150 medals of Ukraine: figures and results of the 2024 Olympics

The 2024 Olympics in France was the eighth to feature athletes from independent Ukraine. The XXXIII Summer Games brought together representatives of 206 countries (a record). They contested 329 sets of medals in 32 sports.

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Eight Olympics behind us, the ninth in 2028 in Los Angeles

The 2024 Olympics in France became the eighth Olympics in which athletes from independent Ukraine participated. The XXXIII Summer Games brought together representatives of 206 countries (a record). They competed for 329 sets of medals in 32 sports.

Millions of sports fans watched the vicissitudes of intense competition in the sports arenas of the country that hosted the Olympic Games for the third time. About 9.5 million (!) spectators watched the Olympians' competitions from the stands of stadiums, sports palaces and sports complexes.

Let's look back at the pages of Ukraine's Olympic history. Eight Olympics are behind us. Different numbers of our athletes participated in them and won different awards.

1996, Atlanta. 231 participants, 23 medals (9+2+12) - 9th place

2000, Sydney. 230 participants, 23 medals (3+10+10) - 21st place

2004, Athens. 239 participants, 22 medals (8+5+9) - 13th place

2008, Beijing. 243 participants, 22 medals (7+4+11) - 11th place

2012, London. 238 participants, 19 medals (5+4+10) - 14th place

2016, Rio de Janeiro. 203 participants, 11 medals (2+5+4) - 31st place

2020, Tokyo. 157 participants, 19 medals (1+6+12) - 44th place

2024, Paris. 142 participants, 12 medals (3+5+4) - 22nd place.

They were the first

The first Olympic medal, at the debut Games for independent Ukraine in Atlanta in 1996, was won by Andriy Kalashnikov, who won a bronze medal in Greco-Roman wrestling. Another representative of Greco-Roman wrestling, Vyacheslav Oleynik, won his first gold medal there.

By the way, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was the most successful in our Olympic history. Among women, gymnast Lilia Podkopaeva became the first Ukrainian Olympic champion in Atlanta. At the 1996 Games, she won three medals - gold in the all-around and floor exercise, and silver in the balance beam.

In eight Olympics, Ukrainian athletes have won 151 medals, including 38 of the highest dignity. Our swimmer Yana Klochkova won four golds at the Games. Gymnast Lilia Podkopaeva has two gold medals in her collection, boxer Vasily Lomachenko and canoeist Yuri Cheban have the same number of top honors.

Six medals for Harlan

"Our fencing prima donna Olga Harlan won bronze in the individual competition and gold in the team event in Paris. She is the owner of six Olympic medals, including two golds won at four Games. Harlan won her first gold medal at the age of 17 for the victory of our sabre fencers in the team tournament at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. In Paris, Olga added a second gold medal to her collection, also winning the team sabre tournament with her friends.

Our wrestlers have won the most medals at eight Olympics - 21 awards. Our track and field athletes have climbed to the podium 18 times, and boxers 16 times. By the number of medals (12) won at the XXXIII Games in Paris, our Olympic team ranked 22nd in the world and 11th in Europe. By the way, in its pre-Olympic forecast, Gracenote predicted that we would win 18 medals (2 gold, 6 silver and 10 bronze) and finish 15th overall.

Let me remind you that at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, our Olympians won 11 medals (2+5+4) and took 31st place in the team standings, while in Tokyo 2020 they won 19 awards (1+6+12) and took 44th place in the medal standings.

Only the football team

The Olympic Games program includes a number of popular sports: basketball, football, volleyball, handball, water polo, field hockey, and rugby. Unfortunately, our teams managed to make it to only three Olympics. Our water polo, volleyball and basketball players competed in Atlanta in 1996, and Ukrainian handball players won bronze at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

28 years later, our football team made it to the Olympics in France. However, it failed to go beyond the group stage (Iraq - 1:2, Morocco - 2:1, Argentina - 0:2) - taking the last place in the group, Ruslan Rotan's team went home. The victory over the future bronze medalist of the 2024 Olympics, Morocco, was a weak consolation.

Let's hope that there will be more Ukrainian teams in the game sports at the XXXIV Summer Games to be held in Los Angeles.

Win and receive

The 2024 Olympics was the first time that athletes received prize money not only from their countries but also from some international federations for winning medals.

The International Federation of Athletics has decided to reward the champions in all types of the program with a $50,000 prize. In relay events, teams will receive the same amount, which will be divided among all participants.

The International Boxing Federation has announced that gold medalists will receive $100,000 each, silver medalists $50,000 each, and bronze medalists $25,000 each. In all cases, however, boxers will receive only half of this amount, while their coaches and the National Olympic Committees of champions and medalists will receive 25% each.

It's not nice to count other people's money. But our famous high jumper Yaroslava Maguchykh will receive the $125,000 promised by the state for her medal as the champion of the 2024 Olympics, as well as an additional $50,000 from the International Athletics Federation. Our boxer Oleksandr Khyzhnyak will also become much richer: 125 thousand dollars from the state will be supplemented by 50 thousand from the International Boxing Federation and 80 thousand dollars personally from Oleksandr Usyk, which our absolute champion promised his colleague before the start of the Olympics in Paris. The sabre fencer Olga Harlan will share $125,000 in prize money with her teammates on the triumphant sabre team and will also receive $80,000 for her individual bronze medal.

But the most important thing, as they say, is to get what you've been promised. This is what we wish to all Ukrainian athletes who have climbed to the Olympic podium in France.

Before the start of the 2004 Games in Athens, I was lucky enough to carry the Olympic torch through the streets of my native Kyiv. In Greece, the home of the Olympic Games, Ukrainian athletes performed quite successfully - 22 medals (8+5+9). They returned home as champions: Valeriy Goncharov (artistic gymnastics), Yana Klochkova (swimming, 2 golds), Olena Kostevych (bullet shooting), Iryna Merleni (freestyle wrestling), Yuriy Nikitin (trampoline), Natalia Skakun (weightlifting), Elbrus Tedeyev (freestyle wrestling), Yuriy Bilonog (shot put).

I would like to see the same success, or even an improvement, in four years' time in Los Angeles at the 2028 Olympics. After all, Ukraine has always been, is and will be a sporting country.