Ukraine earns nine medals at Goodwill Games (08/02/98)

Ukraine earns nine medals at Goodwill Games

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Twelve days into the 15-day Goodwill Games, Ukraine's favorite color appeared to be silver as the country's athletes earned five silver medals, three bronze and one gold, placing Ukraine fifth in the overall medals count.

World Champion Olena Vitrychenko will go home as the all-around silver medalist in rhythmic gymnastics when she scored 39.657 to Russia's Alina Kabayeva's 39.781 points in the Goodwill Games on July 23. But she will also take home a gold medal in the individual apparatus portion of the competition for her performance with the rope.

In hoop Ms. Vitrychenko was the bronze medalist, while in both clubs and ribbon she was fifth. Ms. Kabayeva took home gold medals in three of the four individual apparatus events: hoops, ribbon and clubs. Completing the picture was yet another Slav, Yevgeniya Pavlina of Belarus, who took second place in hoops, clubs and ribbon and third in rope.

Up-and-coming rhythmic gymnast Tamara Yerofeyeva of Ukraine placed seventh in the rope, tied for sixth in both the hoop and the ribbon, and took fourth in the clubs. She also came in sixth in the all-around scoring. According to those in the know, this is one young athlete to be watched.

Though pole vaulting phenom Sergey Bubka disappointed his fans at the Goodwill Games by no-heighting, Ukraine still managed a medal in that sport - in the women's competition. Anzhela Balakhanova tied for the bronze medal on July 19 with Australian Tatyana Gregorieva. The silver medalist was another Aussie, Emma George, while the gold medalist was Yelena Belyakova of Russia.

Other medalists for Ukraine as the Goodwill Games continued into their second week were: Olena Zhupyna and Svitlana Serbina, who won the silver in the 10-meter platform synchronized diving on July 25.

Ms. Zhupyna paired with Olha Leonova came in fifth in the three-meter springboard synchronized diving on July 27.

In the 10-meter platform on July 26, Ms. Zhupyna, the world champion in that event, finished just out of the medals, placing fourth. Laura Wilkinson of the U.S. was the gold medalist, while Cai Yuyan and Sang Zue of China were second and third. The Chinese duo also took home the gold medal in synchronized platform diving. In the three-meter springboard on July 25 Ms. Zhupyna came in ninth.

In gymnastics, after making it through the first two qualifying rounds, the mixed pair of Olha Teslenko and Roman Zozulia displayed a potentially winning combination, finishing on top in the first rotation of the competition (with Ms. Teslenko performing on the uneven bars and Mr. Zozulia on rings) and fourth in the second rotation (Ms. Teslenko - beam; Mr. Zozulia - pommel horse). In first place were Chinese gymnasts Jie Ling and Xu Huang; in second and third, respectively, were two Russian pairs, Svetlana Khorkina/Aleksei Nemov and Anna Kovalyova/Aleksei Bondarenko.

On July 29, after the compulsory round of the ice dancing competition, which counts for 20 percent of the final score, the pair of Olena Hrushyna and Ruslan Honcharov of Ukraine was in third. The field was led by two Russian pairs, Anjelika Krylova/Oleg Ovsiannikov and Irina Lobacheva/Ilia Averbukh. The competition continues with the original dance on July 30 and the free dance on July 31.

In men's figure skating, Ukraine is not faring as well, with Yevhenii Pliuta in eighth place after the short program on July 29. The top three in the event are Todd Eldredge of the U.S., and Alexei Urmanov and Yevgeny Plushenko, both of Russia. The long program is scheduled for July 31.

As of July 30, Ukraine, which had won nine medals, was tied for fifth place in the medals count, trailing the United States with 80; Russia, 61; China, 18; and Kenya, 13. Also in fifth place were Australia, Belarus, Jamaica and Romania.

The Goodwill Games continue through August 2.