Boxing
• Junior lightweight (super featherweight), Vasyl Lomachenko (6-1-0, 4 KO) added the WBO title to his collection after a fifth-round KO of Roman Martinez (29-3-2, 17 KO) of Puerto Rico on June 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Lomachenko, 28, landed a series of hits followed by an uppercut that stunned Martinez, and he followed it up with a right hand that sent the Puerto Rican to the canvas. The Ukrainian national anthem was sung by 16-year-old Ania Kosachevich, a member of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization and dance with Iskra Ukrainian Dance Academy of Whippany, N.J.
• Cruiserweight Dmytro Kucher (24-1-1, 17 KO) won by first-round TKO against Enzo Maccarinelli (41-8-0, 33 KO) of Great Britain on June 10 at York Hall in London. Kucher claimed the EDU title with the win in a fight that was scheduled to go 12 rounds.
Tennis
• The International Tennis Federation (ITF) says it has banned a Ukrainian doctor from sports for four years for administering a banned substance to a tennis player, reported RFE/RL. The ITF said on June 13 that Elena Dorofeyeva gave a supplement containing the stimulant dimethylbutylamine to WTA Tour player Kateryna Kozlova in 2014. Kozlova, 22, tested positive and served a six-month ban last year. She is the current world No. 98.
Gymnastics
• Ukraine competed at the UEG 32nd Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship in Holon, Israel, on June 17-19. Ukraine’s junior team – Olena Diachenko, Yeva Meleshchuk and Khrystyna Pohranychna – finished in sixth place in ribbon, hoop, ball and clubs. Pohranychna finished in sixth place in rope; and Diachenko finished in fifth place in clubs, seventh place in hoop and eighth place in ball. Ukraine’s senior team finished in 13th place in the all-around – seventh place in the ribbon. Hanna Rizatdinova won bronze in the senior individual all-around – a first-place finish with 18.966 in hoop, and third-place finishes with 18.683 in ball, 18.900 clubs, 18.750 ribbon, for a 75.299 total. Ukraine finished in sixth place out of 38 participating countries in the medal count with one bronze.
• Ukraine won four medals at the 2016 World Cup Rhythmic Gymnastics in Guadalajara, Spain, on June 1-6. Hanna Rizatdinova won three medals – including silver in the ball final (19.000 points), bronze in the individual all-around, bronze in the clubs final (19.00 points), bronze in the hoop (18.950 points). In team competition of five ribbons, Ukraine won third place with 17.10 points. Rizatdinova finished in fifth place in the individual ribbon event. Khrystyna Pogranychna won gold in the hoop final (16.050) and fifth place in the rope final. Ukraine finished in fourth place in the six clubs-two hoops event with 17.60 points. Olena Dyachenko finish in fourth place in the clubs final (15.150 points).
• Hanna Rizardinova won three medals at the 2016 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria, on May 27-29. Rizatdinova won gold in the hoop (18.8 points) and two silver medals – in clubs (18.45) and ball (18.8). In the all-around, she also won first place in the included hoop (18.7) and ball (18.7) for a total of 37.4 points, and placed in fourth place in ribbon (18.1). In group competition, Ukraine finished in sixth place with a point total of 17.750. Ukraine finished in sixth place in the mixed event of three clubs and two hoops (17.1 points).
• Ukraine won five gold medals at the 2016 World Challenge Cup in Varna, Bulgaria, on May 13-15. Oleg Verniaiev won gold in men’s parallel bars, pommel-horse and floor exercise. Ihor Radivilov won gold in rings, and Verniaiev won silver in the same event. Radivilov won gold in the vault.
• Yana Fedorova won gold in the women’s vault at the Gym Festival 2016 in Trnava, Slovakia, on May 15. Fedorova finished in fifth place in the uneven bars, sixth place in the balance beam, and sixth in the all-around (vault, uneven bars, beam and floor). In the junior women’s category, Alona Titarenko finished in fourth place in the vault and fifth place in the floor exercise; Valeriia Iarmolenko finished in fourth place in the balance beam and sixth place in the all-around,
• Hanna Rizatdinova won gold at the women’s International Rhythmic Gymnastics Tournament in Corbeil-Essones, France, on May 6-8. Rizatdinova won first place in the hoop (18.416), ball (18.773), clubs (18.650) and ribbon (18.366) for a total of 74.165 (first place in the all-around). In the competition finals for seniors, Rizatdinova also won gold in the women’s hoop (18.700), ball (18.600), clubs (18.683) and ribbon (18.600).
