Swimming
• Ukraine dominated the team, combination and highlight events at the FINA Synchro World Series 2017 competition on May 25-28 in Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands of Spain. In the fifth leg of the series, Ukraine collected 183.8718 points in the team routine, ahead of Spain (178.8717) and Kazakhstan (161.2293). Ukraine also won in the same order with Spain and Kazakhstan in the combination routine (90.6001 points) and the highlight routine with 91.8332 points. In duet routine, Anna Voloshyna and Jelyzaveta Yakhno won silver with 180.1179 points. In the solo routine, Voloshyna won silver (181.6459 points). The final two stops of the series are on June 22-24 in Long Island, N.Y., and on September 21-24 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
• Ukraine swept first place in each event at the Canada Open Synchronized Swimming Championships in Toronto on May 5-7. Anna Voloshyna won gold in the women’s technical solo and free solo events, scoring 90.8138 and 92.3000 points, respectively. In the technical duet and free duet, Voloshyna and Jelyzaveta Yakhno won gold in both events, scoring 91.2005 and 91.9667 points, respectively. In the technical team event, Ukraine (represented by Maria Aleksiiva, Vladyslava Aleksiiva, Oleksandra Kashuba, Yana Nariezhna, Anastasiya Savchuk, Ksenia Sydorenko, Voloshyna and Yakhno) won gold (90.5914 points); in the free team event, Ukraine (Maria and Vladyslava Aleksiiva, Valeria Aprielieva, Kashuba, Savchuk, Sydorenko, Voloshyna, Yakhno, with reserve swimmers Iryna Honcharova, Nariezhna and Alina Shynkarenko) won gold (92.6333 points); in the free combination final won gold, 93.0333 points; and in the highlight routine, Ukraine (Maria and Vladyslava Aleksiiva, Aprielieva, Kashuba, Nariezhna, Savchuk, Shynkarenko, Sydorenko, Voloshyna and Yakhno) won gold (90.5000 points).
Fencing
• Bogdan Nikishin won gold in the men’s épée at the Épée Grand Prix in Bogota, Colombia, on May 26. In the final, Nikishin won 7-3 against Marco Fichera of Italy. Olena Kryvytska finished in 10th place in the women’s épée.
• Sergej Rudenko finished in fifth place in men’s épée at the St. Duje Cup in Split, Croatia, on May 20. In the quarterfinal, Rudenko lost 12-15 against Pascal Heidecker of Canada.
• Ukraine’s men’s foil team finished in seventh place at the World Cup of Fencing in St. Petersburg, Russia, on May 5-7. Ukraine won 45-30 against Poland in the seventh-place match.
• Ukraine’s women’s épée team finished in fourth place at the World Cup of Fencing in Rio de Janeiro on May 7. Ukraine lost 37-40 against China.
• Ukraine’s men’s épée team finished in fourth place in the SCNF Reseau Challenge in Paris on May 14. Ukraine lost 22-26 against Japan in the third-place match.
• Olesia Poznyakova finished in ninth place in women’s épée at the Fencing Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria, on May 13. Poznyakova lost 10-15 against Oriana Tovar Karaindros of Colombia in the round of 16.
• Olga Kharlan won gold at the World Cup of Fencing in Tunis, Tunisia, on May 12-14 after defeating Anna Marton of Hungary 15-9 in the women’s saber final. In the women’s team saber competition, Ukraine finished in seventh place with 28 points, after it won 45-22 against Mexico.
• Ukraine’s girls’ and boys’ cadet épée and foil teams lost 26-30 against Hungary at the World Championships in Plodiv, Bulgaria, on April 4. Ukraine lost 27-30 against the U.S.A. in the quarterfinal and ended in eighth place. Nazar Kozhin finished in fifth place in the boys’ cadet épée individual competition, after losing 13-15 against Ryan Griffiths of the U.S.A. in the quarterfinal. Anna Taranenko finished in eighth place in the girls’ cadet foil after losing 6-15 against Amita Berthier of Singapore in the quarterfinal.
• Ukraine finished in seventh place at the Women’s Saber World Cup in Yangzhou, China, on March 26. In the bid for fifth place, Ukraine lost 37-45 against South Korea. The tournament attracted 16 teams.
