation for disabled children at the outset, but promises more for those who show potential in sports. Out of every 100 youngsters entering Invasport, about five are good at football, athletics or swimming. The program gives them a chance to realize their potential.
Other training options became mandatory under extremely dire conditions. Adjustments were made, including the need to train in outdated, post-Soviet facilities. Positive results were achieved through experience, knowledge and great professionalism of the team.
The ultimate payoff was an extraordinary 117 medals, including 74 in swimming.
Power lifter Lidiya Solovyova’s main motivation to succeed is based on the fact Ukraine offers few opportunities to people with disabilities outside of sports. For this gold medalist it is her primary source of income, her job.
After the loss of the Yevpatoria training facility in Crimea, specifically designed for athletes with disabilities, Solovyova trained at her hotel, a place not staffed with proper trainers, equipment and nutritional requirements. Certainly the level of preparation for a Paralympics was far from that of other elite nations.
What the world witnessed in Rio was obviously a most successful side of the Ukrainian Paralympic team, their achievements nearly miraculous. The world has not seen what was not achieved. One can only imagine the performance if there were no war in eastern Ukraine. Hopefully, the best is yet to come.
Rio review
Success in swimming (74 medals) catapulted Ukraine to its 117 total medals in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. Swimmer Maksym Krypak was most outstanding male Ukrainian Paralympian based on his four golds and two silver individual medal wins (he added two more medals in relay victories). Yelyzaveta Mereshko won top female honors with her four gold medals in swimming (she notched another in relay). Denis Dubrov (two gold, two silver, two bronze) and Ievgenii Bogodaiko (three gold, two silver, one bronze) each captured six individual swimming medals and two additional relay medals. Yehor Dementyev (two golds) was a force in both road and track cycling, and Ukraine proved most competitive in athletics with a total of 19 medals.
Gold medalists in the men’s seven-a-side soccer team – Oleh Len, Edhar Kahramanian, Volodymyr Antoniuk and Vitalii Romanchuk. Not pictured: Yevhen Zinoviev, Ivan Dotsenko, Dmytro Molodtsov, Stanislav Podolskyi, Bohdan Kulynych, Artem Krasylnykov and Ivan Shkvarlo.
Ukraine’s favorite seven-a-side football squad successfully won gold, surviving a 2-1 extra-time battle with Iran with goals for Ukraine by Volodymyr Antoniuk and Artem Krasylaykov. The Ukes routed the Netherlands (4-0) in the semifinal, after defeating Ireland (6-0), Great Britain (2-1) and Brazil (2-1) in the preliminary rounds. Russia’s absence at these Paralympic Games left Ukraine as a strong favorite and the team did not disappoint.
Remaining medalists
Roman Pavlyk (T36) won silver in the men’s 400-meter race (55.67 seconds), Mykola Dibrova (F36) won silver in the men’s shot put (14.26 meters).
Iaroslav Denysenko (S13) and Maksym Veraksa (S13) won silver and bronze, respectively in the men’s 100-meter freestyle (52.40, 52.77 seconds). Denysenko also won silver in the men’s 10-meter backstroke (59.02 seconds). Bogodaiko (S7) collected another medal (bronze) in the men’s 100-meter freestyle (1:02.12 seconds), Dmytro Vynohradets’ (SM3) won silver in the men’s 150-meter individual medley (2:40.75 seconds). Viktor Smyrnov (SM11) won silver in the men’s 200-meter individual medley (2:26.57 seconds). Bohdan Hrynenko (S8) and Iurii Bozhynskyi (S8) won silver and bronze, respectively, in the men’s 50-meter freestyle (26.67 and 26.75 seconds). Anna Stetsenko (S13) won gold in the women’s 100-meter freestyle (59.19 seconds) and gold in the women’s 100-meter backstroke (1:08.30 seconds). Maryna Verbova (S4) won bronze in the women’s 50-meter backstroke (52.28 seconds). Oleksandr Komarov (S6) won bronze in the men’s 100-meter freestyle (1:06.21 seconds), Ukraine (Bozhynskyi, Denys Dubrov, Maksym Krypak and Bogodaiko) won silver in the men’s 4×100-meter medley relay (4:07.89 seconds). Veraksa won gold (23.67 seconds) and Illia Yaremenko (S12) won bronze (24.41 seconds) in the men’s 50-meter freestyle. Andrii Derevynskyi (S4) won bronze in the men’s 50-meter freestyle (40.94 seconds). Liudmyla Danylina (T20) won bronze in the women’s 1,500-meter race (4:28.78 seconds).
