Ukrainian boxer Alexander Usyk has lost his undisputed world champion status after voluntarily relinquishing his WBO belt, the World Boxing Organization said in an official statement.
“The World Boxing Organization (WBO) has announced that it has received official notification from Alexander Usyk’s team regarding the future of the WBO heavyweight championship title. After careful consideration, Usyk has decided to relinquish the title,” the statement on social media platform X said.
WBO President Gustavo Olivieri called Usyk “the champion of champions” in his comment.
“The WBO expresses its deep respect, admiration, and gratitude to Alexander Usyk, the undefeated WBO world champion in two weight classes, who has earned and demonstrated all the rights, privileges, and honors associated with the title of WBO super champion. His career is one of the most outstanding and historic in the modern era of boxing,“ he said.
The WBO emphasized in its statement that the organization’s doors ”will always remain open.“
”We accept and respect his decision to relinquish the WBO heavyweight super champion title. This is not a farewell, but, as his team put it, a respectful pause. The doors of the WBO will always remain open to Alexander Usyk and his team,” the organization said.
Usyk still remains the champion in the WBA, WBC, and IBF categories.
Ukrainians Liudmyla Luzan and Anastasiia Rybachok won a silver medal in the 500m canoe double sprint at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The athletes covered the distance in 1:54.30 minutes.
China took the first place in this event, and Canada came in third.
The United by Sport NGO presented the social campaign “This is My Game”. This is a series of powerful videos in support of gender equality in sports. The aim is to break stereotypes and prove that there are no “non-female sports”.
The social campaign features well-known Ukrainian athletes and Olympic and Paralympic champions in 5 different sports that are often interpreted as “more masculine,” including
football
powerlifting
wrestling
archery;
table tennis.
“This is My Game” is part of the Girls in Sport charity program, through which United by Sport improves girls’ physical and mental health, provides opportunities to play various sports, and supports the development of coaches.
“Recently, there has been more and more talk about equal rights for women and men. Despite this, gender inequality in sports remains an urgent problem. Many female athletes often hear that their place is not on the football field or in the ring. United by Sport aims to break these stereotypes and improve the physical and mental health of girls,”
– said Angela Fokina, President of United by Sport.
“This is my game”: a revolution in supporting women in sports
The main characters of the social campaign are famous Ukrainian athletes, winners of the Olympic Games, national and European tournaments and competitions, and the Paralympic Games:
Anastasia Klimachenko, a world-class master of sports, world champion and European vice-champion in beach soccer;
Oksana Livach – Ukrainian freestyle wrestler, World Championship medalist (2018), European champion (2019);
Iryna Koliadenko – Ukrainian wrestler, three-time European champion, silver medalist at the World Championships, bronze medalist at the 2020 Olympic Games;
Kateryna Dubrovina, Honored Master of Sports in archery, Olympic medalist;
Alisa Dubrova, professional table tennis player;
Maryna Lytovchenko, Paralympic table tennis champion;
Larisa Solovyova, 9-time world powerlifting champion.
Each of the athletes reflects strength, beauty, endurance, and choice. They demonstrate by their own example the importance of equal rights in sports.
It should be added that the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, whose tasks include the development of professional and grassroots sports and its popularization, has become the main sports and media partner of the project.
Campaign slogan: “You can be anything you want to be”.
The main message is that anyone can play any sport, regardless of age, gender, or ability. Stereotypes and dogmas have long been destroyed. And the example of the campaign ambassadors proves it. Besides, sport helps to be physically and mentally healthy.
“I am sure that this campaign will inspire many girls who want to play sports but have been hesitant because of social stereotypes or have been opposed by adults who do not understand their sport. We want to show that there are no “men’s” or “women’s” sports – there are only aspirations, perseverance and strength of mind,”
– said Kateryna Dubrovina, Honored Master of Sports in Archery, Olympic silver medalist.
Now anyone can join this movement and support the girls on their way to sports. To do this, just share the video with the hashtags #ThisIsMyGame_UBS #I Have the Right to Sport #SocialCampaign_UBS.
For more information and cooperation, please contact us via these contacts:
Alina, Communications Manager at United by Sport
+380680130232
alina.olikhovska@united–bysport.org
On February 10-11, the Ukrainian Squash Championship 2024 took place at the courts of the capital’s Sport Life fitness club in Teremky, bringing together 120 athletes from all over the country. The competition was attended by representatives from Kharkiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Odesa, Kherson, Lviv and other regions of the country.
Anastasia Kostiukova and Denis Podvorny became the champions in the adult category, defeating their rivals by demonstrating a high level of skill and invincible spirit. This victory was especially significant for Denys Podvornyi, as he managed to return to the competition after a year of recovery and win his 7th Ukrainian title, losing only two games to his opponents.