• Ukraine’s men’s e épée team won silver at the team World Cup in Vancouver, British Columbia, on February 19. Ukraine won 52 points and in the final lost 35-40 against the Czech Republic. In individual competition, Anatolii Herey finished in eighth place with 14 points; in the quarterfinal, Herey lost 12-15 against Yannick Borel of France.
Ukraine finished in fourth place after losing 22-45 against Italy in the women’s saber World Cup event in Athens on February 19.
Biathlon
• Serhiy Semenov finished in fifth place (25:17.7 seconds) in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint at the Biathlon World Cup in Holmenkollen, Norway, on March 17-19. Yulia Dzhyma finished in 10th place (35:21.0 seconds) in the women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start.
• Ukraine’s mixed relay team (Iryna Varvynets, Olga Abramova, Serhiy Semenov and Dmytro Pidruchniy) won bronze (1:12:01.6 seconds) at the IBU World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland, on March 10-12. Ukraine’s single mixed relay team (Anastasiya Merkushyna and Artem Pryma) finished in seventh place (32:36.4 seconds). Iryna Varvynets finished in seventh place in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit (30:27.0 seconds).
• Vita Semerenko, Yana Bondar, Andriy Dotsenko and Ruslan Tkalenko finished in fifth place in the mixed relay (1:15:14.5 seconds) at the IBU World Cup in Otepaa, Estonia, on March 8-9.
• Ukraine (Artem Pryma, Serhiy Semenov, Vladimir Semakov and Dmytro Pidruchnyi) finished in fifth place in the men’s 4×7.5-kilometer relay (1:13:37.5 seconds) at the Biathlon World Cup in Pyeongchang, North Korea, on March 2-5. Pryma finished in 10th place in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint (24:18.8 seconds). Iryna Varvynets, Yulia Dzhima, Valj Semerenko and Anastasiya Merkushyna finished in seventh place in the women’s 4×6-kilometer relay (1:09:02.8 seconds). Yulia Dzhima finished in sixth place in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint (21:44.7 seconds) and seventh place in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit (29:54.6 seconds).
• Ruslan Tkalenko won bronze in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint (24:29.8 seconds) and finished in 10th place in the 12.5-kilometer pursuit (33:13.4 seconds) at the IBU Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland, on March 2-5. Yana Bondar finished in sixth place in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint (19:02.6 seconds)
• Serhiy Telen won silver in the junior men’s 7.5-kilometer sprint (20:43.5 seconds) and finished in seventh place in the junior men’s 10-kilometer pursuit (30:43.7 seconds) and seventh place (18:29.8 seconds) in the junior men’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at the Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia, on February 22-24. Kristina Dmytrenko finished in fifth place in the junior women’s 7.5-kilometer pursuit (28:59.4 seconds), eighth place in the junior women’s 6-kilometer sprint (18:21.7 seconds), ninth place in the junior women’s 10-kilometer individual (36:25.3 seconds) and 10th place in the junior women’s 6-kilometer sprint (21:26.0 seconds). Liubov Kypiachenkova finished in 10th place in the junior women’s 3×6-kilometer relay (17:01.1 seconds). Vitaliy Trush, Taras Lesyuk, Nazarii Cebrynski and Anton Dudchenko finished in sixth place in the junior men’s 4×7.5-kilometer race (1:20:03.8 seconds). Valeriya Dmytrenko, Mariana Brykaylo and Anna Kryvonos finished in ninth place in the junior women’s 3×6-kilometer relay (1:00:04.3 seconds) and Liubov Kypiachenkova, Oksana Kovalenko and Kristina Dmytrenko finished in fifth place in the youth women’s 3×6-kilometer relay (1:01:56.5 seconds). Dudchenko finished in 10th place in the junior men’s 10-kilometer sprint (25:42.9 seconds) and 10th place in the junior men’s 15-kilometer individual (42:08.0 seconds).
Cycling
Andrii Vynokurov finished in ninth place in the men’s keirin final at the 2017 Track Cycling World Championships in Hong Kong on April 12-16.
