Judo
• Mykyta Matashevskyi (90 kg) won silver and Oleh Ovcharenko (66 kg) won bronze at the Junior European Judo Championship on September 15-17 in Maribor, Slovenia. Leonid Gasyuk (+100 kg) and Karo Marandian (66 kg) finished in fifth place, and Iryna Khryashchevska (70 kg), Vitalii Shepel (90 kg), Hievorh Manukian (73 kg) and Aleksandr Cherkai (81 kg) finished in seventh place. In men’s team competition, Ukraine lost 2-3 in the second round against Azerbaijan.
• Georgii Zantaraia (66 kg) finished in fifth place at the World Senior Championships in Budapest, Hungary, held on August 28 through September 2. The tournament attracted 731 athletes from 126 countries. In team competition, Ukraine lost 1-5 against Japan in the second round.
• Anastasiia Balaban (40 kg) won bronze in the women’s cadets at the World Championships in Santiago, Chile, on August 9-13. Vadym Chernov (60 kg) finished in fifth place and Vadym Velkov (90 kg) finished in seventh place. The tournament attracted 428 competitors from 64 countries.
• Ukraine won 14 medals (five gold, one silver and eight bronze) at the Veterans European Judo Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, on June 15-18. Gold medalists included: Sergiy Balaban (M2, 90 kg), Illya Chymchyuri (M3, 90 kg), Oleksii Ovcharen-ko (M4, 100 kg), Maksym Shapovalov (M3, 66 kg) and Viktor Yerokhov (M1, 100 kg). The lone silver medalist was Kostiantyn Ananchenko (M2, 81 kg); and bronze medalists were: Serhii Hladkyi (M1, +100 kg), Artem Ilienko (M1, 60 kg), Mykhailo Kovalov (M2, 100 kg), Sergii Lipilin (M2, 66 kg), Roman Mykhailov (M1, 90 kg), Petro Stepanchuk (M7, 100 kg) and Denys Stetsen-ko (M2, 90 kg). The competition attracted 32 men’s teams (675 athletes) and 19 women’s teams (115 athletes) from 32 countries.
• Ukraine finished in second place in the medal standings (two gold, one silver and three bronze medals) at the European Judo Open for men and women on June 3-4 in Bucharest, Romania. Gold medalists included: Gevorg Khachatrian (66 kg) and Galyna Tarasova (+78 kg); the silver medalist was Vasylyna Kyrychenko (+78 kg); and bronze medalists included: Andrii Kolesnyk (+100 kg), Anton Savytskiy (100 kg), and Anastasiia Sapsai (+78 kg). Fifth-place finishers included Dmytro Kanivets (73 kg), Vadym Synavsky (90 kg) and Shushana Hevondian (57 kg). Seventh-place finishers included Denys Bilichenko (60 kg) and Sergii Zvieriev (+100 kg). The tournament attracted 376 competitors (244 male, 132 female) from 29 countries.
Paddle sports
• Ukraine’s Maria Kichasova and Anastasia Gorlova won gold in the women’s K2 200-meter race (0:36.527 seconds) at the European Canoe Sprint Championships on July 14-16 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Ukraine finished in eighth place in the medal standings with one gold and three bronze medals. Mariia Kichasova, Anastasiia Todorova, Mariya Povkh and Inna Hryshchun won bronze in the women’s K4 500-meter race (1:31.624 seconds), Ivan Semykin and Igor Trunov won bronze in the men’s K2 500-meter race (1:28.436 seconds), and Dmytro Ianchuk and Taras Mishchuk won bronze in the men’s C2 500-meter race (1:38.956 seconds).
• Ukraine won two gold medals in the junior division at the 2017 ECA Canoe Sprint European Championships for Juniors and U-23 in Belgrade, Serbia, on June 22-25. Dmytro Danylenko won gold in the junior men’s K1 500-meter sprint (1:42.704 seconds) and Denys Filatov won gold in the junior men’s C1 200-meter canoe sprint (0:42.934 seconds).
In the U-23 division, Ukraine finished in first place with six gold, two silver and two bronze medals. Oleh Kukharyk won gold in the men’s K1 1,000-meter race (3:31.824 seconds) and gold in the men’s K1 500-meter race (1:39.092 seconds); Pavlo Altukhov won gold in the men’s C1 500-meter race (1:49.384 seconds) and silver in the men’s C1 1,000-meter race (3:50.892 seconds); Yuri Vandiuk and Andrii Rybachuk won bronze in the men’s C2 1,000-meter race (3:40-288 seconds). Vandiuk, Rybachok, Artem Balandin and Oleh Borovyk won gold in the men’s C4 500-meter race (1:34.756 seconds); Liudmyla Luzan won gold in the women’s C1 500-meter race (2:15.896 seconds); Vandiuk and Rybachok won silver in the men’s C2 500-meter race (1:45.528 seconds); Ivan Semykin won bronze in the men’s K1 200-meter race (0:35.578 seconds); and Kyryloa Chernomorov and Semykin won gold in the men’s K2 200-meter race (0.33.268 seconds).
