Swimmer Yana Klochkova holds a record of 4 Olympic gold medalsPresident of NOC Ukraine, Serhiy Bubka, a legendary Soviet and Ukrainian pole vault jumper
Sports in Ukraine as in any other country throughout the World plays an important role in shaping the popular view of Ukraine and Ukrainianpopular culture to its residents and the rest of the World. Sports in Ukraine while it is voluntary and spontaneous, it is regulated and standardized by the government and respected government agency as well as legislation. According to the Law of Ukraine "About physical culture and sports", sports is an activity of subjects of the sphere of physical culture and sport directed to identification and the unified comparison of achievements of people in physical, intellectual, and other preparation by holding sports competitions and preparation for them. The sport has such directions: children's sports, sports for children and young people, reserve sports, elite sports (sports of higher achievements), professional sports, sports of veterans of physical culture and sport, veterans of war, the Olympic sport, not Olympic sport, office and applied and military and applied sport, sports of persons with disability and so forth.[1][2]
Football and wrestling have been popular in Ukraine since the 19th century.[6] Ukraine has benefited from the Soviet Union's emphasis on physical education, and Ukraine was left with hundreds of stadiums, swimming pools, gymnasiums, and other athletic facilities after the collapse of the Soviet Union.[7] Ukraine sports or athletic movements were influenced greatly by the Sokol gymnast organization that was popular in the Central Europe since the second half of the 19th century.
Sport in Ukraine is primarily governed by 40 federations of various Olympic sports that are all part of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine (NOC Ukraine), which in its turn is part of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The mass sports movement is driven by four main sports societies (i.e. Dynamo – Ukraine) and two government sports committees of the Ministry of Education and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (CSC AF Ukraine), all of which are also collective members of the National Olympic Committee.
All non-Olympic sports are governed by their respective federations of the Sports Committee of Ukraine.
Football is the most popular sport in Ukraine. Football in Ukraine is governed by the Football Federation of Ukraine (FFU). FFU organizes various football competitions in the country among men, women, youth, handicapped, others as well as facilitates football competitions among professionals, students and in regions. Format of competitions varies from leagues (round robin) to cup-type (elimination) competitions. FFU also organizes several invitational tournaments (friendlies) in Ukraine and organizes several national teams that compete at various international tournaments.
Ukraine has a well developed professional football competitions among men that Ukraine inherited from the Soviet Union. Organization of professional football is delegated by FFU to the Ukrainian Premier League (UPL) and the Professional Football League of Ukraine (PFL, competitions in lower leagues). The strongest and highest-tier league is Premier League, which was also known as Vyshcha Liha (Top League, Higher League). The second-ranking league is Persha Liha (First League). The next league down is Druha Liha (Second League), which is divided into two groups, East(B) and West(A), according to their location. At the end of each season, the two lowest-ranking teams in the Vyscha Liha are relegated to the Persha Liha, while the two top teams of the Persha Liha are promoted to the Vyscha Liha. The two lowest-ranking Persha Liha teams are relegated to the Druha Liha, while the top two teams in the Druha Liha League are promoted to the Persha Liha. Teams receive three points if they win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. Each team plays each other twice.
Following the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, all Crimean based football clubs were dissolved by the Russian occupation administration and most were reorganized as the Russian clubs. Some former Crimean clubs that competed in the Ukrainian competitions relocated to the continental Ukraine where they were reorganized anew.
When in 2012, the country gained official confirmation to host the 2015 European Championship, basketball received major public boost in Ukraine. Host cities were to be Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa and Kharkiv. Several arenas were to be renovated for the occasion. This major international sporting event had the slogan: "We are ready!" and points to the experience of the country, which was received in preparation for the European Football Championship 2012. As Oleksandr Volkov, president of the Ukrainian Basketball Federation pointed out that the country's experience in hosting an event of such magnitude came through the mentioned football championships. This displays the readiness of Ukrainian infrastructure and had become a decisive factor for the selection of Ukraine.
