The athletes and their coaches received awards from the head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, as well as cash prizes. The event took place on 3 October.
The XVII Summer Paralympic Games took place from 28 August to 8 September in the French capital and brought together about 4,400 athletes from more than 160 countries.
“During 11 days of competition in the French capital, our Paralympians won 82 medals: 22 gold, 28 silver and 32 bronze. This allowed the Ukrainian team to take seventh place in the medal standings and become the fifth in terms of the number of awards won,” recalls Roman Khimyak, head of the Youth and Sports Department of the Lviv Regional Military Administration.
The athletes from Lviv Oblast won four medals, including a gold, a silver and two bronze:
- Viktor Didukh won a gold medal in the individual table tennis tournament and a bronze medal in the mixed doubles together with Iryna Shynkarova;
- Natalia Morkvych won a silver medal as part of the Ukrainian national parafencing team (women’s team epee);
- Pavel Bal won a bronze medal in the 56.8 km road handicap.
“I would like to express my gratitude to our Paralympians. I understand how much blood, sweat and tears it takes to win a medal. I am proud that Paralympic sport is developing in Lviv region. We try to invest in sports and, in particular, in sports for people with disabilities. This is our prerogative this year and next year,” said Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv Regional Regional Organisation of the Ukrainian Association of Sports.
The meeting also saw the presentation of a certificate of Honoured Coach of Ukraine to Volodymyr Liubizhanin, who has been working as a coach and teacher of cross-country skiing among people with disabilities at the Galychyna Regional Children and Youth Sports School for People with Disabilities since January 2006. Volodymyr Liubizhanin is also the head of the Lviv Regional Centre for Physical Culture and Sports for People with Disabilities “Invasport”.
Andriy Tur, Deputy Head of the Youth and Sports Department of the Lviv Regional State Administration, was awarded a letter of thanks from the Prime Minister of Ukraine. He was awarded this diploma for his active contribution to the formation of state policy in the field of physical culture in Lviv region, the development of adaptive sports and exemplary performance of professional duties.