Ukraine won silver in the men’s 4×100-meter medley relay (4:07.89 seconds) with Ukraine represented by Iurii Bozynskyi, Denys Dubrov, Maksym Krypak and Ievgenii Bogodaiko.
Yelyzaveta Mereshko (S6) won gold (1:11.40 seconds, a world record) and Viktoriia Savatsova won silver (1:13.47 seconds) in the women’s 100-meter freestyle.
In seated table tennis, Ukraine (Viktor Didukh, Maxym Nikolenko and Mykhaylo Popov) won gold in the team competition (classes 6-8), after Ukraine won 2-0 against Sweden in the gold-medal final, won 2-0 against Great Britain in the semifinal and won 2-0 against Germany in the quarterfinal.
Oksana Boturchuk (T12) won silver in the women’s 400-meter race (53.14 seconds), Leilia Adzhametova (T13) won bronze in the women’s 400-meter race (56.60 seconds), and Mariia Pomazan (F35) won silver in the women’s shot put (13.59 meters).
Top-10 finishers
Derevynskyi finished in seventh place in the men’s 100-meter freestyle (1:30.59 seconds) and eighth place in the men’s 200-meter freestyle (3:17.53 seconds). Stetsenko finished in fifth place in the women’s 100-meter butterfly (1:07.82 seconds) and fourth in the women’s 200-meter individual medley (2:28.95 seconds). Dmytro Vanzenko (S10) finished in fifth place in the men’s 400-meter freestyle (4:10.19 seconds). Maryna Piddubna (S11) finished in seventh place in the women’s 100-meter freestyle (1:11.55 seconds). Ievgen Panibratets (S2) and Roman Bondarenko finished in fifth (1:00.03 seconds) and eighth (1:03.89 seconds) in the men’s 50-meter backstroke. Marian Kvasnytsia (S7) finished in eighth place (1:06.76) in the men’s 100-meter freestyle. Mariia Lafina (S4) finished in sixth place (54.08 seconds) in the women’s 50-meter backstroke and eighth (48.31 seconds) in the women’s 50-meter freestyle. Oleksandr Mashchenko (SM11) finished in seventh place (2:33.76 seconds) in the men’s 200-meter individual medley. Kateryna Istomina (S8) finished in sixth place (31.05 seconds) in the women’s 50-meter freestyle. Piddubna (SM11) and Yana Berezhna finished in fourth (2:55.31 seconds) and eighth (3:07.58 seconds) in the women’s 200-meter individual medley. Sergii Klippert (S13) finished in fourth place (53.64 seconds) in the men’s 100-meter freestyle and in seventh (25.00 seconds) in the men’s 50-meter freestyle. Maryna Stabrovska (S12) and Yaryna Matlo finished in fifth (30.02 seconds) and seventh (30.65 seconds) places, respectively, in the women’s 50-meter freestyle.
www.2014.paralympic.org.ua
Gold medalists men’s seven-a-side soccer players Kostiantyn Symashko, Vitaliy Trushchev and Taras Dutko. Dutko was the flag-bearer for the closing ceremonies.
In archery, Roksolana Dzoba-Balyan (W2) lost 4-6 in the quarterfinal against Chunyan Wu of China.
In athletics, Oleksandr Doroshenko (F38) finished in sixth place (44.81 meters) in the javelin throw (he holds the current world record and Paralympic record since 2004, 51.37 meters). Mykyta Senyk (T38) finished in fifth place (6.39 meters) in the men’s long jump, and Olena Rozdobudko (T20) finished in fifth place (4.91 meters) in the women’s long jump. Olena Gliebova (T13) finished in fifth place (57.59 seconds) in the women’s 400-meter race.
Mykola Syniuk (KL2) finished in fourth place in the men’s canoe sprint (45.349 seconds).
In sitting volleyball, Ukraine’s women’s team finished in fourth place after losing to Brazil 0-3 in the bronze-medal match. Along the way, Ukraine lost to China in the semifinal 0-3. Ukraine’s men’s sitting volleyball team finished in fifth place after winning 3-1 against Germany in the fifth-place match.