On 9 February 2012 the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych issued a decree that instructed the government to create a "Organizing Committee on preparation and holding in Ukraine Euro 2015 basketball Championship" (committee is headed by Prime Minister Mykola Azarov).
Many facilities necessary for the EuroBasket 2015 (roads, airports, hotels, etc.) have been built in preparation for the European Football Championship in 2012, which significantly reduced the expected cost of the basketball event. Unfortunately, due to the Ukrainian Revolution of 2013-2014, the FIBA Eurobasket event would end up being cancelled for Ukraine and instead would involve four different countries taking part for the first time ever. However, because of their situation, the committee has obligated Ukraine to placing a bid for EuroBasket 2017 instead.
In general, the teams of the Ukrainian basketball league are strong enough to make it into the Eurocup basketball championship. The top Ukrainian League is called the Ukrainian Basketball Super League. The next top league is called the Vyscha Liha. The next strongest league is called the Persha Liha.
Bowling
Ukraine's All Ukrainian Bowling Federation includes 99 registered bowlers playing in 19 centers.[8]Igor Kononenko serves as president of the Federation.[9] The Ukrainian bowlers placed first in the 13th World Youth Bowling Championships.[10]
Boxing
Vitali and his brother, Wladimir, held every major championship belt before his retirement.
Ukraine is noted for producing some of the most skilled boxers in recent times,[11] including brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitchsko, who, now retired, won multiple world titles throughout their career. The brothers dominated the heavyweight division in a period now affectionately referred to as the "Klitschko Era".[12][13][14] Also hailing from Ukraine, Vasyl Lomachenko, the 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medalist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest amateur boxers of all time after compiling a record of 396–1.[15][16][17] He currently ties the record for becoming a world champion in the fewest professional fights, winning the WBOfeatherweight title in his third fight.[18] Another renowned Ukrainian is Lomachenko's friend and former amateur teammate, Oleksandr Usyk. Himself a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, he became the first boxer in history to hold all four of the major world titles in the cruiserweight division—WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, and WBO—simultaneously.[19] On the 25th of September 2021, he beat Anthony Joshua by unanimous decision to win the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles.
The Ukrainian Federation of Rugby League joined the RLEF (Rugby League European Federation) in 2008 as an Official Observer. Its operations are concentrated in the east of the country, around the industrial cities of Kharkov and Donetsk. The first club, Legion XIII, was formed by students in 2007 and played in the Russian championship before the commencement of the four-team Ukrainian championship in 2009. In 2014, The Ukrainian Rugby League Federation (UFRL) has struck an agreement with the authorities to include specific rugby league content in the state's 45 sports schools.
In what the UFRL describes as, “a major victory” for the sport, the move follows rugby league's official recognition by the government in 2012.
The championship increased to six clubs in 2010, demonstrating the rapid rise of the sport in the country. In addition to the championship the UFRL runs the Ukrainian Cup and, since 2010, a youth competition. Internationally, UFRL has fielded a senior national side since 2008 but participated in official competition for the first time in 2009.
Rugby union arrived in Ukraine during the post-War Soviet period. Ukraine was not a stronghold of rugby in the USSR - the game was mainly played in Russia and Georgia, but it was stronger there, than in certain other republics. The game has experienced some growth in the post-independence period, particularly the 1990s, when former USSR team coach Igor Bokov helped run the game there. Ukrainian rugby has strong ties with the military, with the strongest side being the airforce Aviator Kyiv. Like many other minor rugby nations, the game tend to be centred on the capital, Kyiv. It is quite frequent for rugby in Ukraine to be played using a mixture of rugby union and rugby league rules.
Cricket
The Ukrainian Cricket Association exists to promote the game of cricket in Ukraine. There are a lot of cricket clubs in Ukraine at this time: Kyiv Cricket Club, Kharkiv Cricket Club, Crimea Cricket Club, Vinnytsia Cricket Club, Ternopil Cricket Club, Donetsk Cricket Club, and Luhansk Cricket Club.