Basketball
• Ukraine finished in fourth place in Group B of the EuroBasket 2017 tournament in Istanbul and was eliminated on September 9 in the knock-out stage after its 55-79 loss against Slovenia, the tournament champions. Ukraine lost 63-75 against Germany on August 31, lost 66-78 against Italy on September 2, won 88-81 against Georgia on September 3, lost 62-94 against Lithuania on September 5 and won 88-64 against Group B host nation Israel on September 6. Ukraine finished in the tournament in 15th place.
• Ukraine won third place at the 3×3 Basketball European Championships in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on July 7-9 after it won 20-18 against Serbia. Latvia finished in first place, followed by Slovenia in second place. Ukraine finished with a 4-1 record.
Synchronized swimming
• Anna Voloshyna won bronze in the women’s solo free routine event at the FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on July 14-30. Voloshyna finished with 93.300 points. In the technical solo routine, Voloshyna finished in fourth place (92.3596 points); in duet, Ukraine (Volosyna and Yelyzaveta Yakhno) won bronze (92.6482 points). Oleg Kolodiy and Illya Kvasha won bronze in the men’s synchronized 3-meter springboard event (429.99 points). Kolodiy finished in sixth place in the men’s 1-meter springboard event (419.05 points), Maksym Dolgov and Oleksandr Gorshkovozov finished in fifth place (416.31 points) in the men’s 10-meter platform synchronized diving event.
Deaflympics
• Ukraine finished in second place in the medal standings (99 medals, 21 gold, 42 silver and 36 bronze) at the 2017 Summer Deaflympics in Samsun, Turkey, on July 18-30. Oleksanr Kostyuk won gold in the men’s 10-meter air rifle. In women’s judo, Anna Shostak (52 kg), Kateryna Avdieieva (57 kg) and Kateryna Shepeliuk (63 kg) won gold medals; Mariia Korniichuk (78 kg) won silver and Oksana Kravchenko (+78 kg), Kseniia Dovbyshchuk (48 kg) and Maryna Pogorelova (70 kg) won bronze medals. In men’s judo, Dmytro Sheretov (73 kg) won gold and Anton Slushnyi (+100 kg) and Vladyslav Mozyrev (66 kg) won bronze. Ukraine’s mixed team of Mozyrev and Shepeliuk won bronze in the mixed Kata team event. Ukraine’s women’s team won gold in the team event, and Ukraine’s men’s team tied with Iran for bronze. In athletics, Dmytro Vyshynskyi won gold in the 100-meters and silver in the 200-meters, Yuliia Shapoval won silver in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, Anastasiia Sydorenko won silver in the women’s 5,000-meter race and bronze in the women’s 1,500-meter race, Viktoriia Kochamryk won silver in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, and Dmytro Rudenko won bronze in the men’s 400-meter race. Ukraine won silver in the 4×100-meter relay races for men and women, as well as the 4×400-meter relay races for men and women. Kateryna Potapenko won silver in the heptathlon, and Rymma Filimonshkina won silver and Yuliia Kysylova won bronze in the women’s hammer throw. Mariia Synobii won silver in the women’s marathon race, and Volodymyr Danylchenko won bronze in the men’s triple jump. Ukraine won bronze in men’s basketball, gold in men’s beach volleyball (quads) and silver in men’s doubles, and bronze in women’s doubles. Ukraine’s men’s bowling team (of five) won silver and the women’s bowling team won bronze; and in trios, the women’s team won gold and the men’s team won silver. Ukraine’s men’s soccer team (football) won silver. The competition attracted more than 3,000 athletes from 97 countries in 21 sports.
Mountain biking
• Yana Belomoina won the fifth round of the Elite group of the 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup (cross-country Olympic) in Mount St. Anne in Quebec on August 5-6. Belomoina races for the CST Sandd American Eagle racing team. This was her third win of the season, having earned 1,050 points. In this latest race, she finished with a time of 1:17.50 seconds. Belomina won gold in the third round of the women’s elite race on July 1-2 in Vallnord, Andorra, won bronze fourth round on July 8-9 in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, and won silver in the sixth round on August 26-27 in Val di Sole, Italy.