• Tetiana Klimchenko won gold in the scratch race at the World Cup in Los Angeles on February 24-26. Lubov Basova won silver in the individual sprint and Olena Starikova finished in fourth place. Basov finished in fourth place in the women’s keirin final. Oksana Klyachina and Anna Nahirna finished in ninth place in the women’s madison race. In the men’s races, Andrii Vynokurov finished in seventh place in the men’s keirin final, Taras Shevchuk and Roman Gladysh finished in eighth place in the men’s madison race,
• Judo
Serhii Bilets (81 kg), Sandro Naveriani (66 kg) and and Oleh Veredyba (55 kg) finished in seventh place at the European Cadet Judo Cup in Bielsko Biala, Poland, on May 22-24. In the sixth-place matches, Bilets lost against Johann Lenz of Germany and Naveriani lost against Artjoms Galaktionovs of Latvia, and in the fifth-place match Veredyba lost against Yhonice Goueffon of France.
• Ukraine won five medals (one gold, one silver and three bronze) to finish in seventh palce in the medal standings at the Cadet European Judo Cup in Ploiesti, Romania, on May 6-7. Anastasiia Balaban (40 kg) won gold, Mariia Merkulova (+70 kg) won silver and bronze medalists included Vadym Chernov (60 kg), Marat Kryzhanskyi (81 kg) and Stanislav Semkov (66 kg). Other top-10 finishers were: in seventh place, Danylo Tomashveskyi (55 kg) and Ivan Yreskul (81 kg), and in ninth place, Eduard Shtefanesa (50 kg) and Andrii Zhukov (60 kg). The competition attracted more than 500 athletes from 27 countries.
• Anastasiia Balaban (40 kg) won bronze at the Cadet European Judo Cup in Berlin on April 29-30. Balaban lost in the semifinal against Jente Verstaeten of Belgium. Ukraine finished in 20th place in the medal standings. The tournament attracted nearly 700 athletes from 33 countries.
Vitaliy Osmolovsky (100 kg), a Jesuit deacon studying at the University of California Berkeley, won silver in the Master 2 men’s division at the Judo Senior National Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah, on April 29-30. Deacon Osmolovsky is originally from Zhytomyr, Ukraine, and represented Cal Judo Club. In the final, Osmolovsky lost against Ilyh Vosk of the Kokushi Kai Judo Academy in Fair Lawn, N.J.
• Ukraine finished in third place (three medals, two gold and one silver) at the European Judo Championships in Warsaw on April 20-23. Georgii Zantaraia (66 kg) won gold after defeating Adrian Gomboc of Slovenia and Daria Bilodid (48 kg) also won gold after defeating Irina Dolgova of Russia, Svitlana Iaromka (+78 kg) won silver after losing to Maryna Slutskaya of Belarus. Ukraine also had two fifth-place finishes: Maryna Cherniak (48 kg) and Yelyzaveta Kalanina (+78 kg); and three seventh-place finishes: Anastasiya Turchyn (-78 kg) Iakiv Khammo (+100 kg) and Stanislav Bondarenko (+100 kg). Ukraine’s judo team included nine men and five women. Ukraine’s men’s team tied with Hungary for third place. The tournament attracted competitors from 31 different countries. In team competition, There were 16 men’s teams and seven women’s teams.
• Ukraine won four medals (one gold, two silver and one bronze) at the Judo Grand Prix in Tbilisi, Georgia, on March 31 through April 2. The tournament attracted 250 athletes from 35 countries. Anastasiya Turchyn (78 kg) won gold after defeating Sama Hawa Camara of France. Stanislav Bondarenko (+100 kg) lost against Adam Okruashvili of Georgia and Maryna Cherniak (48 kg) lost against Stefannie Arissa Koyama of Brazil to win silver medals. Svitlana Iaromka (+78 kg) won bronze after winning against Santa Pakenyte of Lithuania.
• Ukraine’s junior team finished in fourth place (one gold, three silver and one bronze medal) out of 24 countries at the Junior European Judo Cup in Athens on March 25-26. Sergii Krivchach (81 kg) won gold, Vladyslav Berezka (+100 kg) won silver, Aleksandr Cherkai (81 kg) won silver, and Vitalii Shepel (90 kg) won silver, and Hievorh Manukian (73 kg) won bronze. The tournament attracted 238 competitors.
