Ukraine made its Paralympic Games début at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, with thirty athletes competing in archery, track and field, powerlifting, swimming, and sitting volleyball. Vasyl Lishchynskyy won Ukraine's first Paralympic gold medal, in the shot put, and Ukrainians also won four silver medals and two bronze. Ukrainians had previously participated within the Soviet Union's delegation in 1988, and as part of the Unified Team in 1992. Ukraine, following its independence from the Soviet Union, missed out on the 1994 Winter Games, but made its Winter Paralympics début at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano. Ukraine has competed at every edition of the Summer and Winter Games since thenUkraine at the Paralympics, International Paralympic Committee and have done so with remarkable success.Paralympics: What is the secret of Ukraine's success?, BBC News (30 August 2012)
Paralympic success Competing as an independent country since 1996, Ukrainian athletes have won a total of 472 Paralympic medals on Summer Games, of which 149 gold, 213 silver and 213 bronze, placing the country 14th on the all-time Paralympic Games medal table. At the Winter Paralympics the country has won 141 medals at the Winter Games: 38 gold, 51 silver and 52 bronze. It has won more gold medals, and more medals overall, than any other former member of the Soviet Union, apart from Russia.Ukraine at the Paralympics, International Paralympic Committee
In the 2000s, Ukraine became a major Summer Paralympic power. While it had taken only seven medals at the 1996 Summer Games and finished in a unnoticed 44th place.Four years after in Sydney.The country improved their overall performance with 37 medals, but only 3 were gold, which put the country in a discreet 35th place. It ascended to the top ranks at the 2004 Games in Athens, sweeping up 55 medals, of which 24 gold, to finish sixth on the medal table. At the 2008 Games in Beijing, Ukrainians won 74 medals, of which 24 gold, and finished fourth – behind only China (1st), the United Kingdom (2nd) and the United States (3rd).Ukraine at the Paralympics, International Paralympic Committee"Medal Standings: Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games", International Paralympic Committee
Ukraine has also been highly successful at the Winter Paralympics, its best result coming at the 2022 Games in Beijing, where it won 29 medals (including 11 gold) to finish second behind hosts China.Ukraine at the Paralympics, International Paralympic Committee"Medal Standings: Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games", International Paralympic Committee
Valeriy Sushkevych, a former disability swimmer turned politician and member of Parliament, has been credited with "kick-start[ing] the Paralympic movement in the country". He helped establish a national Paralympic centre in 2002, and ensured that Ukrainian Paralympians were granted a specific budget, which sports official Karina Matiazh said was Ukraine's "biggest achievement. [...] [W]e have separate budgets for the Olympics and the Paralympics, whereas most other countries just get whatever bits and pieces are left over from their Olympic budget". Four-time Paralympic swimming champion Maksym Veraksa described Sushkevych as "a father figure" concerned with "each and every athlete"."Ukraine punches above its weight", China Daily, September 17, 2008
Lviv Today noted in 2010 that "Ukraine’s Paralympic team has experienced a major boost in the amount of training and support it receives in recent years", resulting in "extraordinary" progress at the Winter Games in particular: "[F]rom finishing 18th in Salt Lake City in 2002, Ukraine rose to 3rd (2nd in terms of actual number of medals won) four years after in Turin."Paralympic hopefuls preparing for Vancouver" , Lviv Today, February 2010 The China Daily in 2008 remarked that, in terms of the proportion of its medals in relation to the number of its athletes, Ukraine was "clearly punching above its weight"."Ukraine punches above its weight", China Daily, September 17, 2008 New Disability notes: "The only country which has consistently been amongst the top medal winners in both recent summer and winter Paralympic Games is Ukraine. This is due to a major strategy by Ukraine to support Paralympic Athletes"."Who Are The Major Players Of The Paralympics?" , New Disability
Among Ukraine's most successful athletes is Viktor Smyrnov, who won five gold medals (as well as a silver and a bronze) in swimming (disability category 11) at the 2004 Summer Games. Ukraine also won the men's football 7-a-side competition at the 2004 Games, and successfully defended their title in 2008. Ukrainians have, in addition, won gold medals in track and field, cross-country skiing and biathlon, as well as one in powerlifting in 2004 (Lidiya Solovyova in the women's up to 40 kg) and one in wheelchair fencing that same year (Andriy Komar in the men's épée individual, category B).Gold medallists for Ukraine at the Paralympics, International Paralympic Committee
Medals
Source:
Medals by Summer Games Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1960–1988 part of the Soviet Union Barcelona 1992 part of the Unified Team Atlanta 1996 30 1 4 2 7 44 Sydney 2000 67 3 20 14 37 35 Athens 2004 90 24 12 19 55 6 Beijing 2008 117 24 18 32 74 4 London 2012 148 32 24 28 84 4 Rio de Janeiro 2016 172 41 37 39 117 3 Tokyo 2020 138 24 47 27 98 6 Paris 2024 74 22 28 32 82 7 Total 171 190 193 554 14
Medals by Winter Games Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1976–1988 part of the Soviet Union Albertville 1992 part of the Unified Team Lillehammer 1994 did not participate Nagano 1998 11 3 2 4 9 14 Salt Lake City 2002 10 0 6 6 12 18 Turin 2006 12 7 9 9 25 3 Vancouver 2010 19 5 8 6 19 4 Sochi 2014 23 5 9 11 25 4 Pyeongchang 2018 22 7 7 8 25 6 Beijing 2022 20 11 10 8 29 2 Milano Cortina 2026 25 3 8 8 19 7 Total 41 59 60 160 10
Medals by summer sport
Medals by winter sport
Multi-medalists Ukrainian athletes who have won at least three gold medals or five or more medals of any colour. Summer Paralympics No. Athlete Sport Years Games Gender GoldSilverBronzeTotal1Maksym Krypak2016-20202M1041152Maksym Veraksa2008-20245M826143Ievgenii Bogodaiko2012-20244M655164Viktor Smyrnov2004-2012, 20204M645155Anna Stetsenko2016-20243F532106Yelyzaveta Mereshko2016-20202F52297Oleksii Fedyna2008-20163M52188Oksana Zubkovska2008-20245F50059Andrii Trusov2020-20242M4511010Denys Dubrov2016-20202M4341111Yegor Dementyev2012-20244M431812Ihor Tsvietov2016-20243M420613Dmytro Aleksyeyev2004-20082M4127Roman Pavlyk2008-20122M412715Oleksandr Mashchenko2000-20124M411616Sergii Klippert2004-20164M3451217Taras Dutko2000-20165M3205Mariia Pomazan2012-20203F3205Vitaliy Trushev2000-20165M320520Lidiia Soloviova2000-20165F311521Volodymyr Antonyuk2000-2008, 20164M3104Nataliia Prologaieva20121F310423Hennadii Boiko2012-20162M300324Iaroslav Denysenko2016-20243M241725Dmytro Vynohradets2008-20122M232726Viktor Didukh2016-20243M221527Inna Stryzhak2000-20124F214728Oleksandr Driha20041M212529Oksana Boturchuk2008-2012, 2020-20244F1921230Olena Akopyan1996-20084F18413
Winter Paralympics No. Athlete Sport Years Games Gender GoldSilverBronzeTotal1Vitaliy Lukyanenko2006-20225M843152Oksana Shyshkova2014-20223F545143Oleksandra Kononova2010-20224F53194Olena Iurkovska2002-20144F455145Grygorii Vovchynskyi2010-20224M344116Liudmyla Liashenko2014-20223F21257Iurii Kostiuk2006-20102M14168Lyudmyla Pavlenko2006-20143F1157
See also Ukraine at the Olympics
References