Hockey
• Former Edmonton Oilers player Dave Semenko died at the age of 59 on June 29. The Winnipeg Native won two Stanley Cups with the team alongside other Ukrainian players like Dave Gretzky. The Oilers announced the death on their website, “It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Oilers Legend Dave Semenko after a short, but courageous battle with cancer. Dave will be remembered as a fierce competitor, loyal friend, fan favorite and dear friend to so many. His legendary toughness on the ice is surpassed only by his kindness and caring for others, and his equally legendary wit and sense of humor. Our hearts go out to Dave’s family and many friends.” Semenko played for seven seasons with Edmonton before playing for the Hartford Whalers and the Toronto Maple Leafs, with his career ending in 1988.
Archery
• Ukrainian Americans Illya Buynevich and Eugene Luciw, representing Tryzub Striltsi (Ukrainian American Sports Center Tryzub), won gold and bronze, respectively, at the State Games of America that were held on July 21 through August 4 at various venues in Harrisburg-Hershey, Pa. Buynevich scored 716 out of 900 points in the male recurve division, and Luciw scored 567 in the over-50 division. The two archers added to the total for Pennsylvania, which won the tournament with 471 medals.
Universiade
• Ukraine has won 36 medals (12 gold, 11 silver and 13 bronze) and finished in sixth place in the medals standings with 179 athletes competing in Taipei for the 2017 Summer Universiade, held on August 19-30. Among the first to arrive were members of the soccer team and water sports. The tournament attracts 12,000 athletes from 160 countries, who compete in 22 different sports. They include badminton, basketball, baseball, water polo, diving, volleyball, golf, judo, track and field, table tennis, swimming, weightlifting, wushu, fencing, football, gymnastics (rhythmic and artistic) and billiard sports. In 2016, Ukraine won 31 medals (eight gold, 17 silver and six bronze medals) and was ranked eighth among 146 countries.
In fencing, Ksenya Pantelyeva lost 13-14 in the semifinal against Kamila Pytka of Poland in the women’s epée. Dmytro Chuchukalo won silver in men’s foil after winning 15-13 against Alessandro Paroli of Italy. Chuchukalo won gold in the men’s foil after winning 15-14 against Kyosuke Matsuyama; Rostyslav Hertsyk won bronze in men’s foil fencing after losing 6-15 against Matsuyama. Ukraine’s women’s epée team won gold after winning against the United States in the final.
Ilona Olkhovyk (60 kg) won bronze in the wushu event.
Ukraine’s men’s artistic gymnastics team (Vladyslav Hryko, Petro Pakhniuk, Igor Radivilov, Oleg Verniaiev and Yevgen Yudenkov) won silver in the team competition (257.900 points), with events in floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar; Pakhniuk won silver in the parallel bars. Verniaiev won gold in the men’s all-around (88.300 points, and won silver in the pommel horse, vault and bronze in the rings) and Yudenkov finished in sixth place (83.525 points).
In men’s judo, Andrii Kolesnyk (+100 kg) won bronze after winning 1-0 by Wazari against Ruan Isquierdo Da Silva of Brazil. Anastasiya Shevchenko (63 kg) lost 0-1 against Valentina Kostenko of Russia in the bronze medal match in the women’s division to finish in fifth place.
In swimming, Ukraine’s Mykhailo Roman-chuk won gold in the men’s 400-meter freestyle (3:45.96 seconds, a Universiade record), silver in the men’s 800-meter freestyle (7:46.28 seconds) and won silver in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle (14:57.51 seconds). Sergii Frolov won bronze in the men’s 800-meter freestyle (7:51.06 seconds). Mariia Liver tied with Jessica Matira Eriksson of Sweden for bronze in the women’s 50-meter breaststroke (31.50 seconds). Andrii Govorov won gold in the men’s 50-meter butterfly (22.90 seconds) and Andriy Kloptsov tied for bronze in butterfly with Mar de Souza of Brazil (23.54 seconds). Ukraine’s Oleksandr Goroshko-vozov and Maksym Dolgov finished in fourth place (385.71 points) in the men’s 10-meter synchronized platform dive. Oleg Kolodiy finished in seventh place (391.05 points) in the men’s 1-meter springboard.
Iryna Romoldanova (46 kg) won gold in women’s taekwondo after winning 5-3 against Kyriaki Kouttouki of Cyprus.
Stanislav Oliferchyk and Viktoriya Kesar won silver (284.64 points) in the mixed synchronized 3-meter springboard.