• Ukraine won four bronze medals at the Judo Grand Slam in Baku, Azerbaijan, on March 10-12 and finished in 20th place in the medals standings. Stanislav Bondarenko (+100 kg) won bronze after winning against Duurenbayer Ulziibayar of Mongolia, Quedjau Nhabali (90 kg) won bronze after winning against Abdulhagg Rasullu of Azerbaijan, and Svitlana Iaromka (+78 kg) and Yelyzaveta Kalanina tied for bronze. Iaromka won against Larisa Ceric of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kalanina won against Santa Pakenyte of Lithuania. Maryna Cherniak (48 kg) finished in fifth place and Dmytro Kanivets (73 kg) finished in seventh place.
Oleksandr Kruk (90 kg) finished in seventh after losing to Toni Grohn of Germany in the men’s division of the Senior European Judo Cup in Uster-Zurich, Switzerland, on March 11-12.
• Anastasiia Balaban (40 kg) won bronze after defeating Eszter Harmath of Hungary at the Cadet European Judo Cup in Zagreb, Croatia, on March 11-12. Ukraine finished in 17th place out of 31 teams that attracted 792 athletes (487 men, 305 women). Among the top-10 were: seventh-place finishers Yaroslav Knysh (+90 kg) who lost to Jonas Schreiber of Germany, Vadym Nazarenko (73 kg) who lost to Miroslav Ruttkay of Slovakia, Artur Pasichnyk (60 kg) who lost to Yair Elkind of Israel, and Ivan Yureskul (81 kg) who lost against Vasil Dinev of Bulgaria; and ninth-place finishers – Vadym Chernov (60 kg) who lost to Elkind, Mariia Bulashevych (52 kg) who lost against Roos Deurloo of the Netherlands, Ruslana Bulavina (+70 kg) who lost against Laura Fuseau of France, Mariia Merkulova (+70 kg) who lost against Laislaine Rocha of Brazil, and Anna Ostrovka (48 kg) who lost against Britt Koolmoes of the Netherlands.
Ukraine won three medals and finished in second place in the medals standings at the European Judo Union Open in Katowice, Poland, on March 4-5. Bogdan Iadov (66 kg) won gold in the men’s division, and Gevorg Khachatrian (66 kg) won silver, as both were in the final. Serhiy Drebot (73 kg) won bronze after defeating Dansel Gonzalez Martinez of Spain, and Nodar Macutadze (+100 kg) finished in fifth place. Ukraine fielded 29 male competitors in a tournament that attracted 292 athletes from 36 countries.
• Daria Bilodid (48 kg) won gold after defeating Cinta Garcia Mesa of Spain at the European Judo Open Women in Prague on March 4. Anastasiya Sapsai (+78 kg) won bronze after defeating Mercedesz Szigetvari of Hungary. Vasylyna Kyrychenko (+78 kg) finished in fifth place after losing against Sandra Jablonskyte of Lithuania. Ukraine finished in fifth place in the medal standings. The tournament attracted 173 competitors from 26 countries.
• Ukraine finished in fifth place overall with one gold and one silver at the European Judo Open in Prague on March 6. Daria Bilodid (48 kg) won gold after winning against Cinta Garcia Mesa of Spain, and Anastasiia Sapsai (+78 kg) won bronze after defeating Mercedesz Szigetvari of Hungary. Vasylyna Kyrychenko (+78 kg) finished in fifth place. Ukraine fielded a team of 17 competitors in the tournament, which attracted 173 athletes from 26 countries.
• Anastasiia Balaban (40 kg) won gold at the Cadet European Judo Cup in Antalya, Turkey, on March 6. She defeated Muberra Gunes of Turkey in the final. Ivan Yureskul (81 kg) finished in fifth place after losing to Eugen Matveiciuc of Moldova. Ukraine was in seventh place in the medals standings. The tournament attracted 362 (218 male/144 female) athletes from 18 countries.
• Iryna Kindzerska (+78 kg) won gold after defeating Megumi Tachimoto of Japan in the final at the World Judo Grand Prix in Dusseldorf, Germany, on February 24-26. Among Ukraine’s top-10 finishers were: Maryna Cherniak (48 kg) in seventh place, Svitlana Iaromka (+78 kg) in seventh place, Anastasiya Turchyn (78 kg) in seventh place, and Iakiv Khammo (+100 kg) in seventh place. Ukraine finished in eighth place in the medal standings.
• Skiing
U.S. Ski Cross Team member Tanya Prymak finished in 11th place at the World Cup Ski Cross in Chelyabinsk, Russia, on February 25. She finished in 12th place at the World Cup Ski Cross Finals at Blue Mountain in Canada on March 4-5.
