Ukraine has announced a team of 88 athletes for the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships from 7-12 August.
The Ukrainian team only won one medal at the 2016 European Championships courtesy of Nataliya Pryshchepa who is defending her title in the 800m in Berlin. The 23-year-old is currently fifth on the 2018 European lists with 1:59.83 led by France’s Renelle Lamote (1:58.83) who finished second to Pryshchepa in 2016.
The Ukrainian team is especially strong in the field events. World high jump silver medallist and European U23 champion Yuliya Levchenko forms part of a strong triumvirate in that event alongside Kateryna Tabashnyk and Oksana Okuneva.
Even though former European champion Bogdan Bondarenko is an absentee due to injury, the Ukrainians will also be sending three male high jumpers to Berlin including 2.40m performer Andrii Protsenko, the silver medallist behind Bondarenko in Zurich 2014.
Former three-time European champion Olha Saladukha, 35, will be competing in the triple jump while recently crowned Ukrainian champions Maryna Bekh and Serhiy Nykyforov both compete in the long jump. Bekh recorded a marginally wind-aided 6.86m to win the women’s competition while Nykyforov improved to 8.23m in the men’s event.
Reigning European U20 heptathlon champion Alina Shukh is also part of the team headed for the German capital. Shukh recently won the world U20 javelin title but was forced to withdraw from the heptathlon just before the high jump due to a hamstring injury.
More information on the 2018 European Championships:
- The Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships will be part of the first multisport European Championships along with co-hosts Glasgow.
- It will be a must-watch, must-attend experience that elevates the status of European Champions, uniting existing European Championships to celebrate the highest honour in European sport and celebrating the defining moments that create Champions.
- It is the continent’s ultimate multi-sport event, an 11-day celebration of European sport staged every four years.
- Seven of Europe’s leading sports (athletics, aquatics, rowing, golf, cycling, gymnastics, triathlon) will be brought together for the first edition.
- The European Athletics Championships in Berlin will be staged 7-12 August. The six other sports will be staged in Glasgow through 2-12 August.
- 4500 athletes and 52 nations will compete across the seven sports.
- Potential TV audience of over one billion with millions more across multiple digital platforms.