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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Ukrainian Students Show Strength in Tatra Mountains 

26 January, 1999 - 00:00

By Serhiy MAKHUN, The Day
On January 21 the Slovakian town Strebske-Pleso the nineteenth winter University
Games opened. The competition, to be held January 23 to 30, will offer
52 sets of medals in nine sports.

Secretary General of the Ukrainian Students Sports Union Valentyn Havrylko
announced that Ukrainian athletes will be competing in seven categories,
although budget-allocated funds only sufficed for ice-hockey, Nordic skiing
and biathlon. Competitors in the rest of items had to raise the money themselves
in order to go to the Tatras, the more so that the Students Games are being
held in Slovakia and not in South Korea, as two years ago. Only the ski-jumpers
and biathletes failed to raise the needed funds.

In the first two days, Ukrainian team members were already showing their
stuff. 22 year-old skier Valentyna Shevchenko of Brovary rejoiced in victory.
In the 5 kilometer sprint, the fourth year student of Kyiv's National University
of Physical Culture and Sports gave her opponents no chance whatever. On
Sunday Oksana Khvostenko of Chernihiv took the bronze in the ten kilometer
free-style skiing event.

In the eighteenth winter University Games in 1997 Ukrainian athletes
won two silver medals in the women's biathlon and two bronze medals in
men's Nordic skiing. This time Ukraine is competing as a full-fledged team,
and we can expect a high overall ranking and the highest medals.

 

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