Athletics
Ukraine was in 14th place (tied with Germany) in the medal standings with two silver and one bronze at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Brimingham, England, on March 2-4.
Olesya Povh won silver in the women’s 60-meter race (7.10 seconds) and Yulia Levhcenko won bronze in the women’s high jump with a height of 1.94 meters at the European Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, on March 3-5. Serhiy Nykyforov won bronze in the men’s long jump (8.07 meters) and Maryna Kylypko tied with Angelica Bengtsson of Sweden in the pole vault (4.55 meters). Ukraine’s women’s 4×400-meter relay team (Olha Bibik, Tetyana Melnyk, Anastasiya Bryzhina and Olha Lyakhova) won bronze (3:32.10 seconds). Ukraine finished in 16th place in the medals standings (one silver and four bronze). Ukraine 4×400-meter relay team (Danylo Danylenko, Yevhen Hutsol, Oleksiy Pozdnyakov and Vitaliy Butrym) finished in fifth place (3:09.64 seconds) and Hanna Plotitsyna finished in fourth place in the women’s 60-meter hurdles (7.96 seconds), Oksana Okuneva finished in fourth place in the women’s high jump (1.92 meters), Maryna Bekh finished in seventh place in the women’s long jump (6.59 meters). In women’s pentathlon, Alina Shukh finished in eighth place in the women’s long jump (5.90 meters), finished in fourth place in the women’s 800-meters (2:16.29 seconds), and finished overall in 11th place (4,377 points).
Weightlifting
Iryna Lysenko (+90 kg) won silver after lifting a total of 277 kg, with 125 kg in the snatch for silver and 152 kg in the clean-and-jerk for silver at the European Weightlifting Championships in Split, Croatia, on April 2-8. Oleksandr Pielieshenko (85 kg) won gold in the men’s division with a snatch of 175 kg with a total lift of 386 kg. Valentyna Kisil (90 kg) won silver with a total of 240 kg, with a 130 kg lift in the clean and jerk for silver and a division-best lift of 110 kg in the snatch for gold. Mariya Khlyan (69 kg) won silver with a total of 225 kg, (99 kg in the snatch for silver, 126 kg in the clean-and-jerk for bronze). Iryna Dekha (75 kg) won gold in the snatch with a lift of 120 kg, but was disqualified in the clean and jerk to finish in ninth place overall. Mariia Tymoshchuk (63 kg) finished in sixth place with a total of 201 kg (92 kg in the snatch and 109 in the clean-and-jerk). Veronika Ivasiuk (58 kg) finished in fourth place with a total of 206 kg (95 kg in the snatch for silver and 111 kg in the clean-and-jerk). Ukraine’s women weightlifters finished in fourth place in the medal standings (two gold, seven silver and two bronze). In the men’s division, Oleksandr Pielieshenko (85 kg) won gold in the snatch (175 kg), silver in the clean-and jerk (211 kg) and gold in the total of 386 kg. Dmytro Chumak (94 kg) won gold in the clean-and-jerk (214 kg), bronze in the snatch (174 kg) and silver in the total (388 kg, tied with gold medalist Adam Maligov of Russia). Kostiantyn Reva finished in fifth place overall with a lift of 381 kg (165 kg in the snatch for 10th place, and 216 kg in the clean-and-jerk for fifth place). Oleg Proshak (+105 kg) finished in fifth place in the snatch (190 kg), but was disqualified in the clean-and-jerk. Ukraine’s men’s team finished in third place in the medal standings with three gold, two silver and one bronze medal.
Gymnastics
At the 2017 Stella Zakharova Ukrainian International Cup at the Sports Palace in Kyiv on March 30 through April 2, Ukraine won first and second places in the all-around. Yana Fedorova won gold (50.850 points), and Valeriya Osipova won silver (50.200 points). The competition attracted gymnasts from around the world and brought nearly 8,000 sports fans to attend the events. Competition included vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Ukraine also won spots among the top-10: Anastasiya Belyaeva (fourth place), Valeriya Yarmolenko (seventh place) and Anastasiya Budyshkina (eighth place). Fedorova won first place in the vault (13.375) and floor exercise (12.675 points), Osipova won second place in the uneven bars (12.175 points). Anastasiya Bachynska won first place in the junior all-around (53.650 points), scoring first in the vault (12.938), uneven bars (13.175) and floor (13.625). Bachynska, Fedorova and Osipova won the top spot (105.700 points) in the team results, and Ukraine 2 (Belayeva, Budyashkina and Yarmolenko) won third place (98.5000 points).
