PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Ukraine is currently tied with the United States for third place in the medals standings with 83 medals – 32 gold, 24 silver and 27 bronze – at the Paralympic Games in Rio that run September 7-18. As of press time (September 15), China leads the medals count with 172, followed by Great Britain at 101 medals.
Ukraine’s swimmers collected the bulk of the medals for Ukraine – a total of 49 (19 gold, 15 silver and 15 bronze).
Denys Dubrov (S10) won six medals (three gold, one silver and two bronze): gold in the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay (3:48.11 seconds), and gold in the men’s 200-meter individual medley (2:0687 seconds, a world record), silver in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke 1:05.10 seconds), and bronze medals in the men’s 50-meter freestyle (S10) (23.75 seconds) and in the men’s 100-meter backstroke (S10) (59.37 seconds).
Maksym Krypak (S10) won five medals (three gold and two silver medals): gold in the 50-meter freestyle (23.33 seconds), 100-meter freestyle 51.08 seconds) and 100-meter backstroke (57.24, world record), and silver in the 100-meter butterfly (54.90 seconds) and in the 200-meter individual medley (2:08.10 seconds).
Ievgenii Bogodaiko (S7) won five medals (two gold, two silver and one bronze): gold in the men’s 100-meter backstroke (1:05.55 seconds) and the men’s 200-meter individual medley (2:30.72 seconds, world record), silver in the men’s 50-meter freestyle (27.64 seconds) and 50-meter butterfly (29.35 seconds), and bronze in the mixed 4×50-meter freestyle relay (2:30.66 seconds).
Other gold medalists included: Yelyzaveta Mereshko (S6) in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke (1:41.63 seconds), in women’s 50-meter freestyle (33.43 seconds), and in the women’s 400-meter freestyle (5:17.01 seconds); Hennadii Boiko (S1) in the men’s 100-meter backstroke (2:08.01 seconds, world record); Anna Stetsenko (S13) in the women’s 50-meter freestyle (27.34 seconds, world record); Sergii Klippert (S12) in the men’s 100-meter backstroke (59.77 seconds); Oleksii Fedyna (SB13) tied for gold in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke (1:04.94 seconds); Dmytro Vynohradets’ (S3) in the men’s 50-meter backstroke (44.94 seconds); and Dmytro Zalevskyi (S11) in the men’s 100-metter backstroke (1:06.66 seconds, world record); and Kateryna Istomina (S8) in the women’s 100-meter butterfly (1:09.04 seconds).
Silver medalists included: Oksana Khrul (S6) in the women’s 50-meter butterfly (36.45 seconds); Maria Lafina (SB3) in the women’s 50-meter breaststroke (1:01.92 seconds); Stetsenko in the women’s 400-meter freestyle (4:24.18 seconds); Yaryna Matlo (S12) in the women’s 100-meter backstroke (1:11.97 seconds); Iaroslav Denysenko (SM13) in the men’s 200-meter individual medley (2:08.76 seconds) and the 400-meter freestyle (3:58.78 seconds); and Viktoriia Savatsova (S6) in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke (1:42.14 seconds) and in the women’s 50-meter freestyle (33.68 seconds).
Bronze medalists included: Iaroslav Semenenko (S6) in the men’s 100-meter backstroke (1:15.41 seconds); Khrul (S6) in the women’s 100-meter backstroke (1:26.82 seconds); Olga Sviderska (S3) in the women’s 100-meter freestyle (1:34.86 seconds); Serhii Palamarchuk (S2) in the men’s 200-meter freestyle (3:43.69 seconds) and in the men’s 100-meter backstroke (1:49.76 seconds); Danylo Chufarov (SM13) in the men’s 200-meter individual medley (2:11.12 seconds); Anton Kol (S1) in the men’s 100-meter backstroke (2:27.45 seconds); Maksym Veraksa (SB12) in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke (1:09.00 seconds); Oleksandr Mashchenko (S11) in the men’s 100-meter butterfly (1:03.38 seconds); Maryna Piddubna (S11) in the women’s 50-meter freestyle (31.23 seconds); and Iryna Sotska (S2) in the women’s 100-meter backstroke (2:21.98 seconds).
Ukraine swept the men’s 200-meter individual medley (SM10) with Dubrov winning gold (2:06.87 seconds, a world record), Krypak (2:08.10 seconds) winning silver and Dmytro Vanzenko taking bronze (2:10.48 seconds).
In the mixed 4×50-meter freestyle relay (Sviderska, Bogodaiko, Savatsova, Mereshko, Derevinskyi, Vynohradets’ and Bohdan Hrynenko), Ukraine won the bronze medal with a time of 2:30.66 seconds. Ukraine (Oleksandr Komarov, Krypak, Hrynenko and Dubrov) won gold in the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay (3:48.11 seconds).
