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Ukrainians await a bright future
KIEV, Sept 18: The odds will be stacked against Ukrainian athletes when they compete tn the Olympics for the' first time in their own right, denied.the old advantages of the formidable Soviet sports machine, reports Reuter.
Gone will be the vast organisation which supplied much of the coaching and equipment and channelled promising athletes through a well-oiled training system.
Gone too will be dozens of top-quality facilities located in Russia and other former Soviet republics now considered foreign states. Lacking most of all will be money.
The second most powerful former republic will find its athletes scrambling for sponsors to provide for its most basic needs— kit. equipment and even transport, all payable tn scarce convertible currency.
"Given the shortage of funds for Ukrainian sport, only the year best athletes liable to fin tsh sixth or better will be going to Lillehammer of Atlanta. " Valery Borzov, head of Ukraine s national Olympic committee, said in an interview.
"And that means giving prl orfty to those sports In which Ukrainian athletes are regarded as favourites."
For Ukraine, those sports are most likely to be athletics, gymnastics, wrestling, fenc Ing. handball and rowing
Ukrainian athletes compel Ing In the joint CIS team at the Barcelona Olympics collected four individual gold medals
Winners were greeted with the blue-and yellow national flag and the revived 19th cen tury national anthem." Ukraine Has Yet to Perish '
1 frankly never believed I would hear the anthem and sec the flag,' said gymnast Tatyana Goutsou. who won four medals in Barcelona." Includ tng two golds
T believe wr wifi win even more Olympic medals tn Atlanta If we go as an Independent team."
Showing the flag was also important to the country's eadership Keen to boost sagging public morale amid eco-' amic uncertainty and plunging living standards
President Leonid Kravchuk told Olympic champions al a lavish ceremony last week they had underscored what Ukrainians wanted when they voted overwhelmingly for independence in a referendum last December.
"Victories at the Olympics In Barcelona were not only a sporting but also a political act, ' he said.
Kravchuk issued an official order obliging the government to resolve financial arrangements, including convertible currency, for athlete competing in the Olympics and other top-level championships.
But Borzov. Olympic 100 meters gold medalist at the 1972* Munich Games, and
other top officials harbour no illusions about the task facing them
The most modern sports Installations have reverted to Russia, especially In shooting, archery, yachting and Alpine and cross-country skiing
Moat senior r oaches and sports doctors have also remained in Ukraine a giant northern neighbour z Developing mass sport and encouraging young hopefuls Is proving a difficult business in the economic crisis.
Professionals swimming lessons cost about 400 Io 600 coupons (Ukraine's quaarcurrency) a month — a near Im possible burden for the average salary of about 36,000
Sponsorship Is gaining some ground
Infosport. a flrm created by the Sports Ministry and Olympic committee, collects revenue from advertising and other ventures to help Ukrainian teams competing in championships
Soccer and ice hockey teams — once financed by stale institutions, the army and po lice - are lining up joint ven lures based in Ukraine to help make ends meet.
Some have left the country altogether: pole vault world record holder Serget Bubka. Ukraine's biggest disappoint ment in Barcelona where he failed to clear a height, lives in Germany.
But most Ukrainian athletes view the prospect of competing on their own at the Olympics as a chance to distinguish themselves and boost the prestige of their country.
Disputes and misunderstandings with Russia arc fresh in the minds of many officials.
The most prominent In volved selection of the artistic gymnastics team. Two Ukrainians who went to win gold and bronze were Initially passed over by Russian conch s apparently Intent on giving their own candldalcs a chance of acquiring top-level experience.
Many Ukrainians resented the absence of their own television commentators In Barcelona as well as admont Hons from Moscow-based journalists that a.United Team was the best way to capture medal*
' President Kravchuk's order called for more Ukrainian cov erage to redress the balance But even he seemed to realise he was powerless to change everything for the better
He apologized for the fact that authorities, who traditionally rewarded Soviet medallists with lavish gifts., were able only to offer a Tavrla car— the cheapest available and viewed as a cousin to East Germany » defunct Dabant
"We simply don t have any others." he said "Let's hope
comfortable for Atlanta."