KIEV, July 28, 2023 - Ukrainian Sports Press Association (USPA) awarded the best athletes and coaches of 2021 and 2022. Previous ceremonies did not take place due to the large-scale invasion of the Russian army on the territory of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022. However, Ukrainians continue to live even under the conditions of war, which is why the Ukrainian Journalists' Association found an opportunity to hold the ceremony in Kyiv.

Every year, the Expert Council of the USPA determines the Ten best athletes of Ukraine, the Best male and female athlete, the Best coach and the Best team of the year.

UKRAINE LIVES DESPITE THE WAR Our event today is another sign that Ukraine lives, Ukraine creates, Ukraine fights for its freedom every day, because Ukraine is unbreakable, - noted the USPA president Oleksandr Hlyvynskyi . Our nation is unbreakable, our soldiers are indomitable, who defend our freedom on the front line a clash with an inhuman and shameful enemy, our athletes and coaches who defend the interests of Ukraine on the international arena and  Ukrainian journalists - those who went to the front to defend Ukraine, twenty such sports journalists, and those who cover the events at the front , and those who work daily in the news marathons, and those who cover daily sports competitions and events as well - all of them are unbreakable. We continue to cover sports despite the war. That is why the AIPS honored USPA with a special Sport Media Award"

THANKS TO THE JOURNALISTS FOR THEIR WORK The President of the NOC of Ukraine, the Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Olympic champion Vadym Guttsait emphasized the importance of journalistic work in wartime: "I want to thank Ukrainian sports journalists, your entire team for the work you do covering sports events. And I want to wish you that you had a lot to cover, like now at the European Games, where our athletes won 41 medals, 21 of which were gold. And it was very nice when the whole country was proud, and people just congratulated each other. This is difficult to overestimate during the horrors that are happening in our country now. So let's wish our athletes victories and to our media: as many victories as there are, you will highlight as many, and it will be very important for us! Thank you for your work!

THE BEST ATHLETES OF 2021 USPA Expert council recognized Greco-Roman wrestler Olympic champion Zhan Beleniuk as the Best male athlete of 2021, who, despite the injury he suffered 3 weeks before the start of the Olympic tournament, won gold in Tokyo.

His personal coach as well as a head coach of Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestling team Volodymyr Shatskikh, whose other athlete Parviz Nasibov won silver at the Olympics in Tokyo, was recognized as "Coach of the Year".

Tokyo Olympics multi-medalist (silver and bronze), canoeist Lyudmila Luzan, was recognized as the Best female athlete of 2021. Lyudmila won 13 awards that year, 5 of which were gold, including world and European champion`s titles.

The Ukraine national kayak and canoe team was recognized as the "Team of the Year": canoeists and kayakers won three golds at the World Championships-2021, in total the team won 39 medals at 7 major international tournaments, 17 of them in Olympic disciplines (5 of which were gold). The head coach of a very successful team in 2021 was two-time Olympic champion Yuriy Cheban.

THE BEST OF 2022 The silver medalist of the Beijing Olympics in aerial skiing Oleksandr Abramenko was recognized by the Ukrainian Association of Sports Journalists as the Best Male Athlete of 2022. Oleksandr's medal was the only one for the Ukrainian national team at this Winter Olympics. His personal coach as well as Ukraine aerials team head coach Enver Ablayev received the title of "Coach of the Year". Ukrainian freestylers this season also climbed the podium four times at the World Cup in aerials.

The Best female athlete of the year was determined the high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh - indoor world champion, outdoor world vice-champion and European champion - all titles won in 2022. Yaroslava also achieved world season best that year  – 205 cm and was close to breaking the world record with her attempt on 210 cm.

USPA named the Artistic Swimming Team of Ukraine, which won 15 awards at the World and European Championships in 2022, 10 of which were gold, as the Best  team of 2022.

Climbing the podium with the whole team, the charming champions created a wonderful symbol of the beauty and power of sports, which always inspires journalists to do their work.