PHILADELPHIA – Ukraine’s national Alpine ski team competed on February 2-16 at the FIS World Championships at Beaver Creek-Vail in Colorado. Coached and trained by Tim Ershov and Ales Brezavzcek, Ukraine’s Alpine ski team members at the championships included three men, Rostyslav Feshchuk, Dmytro Mytsak and Ivan Kovbasnyuk, and three women, Bogdana Matsotska, Tetyana Tikun and Olha Knysh.
As reported in a previous article (February 15), a sponsorship by the Ukrainian American Sport Center Tryzub aided the Ukrainian team’s appearance at the world championships. On January 31, the Denver area Ukrainian American community, along with the local pastor, the Rev. Vasyl Hnatkivsky, greeted the skiers at Transfiguration of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church. Community members Bohdan Fedynsky and Orest Pazuniak marshalled the effort to assist the Ukrainian team with room, board and other such issues, as they arose.
The Ukrainian Ski Federation’s secretary general, Julia Siparenko, submitted the following report.
A positive experience for skiers and coaches
For the athletes and coaches it was a very positive experience. Our skiers personally experienced the spirit of a major Alpine skiing event that was organized on a very high level. They learned a lot from the top racers and organizers; they are very eager now to train hard and to reach for the heights.
Ukrainian National Alpine Ski Team members, (from left) Bogdana Matsotska, Tetyana Tikun, Dmytro Mytsak and Ales Brezavscek (coach), were greeted by the Denver area Ukrainian American community at Transfiguration of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church Hall.
On an emotional level, the assistance they received from the Ukrainian American Sport Center Tryzub and its most gracious representatives, and the moral support and interaction they had with the Ukrainian American community as a whole infused the skiers with a new level of courage, enthusiasm and confidence. It made the whole event so much more meaningful and colorful for them and for the entire federation.
“Such nice people!” Such plain and simple words were the most often repeated by the athletes and coaches after coming back home.
Jane Manchon
Father Vasyl Hnatkivsky and Denver area Ukrainian Americans greet the Ukrainian National Alpine Ski team at Transfiguration of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church Hall.
We deem the competition results, on the other hand, as satisfactory, given the dramatic events and circumstances of the past and current year at home. Out of a field of only 46 ladies that qualified for the super G event, two were Ukrainian women. It should be noted that several rather strong national alpine teams failed to qualify a skier for this event: Slovakia, Bulgaria, Great Britain and Russia sat on the sidelines. The ladies also finished just shy of their goals to reach the top 30. Bogdana Matsotska finished in 35th place, while Tetyana Tikun finished 38th.
Dmytro Mytsak was the only man on the team who qualified for the super G race. He delivered a nice run in his first world championships, but finished in 63rd position. Olha Knysh, our other rookie in the world championships, captured a 55th place finish in the slalom.
Ivan Kovbasnyuk showed great persistence and a goal-oriented focus, as he qualified for both the giant slalom and the slalom. He finished in 37th position in the latter event. Despite being very ill, Rostyslav Feshchak appeared for his races, but his poor health showed in the results.
Unfortunately, given the difficult times in Ukraine, we cannot realistically set any concrete future training and competition plans for next season. Surely, we will hold our National Championships at the Krasiya ski resort in March.
In the meantime, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to all who helped our athletes, and through them Ukraine, to participate in the world championships.