Ukraine Sports Directory and Forum about Sports in Ukraine
Ukraine in the Olympics Posted on January 6, 2014 by Liudmila Ukraine first participation at the Olympic Games as an independent nation was in 1994, and Ukrainian athletes competed in every Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games since then.
More on the history of Ukraine in the Olympics: Ukraine at the Olympics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_at_the_Olympics Ukraine at the 2010 Winter Olympics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_at_the_2010_Winter_Olympics Ukraine at the 2012 Summer Olympics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics Ukraine at the 2014 Winter Olympics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_at_the_2014_Winter_Olympics Mykola Azarov wished Ukrainian athletes to properly perform in Sochi http://www.azarov.ua/en/event/media_review/Nikolaj-Azarov-pozhelal-ukrainskim-sportsmenam-dostojno-vistupit-v-Sochi.html
Lviv bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lviv_bid_for_the_2022_Winter_Olympics http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en/publish/article?art_id=246821989&cat_id=244314975 National Olympic Committee of Ukraine http://noc-ukr.org/en/ http://www.olympic.org/Ukraine Posted in Olympics | Tagged ukraine in the olympics | Leave a reply
The Role and Importance of Sports for Ukrainians Posted on August 29, 2011 by Elena Sports in the Ukraine are an important part of Ukrainian culture. Ukraine greatly pays a great attention on physical education. Such things as swimming pools, gymnastic gyms, football and many other athletic facilities are very popular here. The top professional league on football is the Vyscha Liha (“premier league”). The two most successful teams in the Vyscha Liha are rivals FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Although Shakhtar is the reigning champion of the Vyscha Liha, Dynamo Kyiv has been much more successful historically, winning two UEFA Cup Winners’ Cups, one UEFA Super Cup, a record 13 USSR Championships and a record 12 Ukrainian Championships; while Shakhtar only won six Ukrainian championships and one and last UEFA Cup. Ukraine will host the Euro 2012 alongside Poland. Some of the world’s greatest athletes were Ukrainians such as the legend Sergey Bubka. He held the record in the Pole vault; with a great strength, speed and gymnastic abilities, he is repeatedly voted the world’s best athlete.
Many Ukrainians also played for the Soviet national football team, most notably Igor Belanov and Oleg Blokhin, winners of the prestigious Golden Ball Award for the best football player of the year. This award was only presented to one Ukrainian after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Andriy Shevchenko, the current captain of the Ukrainian national football team. The national team made its debut in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and reached the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champions, Italy. Ukrainians also fared well in boxing, where the brothers Vitaliy Klychko and Volodymyr Klychko have held world heavyweight championships. Ukraine made its Olympic debut at the 1994 Winter Olympics. So far, Ukraine has been much more successful in Summer Olympics (96 medals in four appearances) than in the Winter Olympics. Ukraine is currently ranked 35th by number of gold medals won in the All-time Olympic Games medal count, with every country above it, except for Russia, having more appearances. Sports are particularly associated with education in the Ukraine, with most high schools and universities having organized sports. College sports competitions play an important role in the Ukrainian sporting culture. Posted in All About Ukraine Sports | Tagged sports, ukraine, ukrainians | Leave a reply
Ukraine Most Popular Sports – Soccer, Gymnastics and Boxing Posted on July 27, 2011 by Liudmila Ukrainians, as people of most former USSR countries, are very much into sports. As in many European countries, soccer is the most popular sport. Young people can be seen playing soccer everywhere and surely, many of them have the goal to join one of the Ukrainian teams one day. Ukraine’s soccer team is doing very well – one example of its performances is the fact that they were the first team to qualify for the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany._ Although Ukraine participates in both winter and summer Olympics, it usually does quite well mostly in the summer games. At the 2004 Olympics summer games held in Athens, they won 9 gold medals, 5 silver medals and 9 bronze medals, for a total of 23 medals – putting them in the 12th row for countries with the most medals. Among the many disciplines Ukrainians participate in, gymnastics and especially rhythmic gymnastics are considered some of the most popular sports ever in Ukraine. Among popular Ukrainian gymnasts are: Larisa Latynina, Lilia Podkopayeva, Tatyana Gutsu and Viktoria Karpenko and in recent years came the names of Anastasia Koval, Alina Kozich and Iryna Krasnianska. When it come to rhytmic gymnastics, the names of Olena Vitrychenko, Anna Bessonova, Natalia Godunko, and Olexandra Tymoshenko are very popular as considered to be among the top rhythmic gymnasts in the world. Ukrainian boxers are also very famous – especially heavyweight boxers. To name a few: Wladimir and Vitali Klitchsko which have won world titles many times and held the WBC, WBO, IBF, IBO and Ring Magazine titles between them. As most of former USSR countries, Ukraine is also into ice hockey. The country has a professional league, named the Ukrainian Major League. Their most notable team is Sokil Kyiv. Their national hockey team has competed in several World Championships and at the Olympics. Posted in All About Ukraine Sports | Leave a reply