• Oleh Verniaiev won gold in the men’s all-around at the 2017 Stuttgart World Cup on March 18-19. Verniaiev scored 84.899 points, beating Kazuma Kaya of Japan (84.398), and Sun Wei of China (82.898).
• Oleh Verniaiev won silver at the AT&T American Cup on March 4 in Newark, N.J. Verniaiev scored 85.699 points overall in: floor (13.3 points), pommel horse (14.7 points), rings (14.633 points), vault (14.433 points), parallel bars (15.033 points) and high bar (13.6 points).
• Rhythmic gymnastics
Ukraine hosted the Grand Prix Kyiv Deriugina Cup 2017 on March 17-19. Valentina Sakysova won gold in the individual junior event, Oleksandra Yaremchuk and Khrystyna Pohranychna won silver and bronze, respectively, in the hoop and ball individual program; Pohranychna won gold in the hoop. In the group exercises, Ukraine won silver with 15.80 points and won bronze in the group exercises (hoop, rope and ball, teams of five). In the pre-junior division, Nikol Savina won gold and Vitalina Ivanshchenko won bronze (2007 birth year). In the individual all-around, Victoriya Mazur finished in fifth place in the individual all-around and Pohranychna won gold in the 2003 women’s individual all-around. Yulia Olkhovska finished in fifth place in the individual program and Ukraine won gold in the team all-around with 34.650 points. Mazur won bronze in the hoop final, and Olena Diachenko finished in fourth place in the ribbon final (16.300 points). Victoria Fotieva finished in fourth place in the women’s individual program final (54.050 points), and Ukraine and Israel tied in the final group exercises (15.100 points). Pohranychna won gold in the hoop final (16.050 points), bronze in the ball final (15.600 points), as well as gold in the clubs (16.450) and gold in the ribbon final (16.000 points). Ukraine won silver in the five hoops event (14.600 points) and won gold in the three balls and two ropes event (18.000 points).
• Ukraine won numerous medals at the International Rhythmic Gymnastics Tournament in Ness-Zion, Israel, on February 24-25. Yuliia Olkhovska won gold in the senior hoop division and tied with Viktoriia Fotieva for bronze in ball (14.10 points), won bronze in ribbon (13.20 points) and finished in fifth place in clubs (13.35 points) and ninth place in hoop (11.45 points). Fotieva won gold in clubs (14.90 points) and gold in ribbon (14.20 points) and finished in fifth place in hoop (12.65 points). Anna Sobeshchakova won gold in hoop (15.55 points), bronze in clubs (14.30 points) and finished in seventh place in clubs and eighth place in ribbon (11.30 points). In the senior all-around, Fotieva tied with Larabell Kabrits of Estonia for silver (55.85 points total), Sobeshchakova finished in fourth place (52.55 poitns, and Olkhovska finished in fifth place (52.10 points). In the junior division, Khrystyna Pohranychna won gold in the clubs (15.30 points) and ribbon (14.75 points) and finished in sixth place in ball; Pohranychna won gold in the all-around (hoop 16.20 points; ball 15.40 points; clubs 15.30 points; ribbon 14.75 points; for a total of 61.65 points).
• Ukraine’s junior gymnastics team won 16 medals at the Gracia Fair Cup 2017 in Budapest, Hungary, on February 17-19. In individual events, Ukraine won five gold, four silver medals and one bronze medal. Khrystyna Pohranychna won gold in the junior all-around (hoop 57.70 points, ball 57.700 points, ribbon 57.70 points and clubs 57.60 points). Anastasiia Valentirova and Katerina Demidenko finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Ukraine won gold in the senior group competition (five hoops 15.20 points; two ropes and three balls, 16.450 points) for a total score of 31.650 points, as well as gold in the junior group competition (five clubs – 15.750, 15.950 and 14.750 points for a total of 46.450 points.
