This is the conclusion of the final Sportsline update for 2017. This is the second part of a two-part series, prepared by Matthew Dubas.
Marathon
• Ten Ukrainian servicemen who were wounded in the ATO area of eastern Ukraine and now undergo rehabilitative treatment in the United States ran a 10-kilometer race and a marathon at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington on October 22. Ukraine’s team won 10 medals and earned a congratulatory message from President Petro Poroshenko. Established in 1976, the MCM is currently the fourth largest marathon in the U.S. and the ninth largest in the world. More than 30,000 representatives from more than 50 countries officially participate. This was the second consecutive year that the Ukrainian team took part in the race.
Judo
• Stanislav Bondarenko (+100 kg) finished in seventh place at the Masters St. Petersburg 2017 tournament in St. Petersburg, Russia, on December 16-17. The tournament attracted more than 140 athletes from 35 countries.
• Georgii Zantaraia (66 kg) finished in seventh place at the IJF Judo Grand Slam tour in Tokyo on December 1-3.
• Daria Bilodid (48 kg) won gold at the IJF Judo Grand Prix on November 17-19 in the Hague, the Netherlands. Anastasiya Turchyn (78 kg) finished in seventh place, after losing 0-1 in the quarterfinal against Luise Malzahn of Germany. In the fifth-place match, Turchyn lost 0-1 against Anna Maria Wagner of Germany. Ukraine finished in sixth place in the medals standings, out of 43 countries.
• Kateryna Pylypiuk (40 kg) won silver at the EJU Cadet European Judo Cup on November 18-19 in Gyor, Hungary. Daryna Liashuk (44 kg) finished in fifth place, and Ihor Adamchuk (81 kg) finished in ninth place. Ukraine finished in 13th place out of 26 countries. The tournament attracted 316 competitors (202 men, 114 women).
• Oleksandr Gordiienko was eliminated by Andy Granda of Cuba in the round of 16 at the 2017 World Judo Open in Marakesh, Morocco, on November 11-12. Andrii Kolesnyk was eliminated in the second round against Levani Matiashvili of Georgia. Iakiv Khammo was eliminated in the second round by Adlan Bisultanov of Russia. The tournament attracted 58 athletes from 28 countries.
• Ukraine’s Under-23 judo team of 13 athletes finished in fifth place in the medal standings (one gold, one silver and one bronze) at the U-23 European Judo Championships in Podgorica, Montenegro, on November 10-12. Vasylyna Kyrychenko (+78 kg) won gold after defeating Raz Hershko of Israel in the final. Anazstasiya Turchyn (-78 kg) won silver after losing to Maria Anna Wagner of Germany in the final, and Artem Lesyuk (60 kg) won bronze. Ukraine had three seventh-place finishers, including Artem Khmula (73 kg), Anton Savytskiy (100 kg) and Bohdan Zusko (81 kg). The tournament attracted more than 300 competitors from 40 different countries.
• Ukraine’s cadet judo team won six medals (two gold, three silver and one bronze) and finished in third place in the medal standings at the Koper Cadet European Judo Cup 2017 in Koper, Slovenia, on October 28-29. Marat Kryzhanskyi (81 kg) and Lev Smagin (73 kg) won gold; Vadym Nazarenko (73 kg), Vadim Velkov (90 kg) and Anastasiia Balaban (44 kg) won silver; and Eduard Shtefanesa (55 kg) won bronze. The competition attracted 264 athletes from 17 countries.
• Anastasiya Turchyn (78 kg) won gold in the women’s division at the Judo Grand Prix in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on October 6-8. She defeated Beata Pacut of Poland in the final.
• At the World Championships for Juniors and Teams in Zagreb, Croatia, on October 18-21, Hievorth Manukian (73 kg) finished in fifth place, Aleksandr Cherkai (81 kg) and Vitalii Shepel (90 kg) finished in seventh place.
