Gymanst Oleh Vernyayev won his second Olympic medal in Rio, with a decisive victory – and Ukraine’s first gold medal – in the parallel bars. The Ukrainian bested American silver medalist Danell Leyva by a score of 16.041-15.900 on August 16. Leyva nailed his final routine, putting him temporarily in first place until Vernyayev put up an incredible 16.041 points with his routine to earn the top spot.
Earlier, Vernyayev had almost dethroned the man he refers to as the “king of gymnastics,” coming ever so close to denying Japan’s Kohei Uchimura a second straight Olympic gold medal in men’s all-around gymnastics. Although Uchimura’s high bar routine sealed the victory, the final results on August 10 showed him beating the young Ukrainian by only 0.099 points.
This was the narrowest margin of victory for the 27-year-old Japanese gymnast since his domination of the all-around event began in 2009, when he won the first of his record six consecutive world titles.
The thought of edging out his Japanese rival crossed Vernyayev’s mind as he awaited for his score after concluding the high bar routine; a small hop in Uchimura’s dismount from the final routine may have cost him a gold medal.
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Bronze medalist high jumper Bohdan Bondarenko.
Uchimura was the first gymnast in 44 years to win all-around gold at two successive Olympics. It is expected a new crop of younger gymnasts, led by Vernyayev, will soon become the new favorites. The European champion in the all-around event and 2014 World Champion on the parallel bars, Vernyayev has already begun to prepare for future competitions.
Vernyayev sat in sixth place after his opening performance in the floor exercise. By the time he finished on the rings, the third of six rotations, he was in first place. Heading into the high bar competition, the final apparatus, Vernyayev led by 0.901 points.
Uchimura went all out with a high-risk/high-reward program which included four release-and-catch moves. His success left no room for even the tiniest of wobbles when Vernyayev’s turn came up. The young Ukrainian countered with a safer routine and ended up on the podium holding a silver medal.
A second gold
Ukraine’s second gold medal of the 2016 Games came on August 18 when canoeist Yuriy Cheban won the men’s C-1 200-meter sprint, finishing with a time of 39.279 seconds (an Olympic Record). In the first heat, Cheban finished in third place (41.220 seconds), and he finished in third place in the semifinal (40.590 seconds). Second place went to Valetin Demyanenko of Azerbaijan (39.493 seconds) and bronze was won by Isaquias Queiroz of Brazil (39.628 seconds).
Silver in team saber, wrestling
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Silver medalist Greco-Roman wrestler Zhan Beleniuk (85 kg).
A loss to Russia in the women’s team sabre finals by a score of 45-30, earned Ukraine still another silver medal. The team comprised Alina Komashchuk, Olena Kravatska, Olena Voronina and star Olha Kharlan. Ukraine defeated South Korea (45-40) and Italy (45-42) on its way to the finals, which were held on August 13.
Political tensions between Moscow and Kyiv reportedly had no effect on either team. There was little intrigue during the finals competition, as the Russian fencers won the first four rounds.
The event was not included in the 2012 Olympics. Ukraine won the gold medal in this event in Beijing (2008).
Kharlan says fencing is a sport of the mind, of intuition and then of the body. The key is to outwit your opponent, always be a step ahead or your opponent will have the upper hand.
Her hometown of Mykolayiv is the site of one of Ukraine’s top fencing training centers. She was raised by sporty parents: her father trained yacht crews and swimmers, while her mother was involved in archery and athletics. Kharlan trained harder for the 2016 Rio Games, sacrificing her private time for the Olympic dream. Training is three hours per day: it starts with a jog, then a workout, followed by personal lessons after lunch.
Ukraine captured its fourth silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics when Zhan Beleniuk (85 kg) triumphed in Greco-Roman wrestling on August 15. The Ukrainian medal favorite did not disappoint with his performance. He defeated wrestlers from Egypt, Bulgaria and Belarus before being stopped by Russian Davit Chakvetadte in a tough and close fight, 9-2.
Bronze in high jump
Ukraine’s high jumper Bohdan Bondarenko won a bronze medal (2.33 meters) on August 16. Bondarenko tied with the final medalists for first place in the qualifier (2.29 meters). In the final, Derek Drouin of Canada won gold with a jump of 2.38 meters, and Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar won silver with 2.36 meters.
Ukraine has a total of eight medals – two gold, four silver and two bronze – and ranks in 21st place in the gold medals standings and overall standings. Ukraine is ahead of North Korea and behind Croatia in the gold medal rankings.
Ukraine concedes in team gymnastics
The men’s gymnastics finals turned into a bizarre moment when Ukraine purposely did not attempt to compete for a medal. The Ukrainian team qualified in seventh place for the eight-team final, but at the end did not even try. Countries select three gymnasts from their five-man squads to compete in the finals. Ukraine picked only two athletes to compete in three of the six events, high bar, parallel bars and rings – not a recipe for success.
