Ukraine at the Winter Universiade: winning in Turin and reviving traditions.

The competitions in 11 sports will take place across two clusters of stadiums located in the metropolitan area of Turin and the Piedmont region. Over 1,400 athletes representing 43 national student sports federations will participate. A total of 96 sets of awards will be contested.

With rich experience

The Winter and Summer Universiades are held every two years in odd-numbered years. This year, the summer "celebration of student sports" will also take place in Germany in the Rhine and Ruhr regions. The year 2021 was an exception, as neither the Winter nor the Summer Universiade occurred due to the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ukrainian team has participated in the student Games as an independent team since 1993. This current Winter Universiade could have marked the 16th in our team's history, but… In 2019, FISU (the International University Sports Federation) held the competition in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, which our team opted not to attend.

Despite being considered a "summer" country in sports, Ukraine has had many bright moments in the history of its team at the Winter Universiades. For instance, in 2003, in the same Italy (in Tarvisio), Ukrainians won 7 gold, 4 silver, and 3 bronze medals (14 awards), securing 2nd place in the overall team standings. Our team made it to the top 3 in the team standings for the second time in 2011 when the competition was held in Erzurum (Turkey) – winning 6 gold, 5 silver, and 4 bronze medals: 15 awards and 3rd place in the medal standings.

The medal record was set in Innsbruck-2005 (Austria) and repeated in Turin-2007, 18 years ago. Back then, the Ukrainian team won 16 awards. In Innsbruck – 4 gold, 10 silver, and 2 bronze (6th place in the overall team standings), in Turin – 2 gold, 8 silver, and 6 bronze (11th position).

Unfortunately, in recent years, the results of the Ukrainian team have been declining. At the 2023 Universiade in Lake Placid (USA), the "yellow-blues" secured only 6 awards and finished 18th in the overall team standings.

However, our team has fond medal memories associated with Turin. And where better to begin the revival of the team’s victorious traditions than in this wonderful Italian city.

In seven out of 11 sports

This year in Turin, our athletes will compete for medals in seven sports: biathlon, figure skating, hockey, snowboarding, alpine skiing, freestyle, and curling. Ukraine will be represented by 55 athletes, including 21 members on the hockey team.

Traditionally, in winter sports, Ukrainian fans pay the closest attention to biathlon. This time, our team includes 11 athletes – 6 in the men's team and 5 in the women's team. Among them are Oleksandra Merkushyna, Olena Horodna, and Daryna Chalyk, who have experience competing in World Cup stages. Their teammates are Liliia Steblina and Ksenia Prykhodko.

The men's team consists of Stepan Kinash, Dmytro Hlushchak, Vladyslav Chykhar, Serhii Suprun, Bohdan Borkovskyi, and Roman Borovyk.

Traditionally, figure skating competitions also attract the attention of fans. Ukraine will be represented by: in men's singles, Kyrylo Marsak and Vadym Novikov (reserve); in women's singles, Anastasiia Hozhva and Tetiana Firsova (reserve); and in ice dance, the duo of Maria Pinchuk/Nikita Pohorelov.

In curling, we will cheer for our men's team. The Ukrainian team will begin the competition on January 15 with a match against Sweden. The roster includes Eduard Nikolov, Yaroslav Shchur, Artem Suhak, Artem Hasynets, and Vladyslav Koval.

Hockey traditions

The only team sport in the Winter Universiade is hockey. Here, too, we have victorious traditions. Our team is among the champions, having won the competition in Poprad (Slovakia) in 1999. Teams from Kazakhstan, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia have each won gold once.

Understandably, the statistics are much better for the giants. The Russian team has won the hockey tournament 8 times in the last 15 editions, while the teams from Canada and the USSR have 5 titles each, and Czechoslovakia has 4. Meanwhile, teams from Sweden, Finland, and the USA have never become champions of the student Games, though they have repeatedly been medalists.

Returning to the 1999 tournament, it's worth noting that it began with a draw against Canada (3:3). This was followed by a crushing victory over South Korea (14:0) and a win against another "giant" from Finland – 3:1. Due to Kazakhstan's refusal to participate in that tournament, the Universiade organizers decided to hold an additional match for 1st place in the group between the Ukrainians and the Canadians.

Additionally, at that time, according to the regulations, there was no playoff; only tie-breaking matches were held. Therefore, the group winner immediately advanced to the final. The match for the final spot was convincingly won by the Ukrainians – 3:0. Goalie Oleksandr Fedorov managed to keep a clean sheet, while Serhii Hodovanyi, Oleksandr Zinevych, and Dmytro Markovskyi each scored a goal against the opponents.

In the final, the Ukrainians faced the home team from Slovakia in a fully packed local Sports Palace. The game ended in a 3:3 draw, and in the shootout, goalie Fedorov shone again, saving all the opponents' shots. Meanwhile, our team members converted their attempts, with Andrii Savchenko and Dmytro Tsyrul bringing victory and gold medals to the Universiade.

Two years later, in Poland, at Zakopane-2001, the Ukrainians won bronze medals. To date, this remains the last success of the hockey team at the Universiades.

With national team players included

The Ukrainian team will also be represented in the hockey tournament at the current Universiade-2025 in Turin. The team roster includes players from the national team – Artem Grebenik, Illia Krykly, Mykyta Sydorenko, and others.

The following players will travel to Turin:

Goalies: Zakhar Kasatonov (Tryzub), Danilo Makarenko (Kryzhynka).

Defenders: Rasim Abdullayev (Kremenchuk), Oleksandr Filimonov (Sokil), Artem Grebenik (Yetis Mont-Blanc, France), Mykyta Kruhlyakov (Shstorm), Artem Portnyy (Shstorm), Hlib Varava (Shstorm), Oleksandr Zaruba (Forus/Sandnes U20, Norway).

Forwards: Yevhen Abadzhan (Kremenchuk), Denys Borodai (Sokil), Vladyslav Braga (Kremenchuk), Dmytro Kobylnyk (Shstorm), Andrii Kryvonozhkin (Kyiv Capitals), Hlib Kryvoshapkin (Kremenchuk), Illia Krykly (Shstorm), Tymofii Savytskyi (Sokil), Serhii Stetsiura (Shstorm), Mykyta Sydorenko (Shstorm), Artem Tselohorodtsev (Kremenchuk).

In the group stage, the Ukrainian team will play against Slovakia (January 12), Poland (January 14), Japan (January 15), and the USA (January 17). In the other group, teams from Canada, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Kazakhstan, and South Korea will compete. The top four teams from each group will advance to the playoffs.

Where to watch

In Ukraine, the Universiade competitions will be broadcast live on Eurosport channels available through cable operators. Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 will extensively cover both the competitions and provide analytical studios discussing the events with invited experts.

Ukrainian TV channels and streaming platforms have not yet announced any rights acquisition for broadcasting the events in Turin.