Today, July 26, the Olympic Games start in Paris. According to a briefing at the official media center in the Lviv Regional State Administration, Lviv region will be represented at the international competitions by 10 athletes in 7 sports.
“These Olympic Games are quite extraordinary for the world and for us in particular, because they are taking place during a great war. It was extremely difficult for the athletes to prepare, so the number of members of the Ukrainian team is much smaller than in previous periods.
But I think the support of the international community will definitely be a plus for us.
This year, we will be cheering for athletes in track and field, shooting, archery, cycling, freestyle wrestling, rhythmic gymnastics, and football,
For the first time, Lviv region will be represented by three football players in the national team of Ukraine. Therefore, we will definitely have cool emotions and positive sports excitement, which we need in today’s difficult conditions. We hope and believe that among other Ukrainian athletes, ours will climb the Olympic podium,” said Roman Khimyak, Head of the Youth and Sports Department of the Lviv Regional State Administration.
Mariana Shostak, an athlete and participant of the Olympic Games in Paris, told us about the training camp and preparation for the Olympic Games.
“The training camp takes place in France, the training base is fully equipped for proper training, the stadiums are right next to the campus where we live. That is, there are all the conditions to train effectively and not be distracted by unnecessary things or thoughts. The athletes, who have no coaches, try to help each other and support each other. In general, everyone is committed to good work and results. We believe that we will do our best and we are trying to achieve this,” she said.
REPRESENTATIVES OF LVIV REGION AT THE 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES:
Freestyle wrestling: Oksana Livach (T. Kit, N. Budahian), reserve athlete – Yulia Tkach (O. Tkach, Y. Kopytko) – Kyiv Regional Sports Complex “SHVSM”
Cycling: Yulia Biryukova (D. Krivtsov, O. Tychko) – KZ LOR “SHVSM” / NSS LVS of the Ministry of Defense
Rhythmic gymnastics: Alina Melnyk (O. Dmytrash, I. Ruda) – Dmytro Sydoruk Children and Youth Sports School
Athletics: Vladyslav Lavskyi (V. Lebediuk) – Kyiv Regional Sports School “ShVSM”/NSB LvS of the Ministry of Defense, sports club “Vysota” and Mariana Shostak (V. Tarnakin, V. Fedorenko) – Kyiv Regional Sports School “ShVSM”
Archery: Veronika Marchenko (M. Havelko) – KZ LOR “SHVSM”
Shooting: Pavel Korostylov (S. Korostylov, O. Kaminsky) – KZ LOR “SHVSM”
Football: Danylo Sikan (V. Bezubiak) from the Lviv Professional College of Sports, Oleksiy Sych (I. Mazurets) and O. Fedor (V. Ponomaryov) from FC Rukh.
“A full-scale war makes certain adjustments to the training of athletes: air raids, attacks – all of this is physical and moral exhaustion. At the same time, we have to prepare for the fact that we have to be athletes and coaches like everyone else. Of course, most people support us, but when you go to a competition, no one gives you concessions, and this is normal, this is how the world works. And the question is that we have to be prepared for the fact that no one will be lenient with us in a competitive environment,” said Mariana Shostak’s coach Vitaliy Tarnakin.
“At the XXXIII Summer Olympics, every fourteenth athlete in the national team is a representative of Lviv region. By the way, the first Lviv resident to compete at the Olympic Games was sprinter Vladyslav Ponursky, who competed at the V Olympics in 1912 in Stockholm under the flags of Austria-Hungary. Since then, not a single Olympics has been held without athletes from Lviv,” added Roman Khimyak.
Two Lviv athletes, who are currently competing for other regions, will also compete at the Olympics in Paris. These are rhythmic gymnast Maria Vysoczanska, who currently represents Kyiv region, and Solomiya Brateiko (table tennis), a resident of Zhovkva, who represents Kyiv.
We would like to remind you that the list of members of the official delegation of the national team of Ukraine to participate in the Games was formed at the request of the national federations of Olympic sports, in accordance with international qualification requirements and the national selection system.
A total of 140 sportsmen and women will compete under the blue and yellow flag.
The Games in Paris will last until August 11. Ukrainians will compete in 26 of the 32 disciplines to be presented at the Olympics.