Ukraine in other sports
Ukraine’s judoka won seven medals (one gold, three silver and three bronze). Davyd Khorava (66 kg) (B2) and Yuliya Halinska (48 kg) (B2) won bronze medals. Khorava defeated Jongseok Park of South Korea and Halinska defeated Shizuka Hangai of Japan. Dmytro Solovey (73 kg) won silver after losing against Ramil Gasimov of Azerbaijan in the final. Inna Cherniak (57 kg) won gold after defeating Lucia da Silva Teixera Araujo of Brazil in the final. Iryna Husieva (63 kg) (B2) won silver after losing to Dalida Rodriguez of Cuba in the gold-medal match. Oleksandr Kosinov (81 kg) (B2) won bronze after winning against Sayed Omid Nouri Jafari of Iran. Oleksandr Nazarenko (90 kg) (B3) won silver after losing in the final against Zviad Gogotchuri of Georgia.
In athletics, Ukraine won 13 medals (four gold, four silver and five bronze).
Ihor Tsvietov (T35) set a world record in the 100-meter race with a time of 12.22 seconds in the second heat and he won gold with a time of 12.31 seconds in the final. He also won gold in the men’s 200-meter race (25.11 seconds). Leilia Adzhametova (Y13) won gold in the women’s 100-meter race (11.79 seconds, world record). Oksana Boturchuk (T12) won silver in the women’s 200-meter race (23.65 seconds). Natalia Iezlovetska (T20) won silver in the women’s 400-meter race (54.48 seconds).
Anastasiia Mysnyk (F20) won silver in the women’s shot put (13.24 meters). Dmytro Prudnikov (T20) won bronze in the men’s long jump (6.99 meters). Oksana Zubkovska (T12) won gold in the women’s long jump (6.11 meters), and Roman Pavlyk (T36) won bronze in the men’s long jump (5.61 meters) and Ruslan Katyshev (T11) won bronze in long jump (6.20 meters). Zoia Ovsii (F51) won silver in the women’s club throw with a distance of 22.21 meters and bronze in the women’s discus throw (12.17 meters).
(Roman Danyliuk (F12) is the 13th medal-winner for Ukraine in athletics, and won bronze in shot put on September 8, as noted in the previous Paralympic update.)
Roman Polianskyi (ASM1x) won gold in the men’s single sculls rowing race (4:39.56 seconds). Canoeist Serhii Yemelianov (KL3) won gold in the men’s canoe sprint (39.810 seconds), and Nataliia Lagutenko (KL2) won silver in the women’s canoe sprint (55.599 seconds).
In table tennis, Natalia Kosmina won gold in the women’s singles (Class 11) after defeating Krystyna Siemieniecka of Poland 3-0 in the final on September 11. In the semifinal, Kosmina won 3-2 against Mui Wui Ng of Hong Kong. Maryna Lytovchenko won bronze in the women’s singles (Class 6) after winning 3-2 against fellow Ukrainian Antonina Khodzynska (who finished in fourth place).
Cyclist Yehor Dementyev (C5) won gold in the men’s 4,000-meter individual pursuit (track race) with a time of 4:37.708 seconds and he won gold in the men’s time trial (road race) (36:53.23 seconds).
In powerlifting, Lidiia Soloviova (50 kg) (PO) won gold after putting up 107 kg. Her best was 112 kg and her first attempt was at 102 kg.
In shooting, Olga Kovalchuk (SH1) won silver in the women’s 10-meter air pistol with 191.2 points. Vasyl Kovalchuk (SH2) won gold in the men’s mixed 10-meter air rifle prone event with a score of 211.7 points in the final. Oleksii Denysiuk (SH1) won bronze (160.8 points) in the mixed 50-meter pistol final.
In wheelchair fencing, Anton Datsko won gold in the men’s individual saber event (category B) after winning 15-7 against Panagiotis Triantafyllou of Greece. Andrii Demchuk won gold in the men’s individual saber (category A) after winning 15-8 against Richard Osvath of Hungary. Oleg Naumenko (category B) won bronze in the men’s epee after defeating Yannick Ifebe of France 15-8 and Yevheniia Breus (category A) won bronze in the women’s individual epee event after defeating Zsuzsana Krajnyak of Hungary 15-10.
In seven-a-side soccer (football), Ukraine won 4-0 against the Netherlands on September 14 in the semifinal and plays against Iran on September 16 in the gold-medal match. Ukraine topped Pool A in the preliminary round with nine points after three matches played (3-0 record, with 10 goals for and two against). Ukraine won 6-0 against Ireland on September 8, won 2-1 against Great Britain on September 10, and won 2-1 against Brazil on September 12. Iran tops Pool B with nine points, with seven goals for and one against. Other teams in Pool B include the Netherlands, Argentina and the U.S.A.