Diving
• Oleg Serbin and Yevhen Naumenko won bronze (347.58 points) in the men’s 10-meter synchronized platform dive at the 2017 FINA Diving Grand Prix in Singapore on November 3-5. Serbin finished in fifth place (332.45 points) in the men’s 10-meter platform dive.
• Yevhen Naumenko and Oleg Serbin finished in fourth place (333.96 points) in the men’s 10-meter synchronized platform dive at the 2017 FINA Diving Grand Prix in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 26-29.
Skydiving
• Fourteen Ukrainian skydivers participated in a world record jump that included 219 skydivers in October. The skydivers made multiple group formations after jumping from 10 aircraft at a height of 5,500 meters. Each jumper was provided with oxygen due to the altitude of the jump.
Strongman
• Viktor Posudevsky set a new Ukrainian record on October 29 in Kyiv by pulling a 21.5-ton gasoline-filled truck 19.5 meters in 51.98 seconds. Posudevsky competes in the 95 kg group and weighs 92 kg. He had prepared for the record since March of this year. Posudevsky plans to run the same distance next year with either an additional gas tanker or a 10-ton increase of one fuel truck.
Cycling
• Hanna Solovey won silver (23 points) at the Track Cycling World Cup in Pruszkow, Poland, on November 5.
Swimming
• Mykhailo Romanchuk won gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle final (14:14.59 seconds) at the 2017 European Short Course Championships in Copenhagen on December 15. Andriy Hovorov won silver in the men’s 50-meter butterfly and Daryna Zevina won the silver medal in the women’s 200-meter backstroke.
• Mykhailo Romanchuk finished in eighth place in the men’s 400-meter medley at the FINA/Airweave Swimming World Cup in Beijing on November 10-11.
Wrestling
• Vasyl Mykhaliov (74 kg), Murzai Mchedlidze (97 kg) and Danylo Kartavyi (125 kg) won bronze medals in men’s freestyle at the Senior U-23 World Wrestling Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on November 21-26. In men’s freestyle, Andrii Yatsenko (57 kg) finished in seventh place, Illia Archaia (86 kg) finished in eighth place and Ali Zakariiev (70 kg) finished in ninth place. In team rankings for men’s freestyle, Ukraine finished in fifth place. In Greco-Roman, Andrii Antoniuk (80 kg) won bronze, and Ruslan Mahomedov (85 kg) finished in fifth place. Ukraine’s women wrestlers won second place in the team standings with 47 points. Ilona Prokopevniuk (60 kg) won silver, Alina Akobiia (55 kg), Tetyana Kit (58 kg) and Anastaiia Shustova (75 kg) won bronze medals, Khrystyna Bereza (53 kg) finished in fifth place, Iryna Koliadenko (63 kg) finished in seventh place, Oksana Livach (48 kg) finished in eighth place and Alla Belinska (69 kg) finished in 10th place. The tournament attracted participants from 50 countries – 41 teams in men’s freestyle, 41 teams in Greco-Roman and 30 teams in women’s wrestling.
Gymnastics
• Oleg Verniaiev won gold in the men’s all-around (58.050 points) at the Arthur Gander Memorial in Morges, Switzerland, on November 1. It was Verniaiev’s fourth consecutive gold win since he has competed at the tournament. Diana Varinska won bronze in the women’s all-around (39.950 points). Igor Radivilov finished in seventh place in the men’s all-around (54.600 points).
• Oleksandra-Maria Tabachynska and Yuliia Pylypiak won gold in the junior women’s all-around at the 28th European Championships in Acrobatics Gymnastics in Rzeszow, Poland, on October 19-22. Olena Vykhavanets, Inna Kaplanska and Iryna Khyzhniak won bronze in the women’s final group all-around. Tabachynska and Pylypiak won bronze in the women’s pair balance, and won gold in the women’s pair dynamic. Vykhyvanets, Kaplanska and Khyzhniak won silver in the women’s group balance. Ukraine’s junior women’s team finished in third place in the medal standings (two gold, one silver and two bronze). In the senior division, Vladyslav and Stanislav Kukurudz, Yurii Push and Taras Yarush won bronze in the men’s all-around group final. The Kukurudz brothers, Push and Yarush won bronze in the men’s group dynamic event. Ukraine finished in sixth palce in the senior division medal standings with two bronze medals. Fourteen countries participated in the senior division, and 15 countries participated in the junior division.
