October 13, 2017

Team Ukraine’s triumphant debut at 2017 Invictus Games

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Team Ukraine

Team Ukraine in Toronto, where the 2017 Invictus Games were held on September 23-30.

In its first year competing, Team Ukraine quickly became the star of the 2017 Invictus Games. A joyous gathering of Ukrainian Canadians met the Ukrainian contingent at Toronto’s airport, singing the Ukrainian national anthem. The triumvirate of England’s Prince Harry, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko effusively praised Team Ukraine at the games’ world press meet-and-greet.

Team Ukraine was composed of only 15 athletes, but these were 15 fiercely determined to make Ukraine proud in Toronto. The veteran-athletes received much attention, as both Prime Minister Trudeau and President Poroshenko were in Toronto after the annual opening of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City just days prior. Two prominent Canadian politicians, Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland and Member of Parliament Borys Wrzesnewskyj spoke Ukrainian when welcoming the Ukrainian squad.

Ukraine’s first medal at the games was won by Serhiy Torchynskyy in shotput.

Mykola Swarnyk

Ukraine’s first medal at the games was won by Serhiy Torchynskyy in shotput.

A direct result of the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine, ongoing for over three years, is a significant number of wounded and ill Ukrainian soldiers and veterans. Therapy, recovery and returning to civilian life are quite challenging after the horrors of war compounded by being sick or injured. Finding and receiving support for the wounded is made more difficult by the military and economic warfare waged by Russia against Ukraine.

It really was all about the athletes. Team Ukraine’s athletes served as an inspiration simply because they came and competed. Their athletes were seen to be more than ill, wounded or injured on the world stage. The world viewed Team Ukraine as a vivid reminder of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – these wounded warriors were real, and this was personal. For seven September days the consequences of this war were publicized online, on television and in newspapers throughout the world. People asked who these injured veterans were, and how they got injured. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a “forgotten war” only to those who wish to forget. Ukrainian athletes competing at the Invictus Games served as a definitive reminder of the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Swimmer Pavlo Budaevskiy won four gold medals.

Mykola Swarnyk

Swimmer Pavlo Budaevskiy won four gold medals.

The third Invictus Games took place in Toronto on September 23-30. This is a parasport event for wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel and their associated veterans that was created in 2014 by England’s Prince Harry. The 2017 Games brought together over 550 competitors from 17 nations, including newcomers Ukraine and Romania. Ukraine earned the right to compete in the Invictus Games because of its active participation in numerous military training exercises and United Nations peacekeeping operations, and as a country whose soldiers took part in military operations during the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine.

There was competition in 11 adaptive sports: archery, athletics, indoor rowing, powerlifting, road cycling, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, wheelchair rugby and, for the first time, the sport of golf.

Ukraine wins 14 medals

Speaking of debuts, the first-time competitors exceeded expectations by winning a total of 14 medals: eight gold, three silver and three bronze. Twenty-eight-year-old Ukrainian soldier Pavlo Budaevskiy won four gold medals in swimming, coming in first in four events: 50m and 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 50m breaststroke. Other gold medalists were Oleh Zymnikov (IT7 1500m run), Oleksandr Pysarenko (IR6 sprint rowing), Vasyl Pushkevych (middleweight powerlifting) and Roman Panchenko (novice recurve archery).

Ukraine’s archers (Kateryna Mykhailova, Roman Panchenko and Valeriy Rak) won a silver medal in team competition. Other silver medalists included Oleksandr Tkachenko (IT7 400m run) and Dmytro Sydoruk (mixed open recurve archery). Bronze medalists were Serhiy Torchynskyy (IT4 shotput), Vadym Svyrydenko (IR1 four-minute endurance rowing) and Pavlo Mamontov (IR3 one-minute sprint rowing). Team Ukraine athletes narrowly missed out on several additional medals, finishing in fourth and fifth place in some half dozen events.

Torchynskyy wins first medal

Torchynskyy’s bronze medal in the Men’s IF 4 shot put was Ukraine’s first ever Invictus Games medal.

“It’s impossible to describe how big my emotions are here at the Invictus Games. It’s great to win a medal on the first day of the Games,” Torchynskyy said through an interpreter at a press briefing. “All the guys are very strong competitors in many sports, and we hope to win other medals as well. It’s a great pleasure to be the first one to win a medal and to bring a medal to the Ukrainian team.”

Cheers from fellow teammates and Ukrainian Canadians filled the stadium whenever Torchynskyy stepped up to the throwing circle. They chanted slogans of support to help him feel stronger in his competition.

Torchynskyy is a member of Ukraine’s National Police and has shrapnel wounds in his neck from his time serving in the country’s armed forces.

His bronze-medal-winning throw was 13.71 meters – a personal best. “I personally feel the medal is a gold medal because the result from today is much stronger than in training. I feel like it’s a big achievement,” he said after the medal ceremony.

The NATO Trust Fund shot a video about Ukraine at the 2017 Invictus Games, telling the story of the national team’s debut in Toronto. The video highlighted the first three days of competition. NATO provides support to the Ukrainian team.

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