Artistic Gymnastics
In Ukraine artistic gymnastics is referred to as sports gymnastics.
Ukrainian gymnasts enjoyed success at the 2009 European Championships in Milan, Italy. They qualified at least one gymnast to each of the apparatus finals, and garnered a gold and bronze medal in the finals.[20] Notable accomplishments at the European Championships:
Yana Demyanchuk, 2009 European Championships Gold Medalist on Beam; also 12th place in the All-Around competition.
Anna Kalashnyk, 2009 European Championships Bronze Medalist on Vault
Men
Oleksandr Vorobiov enjoyed success at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, becoming the bronze medalist on the still rings.
Recently the male gymnasts of Ukraine have enjoyed success at the 2009 European Championships and the 2012 Olympics:
Oleksandr Vorobiov, 2009 European Championships Silver Medalist on Still Rings
Mykola Kuksenkov, 2009 European Championships Bronze Medalist on High Bar
Ukraine is a regular participant in both Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics, and is successful on the international arena. The country's top achievement at the Olympics to date was at the 1996 Summer Olympics, when they came 9th.
At the 1996 Summer Olympics, Ukrainian gymnast Lilia Podkopayeva won the All-Around title in the Women's Gymnastics competition.
Ukrainian swimmer Yana Klochkova is the best Olympian holding a record of 4 gold medals. The only individual gold medal in winter sports is held by a figure skaterOksana Baiul. In team sports, Ukraine received three gold medals in rowing, fencing and biathlon all by female teams. The most successful sports for Ukraine at the Olympics are gymnastics, boxing, shooting.
Sports Committee of Ukraine, is an official organization that provides public administration of other sports in the country
Sports clubs
Ukraine has six government sponsored sports and fitness clubs which are part of the national Olympic movement cooperating with the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine and government institutions: Central Sports Club of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (CSK ZSU), Dynamo – Ukraine (law enforcement agencies), Spartak – Ukraine, Ukraine (formerly Avanhard, trade unions), Kolos (agricultural sports association), and Osvita (Ministry of Education and Science). All of them have their representation in all regions of Ukraine providing their facilities and training to athletes.
Among notable historic national sports club there were Sokil, Sich, Ukraine. Ukrainian Sokil gymnastic society was an adaptation of the original Czech Sokil society which earned popularity among most of Slavic nations. Ukrainian Sokil society was popular among Ukrainians of the Austrian part as well as the bigger Russian part of Ukraine. Other important sport society was Sich which contributed to establishment of the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen. In the Second Polish Republic, Sich sports society was recognized as Polonophobic and was prohibited, among notable examples is renaming of USC Sich Stryi into Skala Stryi.
Sports federations/associations
There are over 40 official sports federations or associations for most of the Olympic sports. There are also other sports federations or sports unions in the country.
Aside from sports curriculum in regular schools, Ukraine inherited from the Soviet Union an extensive network of youth sports schools, including specialized schools of the Olympic reserve, and school of sports mastery. As of 2011 there were some 1483 sports schools (DYuSSh), 189 specialized [sports] schools of Olympic reserve (SDYuShOR and UOR), and 34 school of higher sports mastery (ShVSM).[23]
Andriy Shevchenko (born in 1976) - football player, five-time champion of Ukraine, winner of the "Golden Ball" 2004, the best player of Champions League 1998/1999, the winner of the UEFA Champions League 2002/2003. Active player Kyiv "Dynamo", the club of his career start in the 1990s. Also competed for "Milan" and "Chelsea". Known by the nickname "The Devil from the East" and "Sheva". As a part of the Ukrainian team he played in 2006 World Cup in Germany, where his team made it into the quarter finals (this is a starting world championship for Ukrainians).