Maksym Semiankiv walked up to the high bar, jumped up, grabbed it and then dropped down. He bowed to the audience and walked away. Semiankiv then duplicated this “routine” on the parallel bars.
Everyone was stunned. Ukraine finished 72 points behind Japan, the gold medal winner.
Media reports claimed Ukrainian gymnasts Vladyslav Hryko and Andrii Sienichkin said Semiankiv was injured and could not be replaced. Immediately prior to the event’s start, Semiankiv could not support himself with one of his hands. The Ukrainians claimed there was not enough time to replace him or change the team’s line-up.
International gymnastics federation officials said that if Semiankiv was injured, he could have been replaced if Ukraine had filled out a form and altered its lineup. It appeared as if Ukraine’s strategy was to not compete for a medal.
Some wondered if the team was forfeiting the finals round to keep its gymnasts fresh for the individual round. Others hypothesized Ukraine was allowing star Vernyayev, a competitor in the all-around final and eventual silver medal winner, to rest. Vernyayev competed in only two of six team events.
A second theory had Ukraine purposely protesting an event from the 2012 Olympics when, in the men’s team final, Ukraine was denied a bronze medal after Japan appealed a score on pommel horse which was ultimately changed.
If Ukraine was trying to send a message, it may hurt the team down the road. Ukraine may face punishment similar to another 2012 incident when eight badminton players were thrown out for losing matches to get better future matchups.
Twenty-four hours later on August 9, Vernyayev explained on Instagram that a teammate was actually hospitalized. “There was unpredictable circumstances. We found out that we won’t be competing as a full team 15 minutes prior to start of the competition when one of our team members came back from the hospital. At that point we weren’t able to change our line-up.”
Top-10 finishes
Canoeist Pavlo Altukhov finished in fifth place in the men’s C-1000-meter sprint event with a time of 4:01.587 seconds. In the women’s canoe sprint, Inna Hryshchun and Anastasiia Todorova finished in fourth place in the K-2 500-meter race in 1:45.868 seconds.
In cycling, Lyubov Basova finished in fifth place in the women’s keirin track event.
Judoka Artem Bloshenko (100 kg) finished in fifth place after losing to Ryunoskuke Haga of Japan in the final.
In shooting, Mykola Milchev finished in fourth place in men’s skeet.
In men’s swimming, Andriy Hovorov finished in fifth place in the 50-meter freestyle (21.74 seconds).
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Silver medal-winning women’s saber team Olha Kharlan, Alina Komashchuk, Olena Kravatska and Olena Voronina.
Weightlifters Oleksandr Pielieshenko (85 kg) finished in fifth place with a total of 385 kg, Dmytro Chumak (94 kg) finished in sixth place with 387 kg, and Volodymyr Hoza (94 kg) finished in ninth place with 375 kg.
In women’s weightlifting, Iryna Dekha (75 kg) finished in fifth place with 247 kg, Yulia Paratova (48 kg) finished in eighth place with 179 kg, and Anastasiya Lysenko (+75 kg) finished in 10th place with 263 kg.
Greco-Roman wrestler Oleksandr Chernetskyi (130 kg) finished in ninth place after losing 0-5 against Kajaia of Georgia in the round of 16.
Vernyayev, who won the silver in the men’s all-around, finished in fifth place in the vault (15.316 points), eighth place in the pommel horse (12.400 points) and eighth place in the horizontal bar (13.366 points).
Andriy Protsenko tied with Robert Grabarz of Great Britain for fourth place in the men’s high jump with a height equal to Bondarenko’s jump at 2.33 meters.
Olha Zemlyak finished in seventh place in the women’s 400 meters (51.24 seconds).
Diver Illa Kvasha finished in sixth place in the men’s three-meter springboard with 475.10 points.
Ukraine’s men’s epée team (Anatoly Herey, Dmytro Karyuchenko, Maksym Khvorost and Bohdan Nikishyn) finished in fourth place after losing to Hungary 37-39 in the bronze medal match. Ukraine’s women’s epée team finished in eighth place after a 38-45 loss to France in the seventh-place match.
In synchronized swimming, Lolita Ananasnova and Anna Voloshyna in duet advanced to the final after scoring fourth place in the preliminary round with a combined score of 186.6691 points (93.1358 technical, 93.5333 free routine).
Tennis star Elina Svitolina lost in the quarterfinal against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 2-6, 0-6.
Other notables
Gymnast Ihor Radivilov invented a new vault maneuver that will forever be named after him. He completed the move – a triple flip – on the vault at the Rio Games; per IOC rulings, the move will be named after the gymnast who first successfully performed the move in competition.
Ukraine’s athletes continue to compete in athletics, canoeing, mountain biking, diving, equestrian, rhythmic gymnastics, modern pentathlon, synchronized swimming, triathlon, and men’s and women’s freestyle wrestling events. The Rio Olympics concludes on August 21.