Ukraine’s rhythmic gymnastics team (Maryna Makarova, Valeriia Gudym, Daria Sych, Anastasiya Podrushnyak and Alina Bykhno) won gold in the group all-around (33.550 points; five hoops, 17.550 points, three balls and two ropes, 16.00 points); Kateryna Lutsenko won silver in the individual clubs (16.525 points) and bronze in the individual hoop (16.400 points); while Ukraine won bronze in the group event of three balls and two ropes (15.550 points). Lutsenko finished in eighth place in the ribbon event (13.750 points) and sixth place in ball (15.150 points).
In athletics, Inna Kasyna won gold in the women’s 20-kilometer walk; Oksana Okunieva won gold in the women’s high jump (1.97 meters); Ukraine won gold in the women’s team 20-kilometer walk; Olga Liakhova won silver in the 800-meter race; Iryna Gerashchenko won silver in the women’s high jump (1.91 meters); Ukraine won bronze in the men’s team 20-kilometer walk; and Olena Kolesnychenko won bronze in the women’s 400-meter hurdles.
In weightlifting, Ukraine’s Yaroslav Zabolotnyi (62 kg) finished in sixth place in the men’s division, with a 120 kg in the snatch and 140 kg in the clean and jerk, for a total of 260 kg; Anhelina Lomachynska (48 kg) finished in seventh place (73 kg in the snatch and 87 kg in the clean and jerk (160 kg total). Iryna Dekha (90 kg) won gold and set a Universiade record on all three marks in the women’s weightlifting (111 kg in the snatch and 135 kg in the clean and jerk, for a total of 246 kg) and Tetiana Kachan (63 kg) finished in eighth place in women’s weightlifting (88 kg in the snatch, 111 kg in the clean and jerk, for a total of 199 kg).
Ukraine’s men’s volleyball team finished in fourth place after losing 1-3 against Japan in the bronze medal match (22-25, 25-21, 22-25, 21-25). Ukraine’s women’s volleyball team won bronze after winning 3-1 against Chinese Taipei in the bronze medal match (14-25, 25-13, 25-14, 25-21).
In men’s soccer, Ukraine finished in seventh place after winning 2-0 against Argentina.
Paracanoe
Ukraine won two gold and one silver medal at the 2017 ECA Paracanoe European Championships on July 15 in Plovid, Bulgaria. Nataliia Lahutenko won gold in the women’s VL2 200-meter race (1:05.580 seconds) and finished in fourth place (58.556 seconds) in the women’s KL2 200-meter sprint. Serhii Yemilianov won gold in the men’s KL3 200-meter race (38.100 seconds). Mykola Syniuk won silver in the men’s KL2 200-meter race (42.180 seconds). Maryna Mazhula finished in fifth place (1:02.556 seconds) in the women’s KL1 200-meter sprint. Volodymyr Velehun finished in fifth place (59.072 seconds) in the men’s VL2 200-meter race and in seventh place in the men’s KL2 200-meter race (46.468 seconds).
Wrestling
• Ukraine won one silver and one bronze medal at the World Championships in Paris on August 21-26. Andriy Yatsenko (57 kg) won bronze in the men’s freestyle. Yulia Tkach (63 kg) won silver in the women’s freestyle. Dmitry Timchenko (98 kg) finished in fifth place after losing by decision against Balazs Kiss of Hungary.
• Yuliya Tkach (63 kg) won bronze at the Poland Open tournament on July 8 in Warsaw. Tkach tied with Taybe Yusein of Bulgaria.
Artistic gymnastics
• Oleg Verniaiev and Petro Pakhniuk won gold (15.250 points) and silver (15.000 points), respectively, in the men’s parallel bars event at the 2017 Paris Challenge Cup on September 16-17. Diana Varinska won third place (14.050 points) in the women’s uneven bars final. Varinska also won third place in the women’s floor exercise (13.250 points). Petro Pakhniuk won second place in the men’s floor exercise (14.150 points) and Oleg Verniaiev finished in eighth place in the same event (12.900 points). Pakhniuk finished in fourth place in the men’s pommel horse (14.200 points), Verniaiev won third place in the men’s rings (14.800 points), Igor Radivilov won second place in the men’s vault (14.775 points), with Verniaiev in third place (14.775 points). The tournament attracted more than 200 athletes from 40 countries.
Mixed martial arts
• Strawweight Maryna Moroz (8-1-0, 2 KO) lost by unanimous decision after three rounds against Carla Esparza (11-3-0, 3 KO) of the U.S.A. at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City on June 25.