• Ukraine is in first place in the global medal standings with five medals (three gold, one silver and one bronze), based on Ukraine’s artistic gymnastics team performance. Oleg Verniaiev won three gold medals (parallel bars, 16.133 points; all-around, 92.107 points; vault, 15.333 points; floor exercise, 15.266 points; and pommel horse, 15.633 points) at the Aquece Rio test event on April 16-22 in Rio de Janeiro. Ukraine’s men’s team (Vladyslav Hryko, Ihor Radivilov, Maksym Semiankiv, Andrii Sienichkin, Verniaiev and Illia Yehorov) won second place in the team competition (floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar). The team finished with 350.160 points, having won second place in the floor exercise, first in the pommel horse, fourth in the rings, fifth in the vault, third in the parallel bars and third in the horizontal bar. Radivilov won bronze in men’s vault (14.649 points).
• Oleg Verniaiev won gold in the men’s vault final and the men’s horizontal bar at the Gymworld Challenge Cup Turnier der Meister in Cottbus, Germany, at Lausitz Arena on March 31-April 3. Igor Radivilov won gold in the men’s rings event. Verniaiev won silver in the men’s pommel horse and bronze in the men’s floor event. Angelina Kysla finished in fourth pace in the women’s floor event final. Verniaiev finished in fifth place in the men’s parallel bars.
• Hanna Rizatdinova won two gold and one silver medal at the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup on April 1-3 in Pesaro, Italy. Rizatdinova won gold in the ball and ribbon individual events, and silver in the hoop individual event. In the individual senior five ribbons event, Ukraine finished in fifth place. In the six clubs, two hoops event, Ukraine finished in fourth place.
• Hanna Rizatdinova won second place in the ball discipline and third place in ribbon in the individual category at the International Grand Prix in Thiais, France, on March 26-27. In team competition, Ukraine won third place in the Challenge de la Ville de Thiais, third place in the team ribbon event and third place in the combined event six balls and two hoops.
• Hanna Rizatdinova won silver in the individual all-around category B division at the 2016 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup event in Lisbon, Portugal, on March 17-20. Rizatdinova won gold medals in clubs and ribbon, and silver in hoop.
• Ukraine’s Krystyn Pohranychna (60.150 points) and Olena Diachenko (30.450 points) won first place in the junior individual team final at the 2016 Aphrodite Cup on March 11-13 in Athens. Pohranychna and Anastasia Valentirova won the first- and second-place spots in the junior individual all-around final, and Viktoriia Onoprienko finished in fourth place. Diachenko (58.100 points) also won first place in the junior individual all-around final. Pohranychna and Diachenko finished in first place and fourth place, respectively, in the junior individual all-around. Pohranychna won first place in junior individual hoop final, second in the junior rope final and third in the junior individual ball final, Diachenko finished in second place in the junior club final. Valeriya Khanina won second place in the senior clubs final and the hoop final, finished in fourth in the senior individual ball final and finished in fifth in the senior ribbon final.
Basketball
• Ukrainian NBA player Vitaliy Potapenko topped the rankings by the website basket.com.ua with 3,995 points (over 11 years). Other players included Stanislav Medvedenko (1,390 points, seven years), Alex Len (1,023 points, three years), Alexander Volkov (1,019 points, two years), Oleksiy Pecherov (438 points, three years), Kyrylo Fesenko (305 points, five years) and Vyacheslav Kravtsov (97 points, two years).
Figure skating
• Renata Ohanesian and Mark Bardei won third place in pairs skating in the short program at the 2016 World Junior Figure Skating Championships on March 14-20 in Debrecen, Hungary, at Fonix Arena. In the free skating portion, the duo finished in fourth place, with a final score of 155.08 points.
Diving
• At the 2016 FINA Diving World Series in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on March 17-19, Ukraine won one silver (Oleksandr Goroshkovozov and Ilya Kvasha, 3-meter synchronized springboard) and one bronze medal (Viktoriya Kesar and Anastasiia Nedobiha, 3-meter synchronized springboard).