Full list of tournament winners:
Boys under 9 years old:
1st place Kostyukov Artem
2nd place Nikolai Filipov
3rd place Mark Grabovsky
Boys under 11 years old:
1st place Schneider Artem
2nd place Matyukhov Egor
3rd place Horbunov Ivan
Girls under 13 years old:
1st place Syvoplias Victoria
2nd place Orlenko Oleksandra
3rd place Krasnokutska Daria
Boys under 13 years old
1st place Andrii Hutsailiuk
2nd place Doroshenko Gleb
3rd place Tomenchuk Mykyta
Girls under 17 years old:
1st place Krykun Anastasia
2nd place Vlasenko Daria
3rd place Tarasova Anna
Boys under 17 years old:
1st place Panchenko Artem
2nd place Danylo Kurilyak
3rd place Shcherbakov Yegor
WOMEN:
1st place Kostyukova Anastasia
2nd place Krykun Anastasia
3rd place Sardak Liana
MEN:
1st place Podvorny Denis
2nd place Panov Nikita
3rd place Petrovych Ruslan
The organizers expressed their sincere gratitude to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the opportunity to host and conduct such events. They also thanked the Sport Life club network for providing courts free of charge, Interfax Ukraine, Experts Club and Maxim Urakin for their media coverage of the tournament, as well as Thermopab represented by Alexander Batashov and KRAINA for their tireless support and assistance in organizing the tournament.
Special thanks go to Tecnifibre for valuable gifts for the children’s categories, as well as to all the players and referees who were able to join this sporting event.
This championship confirmed that even in difficult times, Ukrainians retain the ability to unite, grow and achieve great success. The winners and runners-up in the children’s categories once again reminded us of the importance of sport in developing young people and strengthening the national spirit.
ANASTASIA_KOSTYUKOVA, DENIS_PODVORNY, DMITRY_SHCHERBAKOV, SPORTS, SQUASH, TOURNAMENT
The cooperation between the Kyiv Boxing Federation and the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture opens up new opportunities for the comprehensive development of students. This partnership is a model of how the academic and sports worlds can come together to achieve a common goal. This opinion was expressed by Oleksandr Nehoda, President of the Kyiv Boxing Federation, and Petro Kulikov, Rector of the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency in Kyiv on Thursday.
According to Oleksandr Nehoda, the state’s support of Ukrainian athletes at international competitions is insufficient.
“The state and the Ministry (of Youth and Sports – ed.) allocate funds, and there is also support for young athletes through universities, but this is usually not enough. When we were preparing to participate in the European Games, the funding for meals per day per athlete was 410 hryvnias. With such funds, it is impossible to follow a specialized sports diet. Therefore, we (Kyiv Boxing Federation – ed.) had to purchase a significant part of the food on our own. The same applies to other supplies for the athletes,” Nehoda emphasized.
According to the KFB President, the problem of financing high-quality training of athletes requires a systematic approach from both the state and private sponsors and patrons.
In his turn, the rector of the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, Petro Kulikov, emphasized that his university has created a unique system of support for youth sports and healthy lifestyles, and is improving its sports infrastructure.
“In recent years, KNUBA has hosted several major boxing tournaments among youth and juniors. In addition, we have developed a unique system of cooperation with the Kyiv Boxing Federation and provide premises and training facilities for both accommodation and training of young athletes. To this end, when we opened the stadium, we also opened a hotel with 50 beds to accommodate athletes from different regions of Ukraine,” he said.
Mr. Kulikov also emphasized that cooperation with sports federations should be one of the main areas of development for Ukrainian universities. This is due to both the need to popularize sports and healthy lifestyles among young people and the need to create a strong training base for Ukrainian athletes to participate in international competitions.
“Thanks to our cooperation with federations, sports such as football, basketball and boxing have begun to reach students on a large scale. My fellow rectors and I are doing our best to develop sports in our educational institutions, hold competitions and build sports facilities even in this difficult time,” the rector summarized.
Oleksandr Nehoda added that thanks to Kulikov’s initiative and the existing infrastructure, KNUBA managed to keep many promising boxers in Ukraine, including the Ukrainian youth champion Bohdan Gorgol, who won all his fights ahead of schedule.
“During all of our recent tournaments, we have been proving to both juniors and their parents that the educational and sports facilities created at KNUBA allow not only boxing, but also high-quality higher education, as KNUBA provides preferential admission to students of our boxing school. So, this year 15 of our boys and girls became students. In addition, it is interesting that the leaders of the Kyiv team today are largely from other regions of Ukraine, who, thanks to the KNUBA facilities, can both study and develop in boxing,” Nehoda emphasized.
In his opinion, the development of student boxing is of utmost importance, as this sport is the foundation of both Olympic and professional boxing.
BOXING, KNUBA, KYIV BOXING FEDERATION, SPORTS, ОЛЕКСАНДР_НЕГОДА, ПЕТРО_КУЛІКОВ
On October 1, a charity family festival “Sports for Peace” will be held in Kyiv at Kyoto 25 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. As part of the event, guests can expect:
– Sports quest (climbing, badminton, padel tennis, ping-pong, getting to know horses)
– Workshops for the little ones
– Prize fund for participants
– Demonstration performance of Deryugina’s school
– Musical performances by Sofia Yehorova, the band SESTRA, KISHE and ROXOLANA
Hosts of the event: Roman Mishcheryakov and Vova Shumko (New Channel).
You can buy tickets here – https://sport-zaradu-mury.ticketforevent.com
All proceeds from ticket sales will go to UNITED24 for medical aid.
For the convenience of guests, it is advisable to be in sports clothes, we also recommend having sports shoes with you.
Information partners Interfax-Ukraine, Open4Business, Club of Experts and others.
