The last time the Winter Olympics were held in North America, in 2002, Ukraine came away with no medals. Things aren’t going much better for Team Ukraine in Vancouver this time round, with no medals in the first week of competition.
Medal hopes, such as figure skating duo Tetyana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov and luger Nataliya Yakushenko, couldn’t deliver the necessary performance on the biggest stage. The best result so far came from Andriy Deryzemlya, who took fifth place in the biathlon sprint event.
Despite the tough start to the games for Ukrainian athletes, there are still hopes that the team will improve on its efforts in Salt Lake City in 2002, with more biathlon and cross-country skiing events ahead that could bring success.
The games opened on Feb. 11 under a cloud after the death of Georgian athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili while practicing for the luge event. Forty-seven athletes are in Canada to represent Ukraine in nine sports – biathlon, cross-country skiing, figure skating, freestyle skiing, luge, ski jumping, snowboarding, Nordic combined and alpine skiing.
Figure skaters Volosozhar and Morozov have a good reputation at top events. On several occasions in recent years, they have placed just shy of the medals at the European and World Championships. They were given only an outside chance of taking a medal here after a weak showing at the European Championships in January. A poor performance in the short program left them in ninth place and out of medal contention. An improvement in the free skating program enabled them to climb to eighth place in what proved to be their final competition together because Morozov announced his retirement.
There was also disappointment in the women’s luge for medal hope Yakushenko. She took a bronze in last year’s world championship, but couldn’t reproduce the same speed, coming in 13th overall.
Cross-country skier Valentyna Shevchenko was a major hope for a medal coming into the Games after her bronze at last year’s world championships. She placed ninth in the 10-kilometer competition this week, despite nursing injured ribs after a fall in training. At her fourth and likely last Olympics, she will go again in her favorite event – over 30 kilometer – on Feb. 27.
Biathlon – a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting – was also seen as a real possibility for medals, but we’ll have to hope that the best is yet to come from Team Ukraine in this sport, too. In the women’s sprint event, the best showing came from Oksana Khvostenko in 11th place. The women’s relay team – which races on Feb. 23 – has a hope for a medal, but given the team’s lack of speed, they’ll need clear shooting to give themselves a chance of climbing onto the podium. Deryzemlya was the standout performer of the week, finishing fifth in the sprint event over 10 kilometers, despite missing two targets in the first round of shooting. Serhiy Sednev, who won a world cup earlier this year in the 20-kilometer individual event, finished 22nd. They’ll have another shot in the longer event late Feb. 18.
Kyiv Post staff writer James Marson can be reached at [email protected].
Upcoming Olympic events with Ukrainian athletes
The Winter Olympics are broadcast on Pershiy Kanal (Channel One). The time difference means true sports fans will have to get ready for some late nights to catch the action live. Fortunately, the channel is running replays of the events at more sociable times. Here is a schedule of events that Ukraine has a shot at a medal in:
Biathlon:
Feb. 19
Individual (women) – 10.12-10.52 (repeat)
Individual (men) – 11.04-11.49 (repeat)
Feb. 21
Mass start (men) – 21.50-22.30
Mass start (women) – 23.00-23.45
Feb.23
Relay (women) – 01.20-02.55 (repeated Feb. 24 at 12.25-13.05 and 13.17-13.57)
Feb. 26
Relay (men) – 21.30-23.05
Cross-country skiing:
Feb. 27
Mass start (women) – 21.45-23.45
For full listings, see Channel One’s web site.