• Viktoriya Kesar and Anastasiya Nedobiha won silver in the women’s 3-meter springboard synchronized diving event at the 2016 FINA Diving World Series invitational in Beijing on March 13. Oleksandr Gorshkovozov and Maksym Dolgov also won silver in the men’s synchronized 10-meter platform.
Skiing
• Tanya Prymak, from Goshen, N.Y., won third place win the women’s ski-cross event on March 19 at the 2016 Sport Chek Canadian Championships in Smithers, British Columbia.
Marathon
• Olha Kotovska won first place in the New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon at the IAAF Bronze Label Road Races on March 18-20. She finished with a time of 2:36.38 seconds.
Pentathlon
• Anastasiya Mokhnyuk won silver in the women’s pentathlon (4,847 points) and Alina Fyodorova won bronze (4,770 points) in the same event at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships on March 17-20 in Portland, Ore. Oleksiy Kasyanov won silver in the men’s heptathlon (6,182 points). In the medals standings, Ukraine tied with Germany for 14th place, with two silver medals and one bronze medal.
Judo
• Maryna Cherniak (48 kg) tied for bronze (with Julia Figueroa of Spain) at the World Judo Masters tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico, on May 27-29. Svitlana Iaromka (78 kg) finished in fifth place, and Victoriia Turks (78 kg) finished in seventh place.
• Georg Khachatrian (66 kg) and Svitlana Iaromka (+78 kg) won bronze medals in their respective weight divisions at the Judo Grand Prix in Samsun, Turkey, on April 1-3. Iryna Kindzerska (+78 kg) finished in fifth place, and Quedjau Nhabali (90 kg) finished in seventh place.
Weightlifting
• Ukraine won 11 medals (six gold, three silver and two bronze) at the European Weightlifting Championships in Forde, Norway, on April 8-16 and finished in third place in the medals standings. Iryna Dekha (75 kg) won three gold medals (115 kg snatch, 135 kg clean and jerk, and 250 kg total), Yulia Paratova (53 kg) won a gold after she lifted 94 kg in the snatch and silver for her total (202 kg) after she put up 108 kg in the clean and jerk. Oleksandr Pielieshenko (85 kg) won gold in the clean and jerk (204 kg), and in the total (372 kg), after winning silver in the snatch (168 kg). Veronika Ivasiuk (58 kg) won silver in the snatch (90 kg) and Ihor Shymechko (+105 kg) won bronze in the snatch (196 kg). Yana Diachenko (48 kg) won two bronze medals – 78 kg in the snatch and 98 kg in the clean-and-jerk.
Ice hockey
• Ukraine’s men’s hockey team won 2-1 against Great Britain on April 23 at Dom Sportova as part of the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division 1, Group B, on April 17-23 in Zagreb, Croatia. Ukraine topped the standings with four wins and one loss, and 12 points (with a goal differential of 20:6). Ukraine lost 1-2 against Lithuania on April 22, won 7-1 against Estonia on April 20, won 4-1 against Croatia on April 18, and won 6-1 against Romania on April 17. The Group A division (Austria, Slovenia, Poland, Japan, Italy and South Korea) competed in Katowice, Poland, on April 23-29. Ukraine’s leading scorer thus far has been Vladyslav Gavryk with three goals and four assists for seven points; Eduard Zakharchenko, Ukraine’s goaltender, topped the standings with six goals against and a 1.21 goals against average, with a 95.35 save percentage. With this latest result, Ukraine advances to Group A of Division 1.
• Ukraine’s U-18 men’s ice hockey team finished in third place in Division I, Group B, at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U-18 World Championship in Asiago, Italy, on April 18-24. After five matches, Ukraine won three, and lost two, with 17 goals for and 15 against to finish with nine points. Other teams in Group B included Hungary, Japan, Slovenia, Italy and South Korea. In the tournament final that was played in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Finland won the gold, Sweden won silver and the U.S.A. won bronze.