• At the ninth European Age Group Competition, Mykolai Zemlianyi and Ivan Khazhanets won bronze in the men’s 12-18 age group pair event on October 13-15 in Rzeszow, Poland.
• Ukraine’s artistic gymnastics team (six men and four women) won two silver medals at the 2017 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Montreal on October 2-8. Oleg Verniaiev won silver in the men’s parallel bars, and Ihor Radivilov won silver in the men’s vault final. Ukraine finished in ninth place in the medal standings out of 13 competing countries. Verniaiev finished in eighth place in the men’s individual all-around (83.997 points), with a seventh-place finish in pommel horse (13.700 points). Radivilov finished in sixth place in the rings (14.933 points). Diana Varinska finished in sixth place in the women’s uneven bars (14.583 points).
Paralympics
• Ukraine won first place at the 2017 International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football CP Football World Championships in San Luis, Argentina, on September 2-24 after winning 1-0 against Iran in the final. Ukraine was in Group D with the United States, Northern Ireland and Australia, finished with nine points after three matches played (three wins, with 15 goals for and none against; 5-0 against Northern Ireland, 8-0 against Australia and 2-0 against the U.S.), and advanced to the playoff stage. In the quarterfinal, Ukraine won 7-0 against the Netherlands, and in the semifinal won 4-2 on penalty kicks against Russia after a 2-2 draw in regulation time. The tournament attracted 16 teams.
Olympics
• Biathlete Vita Semerenko of Ukraine was awarded a silver medal by the International Olympic Committee on November 28. Olga Vilukhina of Russia, who won silver in the sprint at the 2014 Olympic Games, was stripped of her medal after testing positive for a banned substance. Semerenko won the bronze medal in the sprint at the 2014 Games.
• The Ukrainian National Anti-Doping Center announced that it would join a number of national anti-doping organizations calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Russia from participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics. On September 14 the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations held a special meeting in Denver to discuss Russia’s accountability for one of the biggest doping scandals in sports history. NADO called on the IOC to ban Russia from participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics. The statement noted Russia’s proven corruption at the Sochi Olympic Games and continuing failure in its obligations to clean sport, adding “a country’s sports leaders and organizations should not be given credentials to the Olympics when they intentionally violate the rules and rob clean athletes.” Other countries supporting the measure were Austria, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Athletics
• High jumper Yuliia Levchenko, 19, was named the female Rising Star by the European Athletics Association Golden Tracks Awards on October 14 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Levchenko won the European U-23 high jump gold medal in Bydgoszcz, Poland, and silver medal at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London, and a bronze medal at the European Indoor Championships in Belgrade. “I am very excited. I want to thank everyone for their votes, I want to thank everyone who participated in this award. I want to express my gratitude to my family and also to the coach and my manager. They do a lot for our mutual success. This award is very important for me. The 2017 season was not so easy. Thank you, European Athletics for this beautiful evening. Athletics is the queen of sports. I fell in love with athletics seven years ago and the sport has made me who I am.”
Boxing
• Lightweight Denys Berinchyk (8-0, 5 KO) won by sixth-round KO against Allan Vallespin (11-2, 8 KO) of the Philippines in a fight that was scheduled for 12 rounds on December 16 at the Ice Palace “Terminal” in Brovary, Kyiv. Also that evening, featherweight Oleg Malinovsky (22-0, 6 KO) won by first-round KO against David Berna (13-2, 12 KO) of Hungary. Berynchyk picked up the WBO Oriental lightweight title and Malinovsky picked up the WBO European title.