Ukraine is represented by Kostantyn Symashko, Vitaliy Trushev, Yevhen Zinoviev, Taras Dutko, Oleh Len, Edhar Kahramanian, Vitalii Romanchuk, Ivan Dotsenko, Dmytro Molodtzov, Stanislav Podolskyi, Volodymyr Antoniuk, Bohdan Kulynych, Artem Krasylnykov and Ivan Shkvarlo.
In goalball, Ukraine (represented by Olena Rud, Liliia Pasko, Yulia Maksymenko, Maryna Gebeda, Tetiana Govorukha,and Natalia Miroshnyk) was eliminated in the quarterfinal after a 10-0 loss to Brazil on September 14. Ukraine finished in fourth place (0-1-3, one point) in Group D with Turkey (12 points), China nine points) Canada (six points) and Australia (one point). Ukraine lost 3-6 against Turkey, lost 2-6 against China, lost 2-3 against Canada and tied 2-2 with Australia.
In women’s sitting volleyball, Ukraine (Margaryta Pryvalykhaina, Anzhelika Churkina, Tetyana Huranska, Kateryna Pryshchepa, Alina Samlienko, Ilona Yudina, Larysa Klochkova, Oleksadra Podliesna, Inna Osetynska, Olena Manankova, Larysa Kriukova and Valentyna Brik) plays against China in the semifinal, having finished in second place in Pool A with two points after three matches played. Ukraine lost 0-3 against Brazil, won 3-2 against the Netherlands, and won 3-0 against Canada.
In men’s sitting volleyball, Ukraine finished in third place in Pool B with one point after three matches played. Ukraine lost 0-3 against Bosnia-Herzegovina, won 3-2 against China and lost 0-3 against Iran. Ukraine (represented by Rusla Koryakin, Petro Ostrynskyi, Denys Bytchenko, Maksym Petrenchuk, Sergii Shevchenko, Oleksandr Drapak, Dmytro Melnyk, Anatolii Andrusenko and Oleksiy Kharlamov) plays against Germany on September 16, and will likely face the winner of the U.S.A. vs China match. Egypt, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil and Iran advanced to the semifinal round.
Top-10 finishes
In powerlifting: Maryna Kopika (41 kg) finished in fifth place with a combined weight of 88 kg, with a top weight of 96 kg.
In swimming: Vanzenko finished in sixth place in the men’s 100-meter backstroke (SB9); Dubrov set a world record in the second heat of the men’s 100-meter butterfly (55.29 seconds) and finished in fourth place in the men’s 100-meter freestyle (51.54 seconds); Mereshko finished in fourth place in the women’s 100-meter backstroke (1:28.99 seconds); Zalevskyi finished in sixth place in the men’s 400-meter freestyle; Khrul finished in sixth place in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke; Sviderska finished in fourth place in the women’s 50-meter backstroke (54.01 seconds); Hrynenko (S8) finished in sixth place in the men’s 100-meter freestyle (59.74 seconds); Lafina finished in sixth place in the women’s 150-meter individual medley (3:01.30 seconds); Stetsenko (S13) finished in fourth in the women’s 200-meter individual medley (2:28.95 seconds) and fifth in the women’s 100-meter butterfly (1:07.82 seconds); Mashchenko finished in fourth in the men’s 50-meter freestyle (26.97 seconds) and in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke (1:13.53 seconds), and eighth in the men’s 100-meter backstroke (1:15.85 seconds); Klippert (S12) finished in fifth in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke (1:10.55 seconds) and in seventh in the men’s 200-meter individual medley (2:16.47 seconds); Savatsova (S6) finished in fifth place in the women’s 400-meter freestyle (5:36.07 seconds); Piddubna (S11) finished in fourth place in the women’s 100-meter backstroke (1:21.86 seconds); Denysenko (S13) finished in fourth place in the men’s 50-meter freestyle (24.41 seconds).
In cycling: Dementyev finished in 10th place in the men’s 1,000-meter time trial with a time of 1:08.555 seconds.
In triathlon: Alisa Kolpakchy (PT4) finished in sixth place in the women’s triathlon (1:18:35 seconds). She finished in ninth place in swimming (14.01 seconds), ninth in biking (55.52 and 40.22 seconds), and fifth place in running (21.47 seconds).
In shooting: Vasyl Kovalchuk finished in seventh place in the mixed 10-meter air rifle standing (SH2) with a score of 103.0. Denysiuk (SH1) finished in fifth place in the mixed 25-meter pistol event.