Klochkova captures two golds for Ukraine

by Peter Shmigel
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

SYDNEY - Ukraine's Yana Klochkova ruled the pool on September 16 when she broke the world's record for the women's 400-meter individual medley and won Ukraine's first gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games. Three days later the 18-year-old swimmer from Kharkiv captured Ukraine's second gold by winning the 200-meter individual medley.

As of September 21, Ukraine had earned nine medals at the XXVII Summer Olympiad: two gold, four bronze and three silver, placing 10th thus far in the overall medals count.

On the first day of competition after the opening ceremonies of the Sydney Olympic Games, Ms. Klochkova smashed the old world record, which had stood since 1997, and the old Olympic record, which had stood since 1980, turning in a time of 4:33.59 in the 400-meter individual medley. Her performance marked the first of many record-setting times registered by swimmers in the first days of the Sydney Olympics.

In the lead for every stroke of the race, Ms. Klochkova finished nearly 2.5 seconds ahead of silver medalist Yasuko Tajima of Japan (4:35.96). Romania's Beatrice Caslaru took the bronze (4:37.18). Sports commentators noted that the Ukrainian swimmer had not a single weakness in her strokes. One NBC analyst observed that she is "the epitome of an IM [individual medley] swimmer."

Ms. Klochkova dominated the lead up to the final with the fastest qualifying times by far. Following her first-place finishes at the European Championships in Helsinki earlier this year, Ms. Klochkova was considered a strong candidate for Olympic gold.

On September 19 she won another gold medal, this one in the women's 200-meter individual medley, setting a new Olympic record with a time of 2:10.68. Nearly two seconds behind her was Ms. Caslaru of Romania with a time of 2:12.57; Cristine Teuscher of the United States earned the bronze with a time of 2:13.32.

Undeniably Ms. Klochkova can be said to own the individual medley. She is considered also to be a contender in the upcoming 800-meter freestyle.

Ms. Klochkova, who stands 5 foot 11 inches tall and weight 152 pounds, can be considered one of the early and very successful products of an independent Ukrainian sports program, as she started to swim only in 1989. She trains with the Dynamo sports club.

Among Ukraine's men swimmers, Denis Sylantiev of Zaporizhia Oblast led the way with a silver medal in the 200-meter butterfly, with a time of 1:55.76. American Tom Malchow, who turned in an Olympic-record setting time of 1:55.35, won the gold medal, while Justin Norris of Australia, who swam in 1:56.17, took the bronze. Mr. Sylantiev is considered a top contender also in the 100-meter butterfly.

A cycling accident and a medal

World champion track cyclist Iryna Yanovych, one of Ukraine's hopes for a gold medal, was injured after being struck by a motor vehicle during an outdoor training ride on September 15. The accident severely hampered Ms. Yanovych's range of movement in one shoulder and saw her relegated to ninth place in the women's track cycling pursuit competition on September 17.

Ms. Yanovych was side-swiped on a suburban Sydney street, fell from her bicycle and landed on her shoulder, suffering severe bruising and muscular damage.

Local police rushed Ms. Yanovych to Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, where she was initially examined. She was then returned to the Olympic Village, where she was treated by the Ukrainian delegation's head doctor.

Though Ms. Yanovych's shoulder was significantly impaired by the injury, she was determined to ride on.

That determination paid off on September 20 when she won the bronze medal in the women's sprint. France's Felicia Ballanger and Russia's Oxana Grichina took the gold and silver, respectively. Ms. Yanovych, who hails from Luhansk Oblast, is a member of the Kolos sports club.

Gymnastics: men place, women don't

In gymnastics, one of the sports in which Ukraine was expected to field strong teams, the men's squad composed of Oleksander Beresh, Oleksander Svitlychnyi, Roman Zozulia, Valerii Honcharov, Valerii Pereshkura and Ruslan Mezentsev, won the silver medal - a medal that was particularly gratifying as it represented a victory over the Russian team, which earned the bronze. China captured the gold medal in the September 18 event.

Two days later, Ukraine's top male gymnast, Mr. Beresh of Kherson Oblast, won the bronze in the individual all-around competition placing behind gold medalist Alexei Nemov of Russia and Yang Wei of China. Mr. Beresh's teammate Oleksander Svitlychnyi of Luhansk Oblast came in fifth, ahead of the top U.S. finisher, Blaine Wilson, who was sixth. Fourth place was taken by Ivan Ivankov of Belarus.

Ukraine's women did not fare as well, as the team finished in sixth place, behind Romania (gold), Russia (silver), China (bronze), the United States (fourth) and Spain (fifth). Viktoria Karpenko, Tetiana Yarosh, Olha Rozschupkina, Halyna Tyryk, Olha Teslenko and Olena Kvasha make up Ukraine's Olympic squad in gymnastics, some of whose members still have a chance at medals in individual events. Ms. Karpenko of Kherson Oblast and Ms. Rozschupkina of Zaporizhia Oblast will compete on uneven bars, while Ms. Yarosh, who hails from Kirovohrad Oblast, will perform on the balance beam.

In the women's all-around, swept by Romania's athletes, Ukraine could do no better than Ms. Rozschupkina's finish in eighth place. Ms. Karpenko came in 12th and Ms. Tyryk was 23rd in the field of 36 competitors.

