The World Boxing Championship took place in Baku (Azerbaijan) from September 22 to October 9 and was triumphal for Ukraine: our team won four gold medals and one silver medal (Cuba took the second place (2-1-0) and Azerbaijan took the third place (1-1-0). Our heroic athletes are Oleksandr Usyk, Vasyl Lomachenko, Yevhen Khytrov, Taras Shelestiuk who won gold medals and Denys Berinchyk who won a silver medal. This team result is a precedent for the world sport: none of the teams has ever won so much “gold.” The previous record was set by the Cubans in 1974: they won three gold medals back then. By the way, 570 sportsmen from 130 countries took part in the World Championship in Baku. So, on October 10, there was a press conference in Kyiv dedicated to the Ukrainian sports triumph.
“Our results improve every year: in Azerbaijan our team won six licenses and back in 2009 in Milan when our team took the fourth place we won four licenses,” head of the Governmental Department for Family, Youth and Sports of Ukraine Ravil Safiulin said.
“People call from all over the world and greet us… However, our victory is the result of the hard work of our friendly team. These are hard-working and talented boys, selfless coaches, doctors, masseurs, the federation management, our sponsors and governmental help,” vice president of Boxing Federation of Ukraine Ihor Haidamak said.
The managers of the Boxing Federation of Ukraine are first of all very much obliged to the governmental funding that has not been decreased this year and has given a possibility to keep up with the pace that had been previously set. According to the head of the Boxing Federation of Ukraine Volodymyr Prudyvus, a lot of friends help their organization with their own money.
“We will celebrate a little and will continue working. We will train 11 to 20 times more before the Olympic Games,” head coach of the Ukrainian team Dmytro Sosnovsky promised and emphasized that the boxers have to have necessary conditions for normal preparation. In Ukraine it means not thinking about everyday life. “Then we will be able to achieve some result together,” Dmytro Sosnovsky said. Prudyvus supported the coach and emphasized that if the boys are not motivated they might even leave the country (they already have offers from abroad). However, the authorities’ reply came pat: Ravil Safiulin assured that he had already discussed this issue with influential officials: oblast governors and even Mykola Azarov.
As for the officials, they thank the whole team a lot: coaches, medics, managers of the Ukrainian boxing, each other and the Ukrainians for their support during the tough championship in Baku.
