82-year-old Mykhailo Vasyliv from the village of Dobriany in the Stryi community has won a gold medal at the World Championships for Masters and Adaptive Athletes in weightlifting. The international competition took place in Athens (Greece), where the athlete competed in the 80+ age category.
The weightlifter competed in the two classic weightlifting disciplines — the snatch and the clean and jerk. Based on the combined results in these events, he took first place and became world champion in his age group.
Mykhailo Vasyliv also has other significant achievements. At the Ukrainian Championships he set nine national records and became the overall winner of the All-Ukrainian Veterans’ Sports Games in memory of M. M. Baka.
In a comment to Suspilne, the athlete said that he has been involved in weightlifting since the age of 19. Despite his advanced years, he continues to train on his own at home, without a coach. He organised and financed his trip to the World Championships at his own expense, and is returning from it with the title of world champion.
The Department of Sport, Youth and Tourism of the Lviv Regional Military Administration emphasises that the example of this veteran athlete demonstrates the benefits of physical activity at any age. The region is implementing the project “Sporting Games of Lviv Region”, within which a series of tournaments in various sports is held throughout the year in local communities, including with the participation of veterans.
“We congratulate Mykhailo Vasyliv on this wonderful achievement! His example underlines that you can do sport at any age; it has a positive effect on your health and brings enjoyment. In our region, the ‘Sporting Games of Lviv Region’ project is in operation — throughout the year, a series of tournaments in various sports is held in communities, and the results are summed up at the end of the year. One of the participant categories is veterans, so we invite everyone interested to join in!” — Roman Khimiak