Ukrainians always knew how to draw a bow and fire a rifle

Two European andone world championships are being held almost simultaneously in France: in shooting at Bordeaux and in the archery at Riome. No one could match the Ukrainian girls in the world-famous wine- production area: they distributed their strength very “soberly” and accurately hit, in a prone position, a 50 m target with a rifle. Natalia Kalnysh won the gold medal, outplaying the Bulgarian Vesella Lecheva by one point, while the experienced Lesia Leskiv bagged the bronze. Also worthy of praise is our Artur Aivazian who lagged behind the Belarusian Sergey Martynov, who finished second in the same exercise, by a tiny 0.6 points.

As to Ukrainian Robin Hoods, they failed so far to win laurels in the individual competition at the Rome world championship, but they resolved the main problem: both the men's and women's teams won the right to go, in strength, to the 2000 Sydney Olympics. What is more, the former literally wrested this right from the Russians, beating them 228 to 227 in the 1/8 finals. Let us also note the success of our women archers who forced their way to the semifinals, defeating the Koreans, apparent favorites of the 1999 championship, with a difference of two points, reports The Day's Oleksandr HONCHARUK.