• Lightweight Ivan Redkach (20-3-1, 16 KO) lost by fourth-round KO against John Molina Jr. (30-7, 24 KO) of the U.S.A. on December 15 at Pioneer Event Center in Lancaster, Pa. The fight was scheduled for 10 rounds.
• Welterweight Eduard Skavynskyi (8-0, 6 KO) won by seventh-round TKO against Vaginak Tamrazyan (12-4, 3 KO) of Russia on December 12 in Ekaterinburg, Russia
• Super bantamweight Arnold Khegai (12-0-1, 9 KO) won by 10th-round KO against Valery Tretyakov (11-2, 4 KO) of Russia. Cruiserweight Ismayl Sillakh (25-5, 19 KO) lost by first-round KO against Aleksei Papin (9-0,8 KO) of Russia on November 27 at the Luzhniki Sports Palace in Moscow.
Mixed martial arts
• Strawweight Svetlana Gotsyk (10-3, 2 KO) won by split decision after five rounds against Simona Soukupova (6-6, 3 KO) of the Czech Republic at the Kyiv Sports Palace on December 14. The fight was for the World Warriors Fighting Championship title as part of the WWFC 9 tournament.
Biathlon
• Vladislav Koshovets finished in ninth place (47:40.4 seconds) in the men’s 15-kilometer individual race at the IBU Junior World Cup on December 15-16 in Ridnaun-Val Ridanna, Italy.
• Vita Semerenko and Valj Semerenko won third place and seventh place, respectively, in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint (21:41.0, 22:06.4 seconds) and in eighth and ninth places, respectively, (31:33.9 seconds, 31:34.8 seconds) in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit at the IBU World Cup in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand, France, on December 14-17.
• Volodymyr Semakov finished in third place for bronze in the men’s 20-kilometer individual race at the IBU World Cup in Obertilliach, Austria, on December 14-17. Yuliya Zhuravok finished in eighth place (45:36.7 seconds) in the women’s 15-kilometer individual race. Ukraine’s single mixed relay team (Zhuravok and Artem Pryma) won bronze (39:56.1 seconds) in the single mixed relay, and Ukraine’s mixed relay team (Olga Abdramova, Nadiia Belkina, Semakov and Dmytro Pidruchnyi) finished in ninth place (1:13:38.8 seconds) in the mixed relay. Pidruchnyi and Pryma finished in sixth and seventh places, respectively, in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint (25:18.1 seconds, 25:28.1 seconds). Vita Semerenko won bronze in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint (21:41.0 seconds) and Valj Semerenko finished in seventh place (22:06.4 seconds).
• Ukraine’s women’s team (Vita Semerenko, Yuliya Dzhima, Valj Semerenko and Olena Pidhrushna) won silver in the 4×6-kilometer relay (1:15:21.3 seconds) at the BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon 2 in Hochfilzen, Austria, on December 5-15. Vita Semerenko finished in fourth place (25:15.4 seconds) in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint and Dzhima finished in sixth place (35:39.2 seconds) in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit. Ukraine’s men’s team (Artem Pryma, Serhiy Semenov, Volodymyr Semakov and Dmytro Pidruchnyi) finished in sixth place (1:24:45.8 seconds) in the men’s 4×7.5 kilometer relay.
• Ukraine’s women’s relay team (Vita Semerenko, Yuliya Dzhima, Valj Semerenko and Olena Pidhrushna) won silver in the women’s 4×6-kilometer relay at the BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon 2 in Hochfilzen, Austria, on December 5-10. Yuliya Dzhima finished in sixth place in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit and Vita Semerenko finished in fourth place in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint. Ukraine’s men’s relay team (Artem Pryma, Serhiy Semenov, Volodymyr Semakov and Dmytro Pidruchnyi) finished in sixth place in the men’s 4×7.5-kilometer relay.