Yana Klochkova (born in 1982) - a swimmer, four-time Olympic champion, eleven-time European champion, winner of several World Cups. At the Olympics she won the swimming distances of 200, 400 and 800 meters. Yana holds the world and Olympic records in the 400 meters complex style (4 min. 33.59 sec.). Known by the nickname "Goldfish".
Ruslan Ponomariov (born in 1983) - chess, 17th World Champion FIDE world champion in the age category under 18. In 1998, at the age of 14, he became the youngest grandmaster in the world.
Kateryna Lagno (born in 1989) - a chess player, the youngest grandmaster among women (received the title at the age of 12).
Sportin Lithuania is governed by the Physical Education and Sports Department following the country's independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. The Lithuanian government established the department to manage physical education in the schools and sports administration in the country. Over the next few years, Lithuanian sports organizations established membership in international governing bodies. Lithuania participated in the Winter Olympics in Albertville and has participated in every Winter and Summer Olympics since.
Hanna Volodymyrivna Bezsonova is a Ukrainian former individual rhythmic gymnast. She is one of the most decorated rhythmic gymnast of her generation. She is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist ; a five-time medalist in the all-around competition of the World Championships: gold in 2007, silver in 2003 and 2005, bronze in 2001 and 2009; a four-time medalist in the all-around competition of the European Championships: silver in 2004 and 2008, bronze in 2002 and 2006; and a four-time medalist in the all-around competition of the Grand Prix Final: gold in 2003, silver in 2002 and 2005, bronze in 2004.
The Ukrainian Premier League or UPL as a sports competition is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 Ukrainian football championship upon discontinuation of the 1991 Soviet football championship and included the Ukraine-based clubs that competed previously in the Soviet top three tiers competitions as well as better clubs of the Ukrainian republican competitions. The initial season of the league featured six former Soviet Top League clubs among which were Dynamo, Shakhtar, Chornomorets, Dnipro, Metalist, Metalurh as well as four more clubs that previously also competed at the top league.
Alexandra Alexandrovna Timoshenko, or Olexandra Olexandrivna Tymoshenko, is a former Ukrainian individual rhythmic gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. She is the 1992 Olympics champion, 1988 Olympics bronze medalist, 1989 World all-around champion, 1991 World all-around silver medalist and two time European all-around champion. Along with Tatiana Gutsu, and Oleh Kucherenko, Oleksandra Tymoshenko also was among the first Olympians in honor of which at the 1992 Olympics was raised the Ukrainian flag and played the Ukrainian anthem.
FC Stal Alchevsk was a Ukrainian professional football team of the Ukrainian First League that is based in Alchevsk. In the 2012–13 season the club won promotion to the Ukrainian Premier League, but the club refused this promotion "for the sake of the fans". In 2015, Stal withdrew from all Ukrainian competitions due to the escalating conflict in Eastern Ukraine.
The Persha Liha or Ukrainian First League is a professional football league in Ukraine and the second tier of national football competitions pyramid. Members of the league also participate in the Ukrainian Cup. It is the highest division of Professional Football League.
FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv was the second football team of the Ukrainian football club Dynamo Kyiv based in Kyiv, Ukraine. The team was first created in 1938, and the club ceased its recent operations again after the 2015–16 season. During the Soviet period, participation of the second squad was sporadic and mostly at republican level, the Football Championship of the Ukrainian SSR.
The Deriugina School, also known as the Deriugins' School is a rhythmic gymnastics club in Kyiv, Ukraine. It was run for many years by the mother and daughter team of Albina Deriugina, who was the head coach for many years and died in 2023 at the age of 91, and Irina Deriugina, who acted as the assistant coach and later became the head coach. Irina's daughter, Ireesha Blokhina, works in the school as a senior choreographer.
FC Zorya Luhansk is a Ukrainian football team. Zorya Luhansk is based in the city of Luhansk, Ukraine. However, because of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the team plays its games at Slavutych-Arena in Zaporizhzhia.
