Ukraine Can Put the Shot

What the headline says was confirmed again by our shot-putters at the World Athletics Indoor Championship in Japan.

Two gold and one bronze medals were won by Oleksandr Bahach, Viktoriya Pavlysh and Yuri Bielonoh. The Day’s correspondent asked Anatoly KONCHYS, senior coach of Ukraine’s national team in this sport, to comment on this:

“I am especially pleased with Oleksandr Bahach — at last he managed to win the highest title he deserved so much. Twice did the champion’s title go to the American athlete Godina, (for Bahach had used a Chinese-made ephedrine containing a prohibited element), but justice prevailed in the third encounter. The shot Oleksandr put landed on the 21 meters 41 cm mark . Recall that two weeks ago, at the Ukrainian championship in Lviv, he broke the Ukrainian national record which had held for over six years. And shortly before flying to Japan, he also showed four world-class results in his home town of Brovary.

“As to his lucky rival, the American Godina, he again ‘put a fly in the Ukrainian’s ointment.’ This time he managed, in fair competition, to outdo in the final sixth attempt by our Bielonoh, until then second.

“Champion of Europe Viktoriya Pavlysh told me on the eve of going to Japan she was sure of winning. She was even unembarrassed by the high result of 21 m. 15 cm. achieved by the Russian Korzinina shortly before this championship. And you see, Viktoriya was right.

“Now the Ukrainian national team will be preparing for the world outdoor championship to start on August 20 in Seville, Spain. Unfortunately, we’ll have to cancel for lack of money a training session in Italy we had planned to hold after the Japan competition. For our ‘nuclear’ state, as we are dubbed jocularly by our foreign colleagues (‘nucleus’ and ‘shot’ are homonymous in Ukrainian — Ed.), hard currency is a tremendous problem.”