• Ukraine’s single mixed relay team (Olga Abramova and Artem Tyshchenko) finished in sixth place (38:46.0 seconds) at the IBU Cup Biathlon 2 in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, on December 7-10. In the mixed relay, Ukraine (Yuliia Zhuravok, Mariia Panfilova, Maksym Ivko and Andriy Dotsenko) won fourth place (1:19:45.0 seconds). Abramova and Zhuravok, won silver and bronze, respectively, in the women’s 7.5 kilometer sprint (23:11.9, 23:14.0 seconds). Tyshechenko finished in sixth place in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint (25:30.4 seconds) and in eighth place in the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit (35:10.9 seconds). Zhuravok finished in sixth place (32:11.9 seconds) in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit.
• Liubov Kypiachenkova finished in sixth place (24:42.3 seconds) in the junior women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at the Biathlon Junior Cup 1 in Obertilliach, Austria, on December 8-10. Vladyslav Koshovets finished in 10th place (27:26.4 secnds) in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint. Bogdan Tsymbal and Serhiy Telen finished in sixth and ninth places, respectively, in the junior men’s 10-kilometer sprint (25:52.9, 26:03.6 seconds).
• Ukraine (Vita Semerenko and Dmytro Pidruchnyi) and came in sixth place (36:51.9 seconds) in the single mixed relay at the BMW IBU World Cup in Oestersund, Sweden, on November 24 through December 3. In the mixed relay, Ukraine (Semerenko, Olena Pidhrushna, Serhiy Semenov and Artem Pryma) finished in 10th place (1:13:45.9 seconds). Yuliya Dzhima won bronze (43:09.4 seconds) in the women’s 15-kilometer individual and Valj Semerenko finished in fourth place (43:27.5 seconds) in the same event. Dzhima also won bronze in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint (20:14.4 seconds). Pidhrushna finished in ninth place (31:42.7 seconds) in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit.
• Anastasiya Merkushyna finished in 10th place (21:27.8 seconds) in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at the IBU Cup Biathlon 1 in Sjusjoen, Norway, on November 22-26. Ukraine’s single mixed team (Olga Abramova, Vitaliy Trush) finished in 10th place (40:24.7 seconds).
Fencing
• Ukraine’s junior women’s épée team finished in sixth place at the World Cup on December 17 in Burgos, Spain. In the fifth place match, Ukraine lost 43-45 against Poland.
• Olga Kharlan won gold in the women’s saber event at the Saber Grand Prix in Cancun, Mexico, on December 15. In the final, Kharlan won 15-6 against Arianna Errigo of Italy.
• Olena Kryvytska finished in sixth place in the women’s épée event at the Qatar Grand Prix in Doha on December 10. Kryvytska lost 11-15 in the quarterfinal against Mara Navarria of Italy. Bogdan Nikishin finished in fifth place in the men’s épée after losing 14-15 in the quarterfinal against Paolo Pizzo of Italy.
• Ukraine’s men’s épée team finished in 10th place at the team World Cup event in Legano, Italy, on November 19. Ukraine lost 26-27 against Spain.
• Olga Kharlan won gold in the women’s saber event at the World Cup in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, on November 17-19. In the final, Kharlan won 15-6 against Rossella Gregorio of Italy. Ukraine’s women’s saber team finished in seventh place at the team won 45-38 against Spain in the seventh-place match.
• Andrii Scherba finished in 10th place in the men’s foil at the Martinengo Memorial Tournament in Bratislava, Slovakia, on November 18. In the ninth-place match, Scherba lost 9-15 against Uladzislau Lahunou of Belarus.
• Ukraine’s women’s épée team finished in seventh place after winning 42-41 against Italy at the World Cup in Suzhou, China, on November 12.
• Ukraine’s men’s foil team finished in seventh place after it won 45-23 against China at the World Cup in Tokyo on November 12.