• Tom Lysiak, 63, a Canadian-born former NHL All-Star who played 13 season with the Atlanta Flames and with Chicago Blackhawks died on May 30 in Atlanta after losing a battle against leukemia. Born in 1953 in High Prairie, Alberta, as a center forward, Lysiak scored 292 goals and 551 assists in 919 career games. He played in the 1975, 1976 and 1977 NHL All-Star Games and was runner-up for rookie of the year (Calder Memorial Trophy) in 1973-1974 with the Atlanta Flames (who moved to Calgary, Alberta, in 1980). After being traded to Chicago during the 1978-1979 season, Lysiak was the leading scorer for the team in 1980-1981 with 76 points. In 1983 he was suspended for 20 matches – one of the longest in NHL history – for tripping linesman Ron Foyt of the Hartford Whalers. In his junior career at the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Canadian Hockey League, Lysiak notched 297 points in 144 games and won lead scoring titles (Bob Clarke Trophy) in 1972 and 1973, and helped the Tigers to a WCHL title and an appearance at the Memorial Cup in 1972-1973. Darrell Maser, president of the Tigers, said that Lysiak “is definitely considered, by many people, to be the greatest Tiger player of all time.” In 1973 he was the second overall pick in the first round of the 1973 NHL Amatuer Draft and was chosen by the Atlanta Flames and played a season with the Houston Aeros of the Western Hockey Association in 1973 as a second-round 23rd overall pick in the WHA Amateur Draft. Among his known survivors are his daughter, Jessica Lee Lysiak Braun, who is married to San Jose Sharks defenseman Justin Braun.
Athletics
• Vasyl Ivanytskyi won third place in the men’s long jump (7.09 meters) to win 835 points at the 10th TNT Express Meeting in decathalon/heptathlon on June 10-11 in Kladno, the Czech Republic. Ivanytskyi finished in seventh place in the men’s high jump (1.95 meters). In heptathlon, Alina Fodorova finished in first place in the group A of the shot put with a distance of 14.82 meters and Fodorova finished in first place in the third heat of the 200-meter race with a time of 25.16 seconds.
• Igor Glavan won bronze in the IAAF men’s 50-kilometer race walk championships on May 8 in Rome with a time of 3:44:02 seconds, and Ukraine’s men’s team – Glavan, third place, (3:44:02 seconds); Ivan Banzeruk, seventh place (3:51:57 seconds); Sergiy Budza, 18th place, (4:01:23 seconds); and Marian Zakalnytsky, 29th place, (4:13:24) – took second place in the 50-kilometer race.
Paralympic
• Ukraine’s Paralympic swim team won 110 medals (45 gold, 34 silver and 31 bronze medals) at the European Swimming Championship in Funchal, Portugal, on April 30 through May 7. Ukraine’s swimmers set 10 records and surpassed its main rival – Russia – for the first time in several years. “The result is beyond comparison. What makes it even more unique is that our team comprises 45 athletes, and 35 of them are medal-winners. Just think, how important is everyone who took part in the competition,” said Valeriy Sushkevych, presidential commissioner for Rights of People with Disabilities in Ukraine. In the 2016 IPC rankings, Ukraine topped the medal standings with 98 medals – 37 gold, 36 silver and 25 bronze medals.
Mountaineering
• Iryna Galay, 28, from Zakarpattia summitted Mount Everest in Nepal and became the first Ukrainian woman to do so. An alpinist club from Kharkiv reported that Ms. Galay had reached the summit at 4 a.m. local time. Soon after Ms. Galay reached the summit, another Ukrainian woman, Tetyana Yalovchak, was hot on her trail on her way to the top of Everest. Galay is not a professional climber and got into the activity three years ago after she made a bet with a colleague that would be able to summit Mount Kazbek. After she completed that challenge, Galay continued conditioning with summit challenges before attempting the highest peak in the world. Galay was instructed and guided by professional alpinist Viktor Bobok, the first Ukrainian man who has summitted all of the mountain peaks of the world’s seven continents.
Fencing
• Olga Kharlan tied with Charlotte Lembach of France for bronze in the women’s saber division at the European Fencing Championships in Torun, Poland, on June 20. Kharlan lost in the semifinal against Sofya Velikaya of Russia 13-15. Bogdan Nikishin tied for third place with Jean-Michael Lucenay of France in the men’s epee event. Nikishin lost in the semifinal against Yannik Borel of France 8-15. In men’s foil, Yunes Klod finished in eighth place after losing 14-15 against Andre Sanita of Germany in the Round of 16. Olga Leleyko finished in 10th place in the women’s foil event.
Chess
• Hanna Ushenina of Kharkiv won gold in the European Women’s Chess Championship in Mamaia, Romania. President Petro Poroshenko congratulated Ushenina via his social network account, “Ukraine’s Hanna Ushenina has become chess champion of Europe! We’re glad for her with all our hearts and congratulate her on the victory!”