• Khrystyna Pohranychna won gold at the Miss Valentine 2017 Rhythmic Gymnastics Competition in Tartu, Estonia, on February 10-12 in the junior all-around (57.500 points; 15.30 hoop; 13.350 ball; 15.250 clubs; and 13.550 ribbon), and Anastasiia Valentirova won bronze (54.050 points; 14.350 hoop; 14.750 ball; 12.750 clubs; and 12.200 ribbon). Viktoriia Onopriienko finished in seventh place, Oleksandra Yaremchuk finished in eighth place and Vlada Niklochenko finished in ninth place. In individual competition, Pohranychna won gold in the hoop final (16.30 points), Onopriienko finished in fifth place. Viktoriia Mazur finished in fifth place in individual ribbon (14.850 points) and Olena Diachenko finished in seventh place (12.350 points). Diachenko won silver in the individual clubs (16.30 points) and Yana Yarosh finished in sixth place (14.450 points). Mazur finished in sixth place in the ball final (14.60 points), and Diachenko and Mazur won gold and silver, respectively, in the hoop final (17.00 and 16.650 points). In the junior individual events, Pohranychna won gold in the ribbon final (15.40 points) and Anna Galasyuk won bronze (13.650 points); Pohranychna won gold in the clubs final (16.150 points) and Nikol Krasiuk won silver (14.70 points); Krasiuk finished in fifth place (13.50 points) in ball and Valentirova finished in seventh place (13.30 points). Yeva Meleschuk won gold in the senior all-around (ball 60.70 points, hoop 60.70 points, clubs 60.70 points, and ribbon 60.70 points) and Yarosh won silver (60.65 points in each discipline).
• Taekwondo
Mykhailo Shelest (+87 kg) tied with Sajjad Mardani of Iran for bronze at the second World Taekwondo Federation President’s Cup 2017 tournament held in Athens on April 26-30. Iryna Romoldanova (46 kg) won silver after losing to Rukiye Yildirim of Turkey.
• Ukraine’s under-21 taekwondo athletes competed at the European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, on April 6-9. In the 87 kg men’s division, Vladislav Bondar won the gold medal after winning against Orkun Atesli of Turkey. Bondar was also named best athlete at the championships. Andrij Garbar won the bronze medal after losing to Atesli in the semifinal 11-14. Ukraine, as a team, finished in eighth place in the medals standings out of more than 50 teams.
• Invicuts Games
Ukraine has selected 30 ATO veterans to compete in the 2017 Invictus Games, an international Paralympic-style multisport competition. Events include wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball and indoor rowing. The competition is set to take place in Toronto in September. Members of the team visited NATO Headquarters in Brussels on April 24, and the team is being sponsored by a NATO Trust Fund project on medical rehabilitation.
• Historic Medieval Battles
Team Ukraine won in the 21 versus 21 Battle of the Nations World Championships in Historic Medieval Battles. The Battle of Nations was hosted on April 29 through May 1 in Barcelona, Spain, by the Historical Medieval Battle International Association. In the 21 versus 21 final, Ukraine defeated Russia, and France won third place. In the women’s three-on-three battle, Ukraine won against Finland and finished with a silver medal. “The battle was very interesting and tough,” said Karina Timchenko of Ukraine. “We knew that it is hard to perform in threes. We were preparing for the victory. In the first wave we lost, but then we made some rearrangements and won. Finnish team was very tough, I think that in the future they will make huge progress and claim a lot of prizes.” The tournament was first hosted in 2010 in Khotyn, Ukraine, and included Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Poland. Since then, it has attracted more than 35 national teams and events include single combat (1-on-1), five-a-side, 21 versus 21, and all versus all. In the women’s sword and buckler 1-on-1, Irina Ilnitskaya won gold and she won bronze in the triathlon duel 1×1 category. Konstantin Nataluha won bronze in the men’s sword and buckler duel 1-on-1 event. Ukraine finished in second place in the medal standings with two gold, one silver and three bronze medals.
• Diving
Kyiv is set to host the 2017 European Diving Championships on June 11-18 at Liko Sports Center. The competition is to feature men’s women’s and mixed events that include springboard and platform, as well as team events.
• Olympics
Discus thrower Olena Antonova, who was awarded a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, had her medal upgraded to silver by the International Olympic Committee. The ruling came after the disqualification of Yarelys Barrios of Cuba, after she tested positive for the banned substance acetazolamide. The IOC informed the Ukrainian Athletics Federation of the change on May 25.