Sport in Israel plays an important role in Israeli culture and is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sport. The most popular sports in Israel have traditionally been Association football (mainly) and basketball (secondly) – with the first being considered the national sport – in both of which Israeli professional teams have been competitive internationally. Israel is an international center for Jewish sport around the world and since 1932 the Maccabiah Games, an Olympic-style event for Jewish athletes, is held in the country. Despite Israel's location in the Asian continent, the Israeli sports associations in various sports belong to the European associations due to the refusal of many Arab Asian countries to compete with Israeli athletes.
FC Borysfen Boryspil is a formerly professional Ukrainian football club from Boryspil, Ukraine. The club was created as a phoenix club in 1997 by Ihor Kovalevych after disagreement in FC CSKA Kyiv. The history of the club is controversial and its admission to professional competitions is dubious. In mid 1990s the original team of Zlobenko reached some agreement with the Central Sports Club of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after which there was established a joint team "CSKA-Borysfen" that became the first successful debutant of the Ukrainian Vyshcha Liha finishing among top 5 at the end of season. Following that season the newly created Professional Football League for unknown reason decided to dissolve the joint venture and recognize ownership of the club after company "Kyiv-Donbass" that was associated with the Ministry of Defense.
MFС Mykolaiv is a Ukrainian football club based in Mykolaiv.
Sport in Europe tends to be highly organized with many sports having professional leagues. The origins of many of the world's most popular sports today lie in the codification of many traditional games, especially in the United Kingdom. However, a paradoxical feature of European sport is the extent to which local, regional and national variations continue to exist, and even in some instances to predominate.
Volodymyr Bohdanovych Sharan is a Ukrainian football coach and a former midfielder who represented Ukraine once at the national level.
The 2005–06 Ukrainian Second League is the 15th season of 3rd level professional football in Ukraine. The competitions are divided into three regional groups – A, B, C. This season was known for a high volume of withdrawals from the competition.
Football is the most popular sport in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Association of Football is the national governing body and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game of football in the country. It was organised in 1991 to replace the Soviet republican-level Football Federation of Ukrainian SSR, created earlier in the 1920s as part of the Soviet system of physical culture councils. The Ukrainian Association of Football is a non-governmental organization and is a member of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.
Krystal Kherson is a professional football club from Kherson in Ukraine that has a long history in the Soviet and then the Ukrainian Leagues. As of the 2020–21 season, it will play in the Ukrainian First League, the second tier of Ukrainian football, following promotion from the 2019–20 Ukrainian Second League.
The Ukrainian Women's Professional Football League, WFPL, is part of the Ukrainian football clubs competitions among females that consists of two divisions, the Top League which has a professional status and the First League which was revived in 2013 after 20-year break and is a competition among amateur clubs. Participation of a club in league competitions has to be approved by regional football federations and the All-Ukrainian Association of Women's Football. The All-Ukrainian Association of Women's Football is Ukrainian public organization that governs and organizes all football competitions among females in Ukraine, including the league competitions.
The Professional Hockey League (PHL) (Ukrainian: Професіональна хокейна ліга (ПХЛ), tr: Profesional'na khokeina liha) was an ice hockey league in Ukraine, founded in 2011; ceased in 2013. The country's national title, the Ukrainian Championship, was awarded annually to the league champion following a 4-team, 2-round playoff at the end of the 41-game regular season. Runners-up received silver and bronze medals. This format ended after the 2012–13 season, whereupon the FHU reclaimed administration of the title. The winner of the Ukrainian/PHL Championship was also guaranteed qualification into the Champions Hockey League season. The PHL is shown on the First National TV channel and the Hockey channel to broadcast regular season and playoff games. Many of the PHL's games are also broadcast online.
Ukrainian Amateur Football Championship is an annual association football competition in Ukraine among amateur teams. The competition is administered by the Ukrainian Association of Amateur Football (AAFU).
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