1993: THE YEAR IN REVIEW: Ukraine's rookie sports season (12/26/93)

1993: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Ukraine's rookie sports season

Since it had still not fully joined the world of international sports in 1992 and because of a remarkable run of good luck, Ukraine's competitors enjoyed a very successful rookie season in 1993.

The most spectacular example of good fortune was the sudden and brilliant emergence of Oksana Baiul as the supernova of figure skating. Essentially adopted by her coach, Odessa's Halyna Zmiyevska, Ms. Baiul's verve, fluidity, grace and an incredible ability to perform despite injuries and equipment problems, charmed judges and sportswriters alike, catapulting her into the world spotlight.

After finishing third at the European championships in Helsinki in January, Ms. Baiul took the Worlds by storm with her performance in Prague in March and then toured North America with an exhibition slate of champions that included Viktor Petrenko, the 1992 Olympic champion, who is also coached by Ms. Zmiyevska.

Later in the year, with amateur status restored to Mr. Petrenko, the two skaters performed well in pre-1994 Olympic tune-ups, both placing first at the Skate America competition in Dallas on October 24. They also won at the Ukrainian national championships on December 18, where European champion Dmytro Dmytrenko placed second.

At the world gymnastics championships in April, Hryhoriy Misiutyn took the gold in the floor exercise, Ihor Korobchynsky took silver in parallel bars. Tetiana Lysenko took gold in the vault, winning bronze in the over-all competition.

1993 was the first year that Ukraine's track and field athletes competed under their own flag as an independent team in an international event. The first such event was the International Amateur Athletic Federation's World Indoor Championships, held in Toronto on March 12-14. Inessa Kravets of Dnipropetrovske brought the point home with a world record triple jump, leading a 13-member contingent that won five medals (her gold and four bronze).

A fuller slate of athletes was fielded at the World University Games in Buffalo, held from July 8 to 18. Powered by Ukraine's great depth in men's and women's gymnastics and good showings in swimming, diving, fencing and athletics, the team's 26 medals (11 gold, six silver, nine bronze) earned it sixth place. Ms. Lysenko took gold in the over-all gymnastics competition and expressed satisfaction that she was able to do it for her newly independent country. Other standouts included Oleksander Klymenko in shotput and Serhiy Holubytsky in fencing.

Valeriy Borzov, Ukraine's minister of sport and former Olympic track star, accompanied the contingent and traveled to Atlanta to inspect the facilities being prepared for the 1996 Summer Olympiad. Mr. Borzov met with Larissa Barabash Temple, head of the Atlanta Ukrainian Olympic Committee, established in April and given formal status as a foreign representation of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee.

Donetske's world-beating pole vaulter Serhiy Bubka had a relatively quiet year, but did set a U.S. outdoor record in May. He also won at the World Track and Field Championships in Stuttgart (August 12-22), his fourth world title, in itself a record.

Zhanna Tarnopolska dominated the Grand Prix circuit in the 200 and 400 meters, consistently placing in the top five in every race, but at the Worlds did not make it past the semi-finals. However, Vitaliy Kyrylenko took third in the long jump and Larysa Berezhnaya placed second in the event.

The Ukrainian Olympic effort got another boost when Adidas, the German-based sporting equipment company, agreed in October to supply the team with gear at both the Winter and Summer Olympics.

However, the effort suffered a potentially disastrous setback when Tetiana Dorovskykh, one of the world's greatest middle distance runners, and Liudmyla Dzhigalova, a 400-meter relay gold medalist at the Barcelona Olympics, were hit with bans for steroid use.

Pennilessness is usually a considerable drawback in yachting, a sport of kings, but in the Odessa's case, it seemed to bring Captain Anatoliy Verba, the crew and the vessel a strange kind of charm. It was sufficient, at any rate, to draw sponsorship from Ted Turner Jr., the media magnate's son, and interest from the media in Florida and the widely read Sports Illustrated and even NBC's "Good Morning America" program.

Sufficient funds were raised in time for the Odessa to make the start of the Whitbread 'round the world race, which began in England on September 25. It was joined at the starting line by another entry from Ukraine, giving the country two ships out of a field of 14, the Hetman, captained by Yevhen Platon and plagued with similar financial difficulties.

Ukraine's junior women's volleyball squad made waves around the world, placing second to Cuba at the international championships in Brasilia, and repeating the feat later in the year.

In tennis, Greg Rusedski of Pointe Claire, a suburb of Montreal, Quebec, became the first Canadian player in 14 years to win a tournament on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, when he captured the Newport Hall of Fame Championship in July. Andrei Medvedev, an ethnic Russian born in Kyyiv, rose as high as eighth in the world men's tennis ranking, reaching the semi-finals of the French Open and sounding off, unfavorably, about the changes in his country and about his dislike for being referred to as "Ukrainian."

Vladimir Poulnikov put in a strong performance for the Carrera Jeans-Tassoni team in the Tour de France cycling competition, but sagged in the late going and finished 27th. Nevertheless, he enjoyed a strong season, and placed as high as 12th over-all during the race.

Ukraine entered four competitors in the World Judo Championships held from September 30 to October 3 in Hamilton, Ontario. Mr. Mashurenko made it to the finals of a repechage round, which earned him fifth place in the 86 kg class.

On the whole, Ukraine showed considerable promise in sports this year, but the storm clouds are gathering. Minister Borzov warned about "funding fatigue" that is sapping the country's strength in athletics and said the country's sports infrastructure faces many obstacles. After this year, Ukraine's fans should brace themselves for a sophomore slump.

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