Ukrainian athletes participated in 315 sports events in 2017, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports, winning dozens of gold medals and setting world records. The Kyiv Post has picked the 10 best victories of the year.
3 boxing wins
Ukrainian boxing stars — Vasyl Lomachenko, Oleksandr Usyk and Oleksandr Gvozdyk — went to the United States in April and came back with victories. Usyk, 30, defeated U.S. boxer Michael Hunter and defended the World Boxing Organization’s cruiserweight champion. Gvozdyk beat Cuban Yunieski Gonzalez and retained his North American Boxing Federation light heavyweight title. WBO junior lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko retained his belt, defeating U.S. boxer Jason Sosa after a nine-round fight.
Jason Sosa (L) exchanges punches with Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine during their WBO Super Featherweight World Championship bout at The Theater at MGM National Harbor on April 8 in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (AFP)
Making money, ending career
There was only one Ukrainian among the world’s highest paid athletes, a yearly top 100 rating by Forbes magazine. Former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, 41, ranked No. 98, earning $21.5 million this year. Wladimir Klitschko retired from boxing in August after a 21-year career. He had 64 wins in 69 bouts, losing his last fight to British boxer Anthony Joshua. He joined his brother Vitali, the Kyiv mayor, in retirement, who stopped boxing in 2015. Thus ends the “Klitschko era,” nearly a decade of dominance in the heavyweight boxing division by the brothers.
Tennis star
The tennis match between Ukrainian Elina Svitolina and France’s Caroline Garcia in the quarterfinals of the China Open tournament in October was recognized as the best of 2017 by the Women’s Tennis Association. In September, Svitolina set a national record when she rose to No. 3 in the WTA rating. She finished the season at No. 6.
Paralympic pride
The Ukrainian Paralympic football team for the fifth year became the world’s champion among players with cerebral palsy. The team performed brilliantly at the biathlon and cross-country skiing World Cup, winning 56 awards and taking first place in the all-time medal table among 18 participants. Ukraine’s national football team won the non-Olympic World Championship among athletes with vision impairment.
The Ukrainian Paralympic football team poses for a photo after winning play against Iran during the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic games on Sept. 16 in Brazil (Press service of the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine)
Invictus Games
The Ukrainian team took part for the first time in the Invictus Games, a sports event that hosted more than 550 wounded soldiers from several nations. Athletes competed in such sports as athletics, powerlifting, swimming, archery, rowing on simulators, cycling on the highway. They won 14 medals, including eight golds.
Track & field records
At the European Athletics U20 Championships in Italy, Ukrainian track and field athletes set two records. Heptathlete Alina Shukh won the gold medal, scoring 6,381 points. Glib Piskunov won the gold medal in throwing a 6-kilogram hammer with a record 81.75 meters.
Rising star
Ukrainian high jumper Yulia Levchenko was named the European Athletics Rising Star of the Year by International Association of Athletics Federation. She is the 2017 World Championship silver medalist and the 2017 European U23 champion. She is No. 2 in the Women’s High Jump World Rankings for the season of 2017.
Wroclaw
Ukraine’s team at the World Games in Wroclaw, Poland, demonstrated the best performance in its history of participation, winning 25 medals. Larisa Solovyova, 38, proved herself in powerlifting, winning the World Games for the fourth time. Ukrainians have also won gold medals in each of five martial arts on the program: karate, sumo, Thai boxing, jiu-jitsu and kickboxing. Overall, Ukraine has taken the fifth place in the medal table.
Ukrainian powerlifter Larisa Solovyova performs at the World Games in Wroclaw, Poland. Solovyova won the gold medal for the fourth time. (theworldgames2017.com)
Freerunning art
Oleksandr Titarenko rocked the freerunning world in October: Ukrainian athlete won in Red Bull Art of Motion on Santorini’s Oia village with 415 points, the best score in the competition’s history.
Chess star
Anna Muzychuk won the gold medal at the European Women’s Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship in Monaco, winning all of her 11 games. n