Other medalists

Ukraine's men's cycling team of Oleksander Symonenko, Serhii Matveyev, Oleksander Fedenko and Serhii Cherniavskyi captured the silver medal in the team pursuit competition on September 19 with a time of 4:04.520.

In the semifinals the Ukrainian team had turned a time of 4:00.830, which set a new world record. That record stood for one hour, until the German foursome of Guido Fulst, Robert Bartko, Daniel Becke and Jens Lehmann came in with a time of 3:59.710 in the gold medal race against Ukraine.

In third place was Britain, which won the bronze medal race against France with a time of 4:04.50 in the 4,000-meter event.

In addition to the bronze medals won in gymnastics and cycling, Ukraine's third bronze was in judo, in the men's middleweight (90 kg) group. Ruslan Mashurenko, who hails from Volyn Oblast, tied for third place in the event with Frenchman Frederic Demontfaucon. The gold medal was awarded to Mark Huizinga of the Netherlands, and silver went to Carlos Honorato of Brazil, who defeated reigning world champion Hidehiko Yoshida of Japan.

Ukraine earned all three of its bronze medals on September 20.

The next day Ukraine earned its fourth silver medal as Team Ukraine - Olena Sadovnycha of Kyiv Oblast, Kateryna Serdiuk of Kharkiv Oblast and Natalia Burdeina of Odesa Oblast - came in second in archery. The South Korean team took gold, while Germany got the bronze.

In other news, Oleksander Bahach, the 1996 Olympic bronze medalist and 1999 world indoor shot-put champion who hails from Kyiv Oblast, was suspended from competition in Sydney after he tested positive for steroids for a third time. His suspension was announced on September 19 after a meeting of the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

Welcoming ceremonies

Ukraine's Olympic team had been welcomed on September 14 to both Sydney's Olympic Village and the Ukrainian Australian community amid brilliant Australian sunshine.

With some 200 members of the delegation present in their navy blue and khaki dress uniforms, young Aboriginal dancers performed a traditional ceremony of greeting. The president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine (NOCU), Ivan Fedorenko, was presented with a hand-crafted "message stick" - a symbol of friendship in Aboriginal culture. Ukraine's national flag was then raised for the first time in the Olympic Village, as its national anthem was played.

Following the Village ceremony, delegation members traveled to the Ukrainian Youth Hall in the suburb of Lidcombe, the base of Sydney's Ukrainian Australian community, only two kilometers from Olympic Park. There, with traditional bread and salt, some 500 members of the local community greeted their Ukrainian visitors and athletes, including Yevhen Braslavets, a gold medalist in sailing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Ukraine's athletes and officials received best wishes for success in their sporting endeavors from Jaroslav Duma, president of the Ukrainian Council of New South Wales (the top state body); Stefan Romaniw, president of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations (the top national body); Roman Dechnicz, attaché to the NOCU and chair of the local support committee; Wasyl Korzachenko, Ukraine's consul general to Australia; and the local Ukrainian Catholic and Autocephalous Orthodox Churches.

Many young members of the youth organizations SUM and Plast grabbed up the magazines profiling Ukraine's athletes that were being distributed by the delegation.

Mr. Braslavets, who later served as the flag-bearer for Ukraine during the opening ceremonies of the XXVII Summer Olympiad, addressed the gathering on behalf of Ukraine's athletes and expressed their gratitude for the Ukrainian Australians' support.

Mr. Fedorenko thanked the local community, as well as acknowledged the Ukrainian government's efforts in contributing to the preparation of the 400-strong delegation. He noted that the delegation was likely to be the largest single group of Ukrainians ever to visit Australia.

"The Olympic Games are a real opportunity for unprecedented ties between Ukraine and the diaspora in Australia," the NOCU chief underlined.

Following the formal program, many proceeded downstairs to the Ukrainian Social and Cultural Club bar for some traditional hospitality, including vodka toasts, song and kovbasa. In making acquaintances, athletes and officials chatted about the particular challenges of Ukrainian-style elite-level sport.

A rowing coach, for example, described one Western European nation's custom-designed and built craft as worth much more than Ukraine's entire annual training budget. Others just used the time to unwind.

One athlete commented with a few days to go before the start of his competition: "Today's not a training day for me, so it should be okay. After all, we have to be with our brothers!"

Opening ceremony a hit

"Brilliant."
"Done with impeccable taste and style."
"The most impressive I have seen in attending four Olympiads."
"Australia really surprised us with the opening ceremony."
"Very significant that an Aboriginal woman lit the torch - it says a lot about your country."

These were the reactions of Ukraine's delegation to the opening spectacular staged by Australian organizers.

The team members, though, complained that athletes could not see some of the opening ceremony while in staging areas before marching out.

Also, Ukrainian officials were concerned that Ukraine and others were placed at a disadvantage by adhering to the International Olympic Committee rule that athletes shall not carry small national flags during their march. (Some delegations carried little flags despite the regulation.) This is an issue that the IOC will be considering after the Sydney Games.

Roma Hadzewycz contributed to this report.

UKRAINE'S MEDALS AT A GLANCE

(listed by date)

September 16

September 18

September 19

September 20

September 21

TOTAL: Nine medals - two gold, four silver, three bronze.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, September 24, 2000, No. 39, Vol. LXVIII

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