Reception:
On June 22 in Jezk, divers entered the battle for medals at the III European Games.
127 athletes from 25 countries will compete for tournament awards and 4 Olympic licenses in individual disciplines: 3m springboard (men, women) and platform (men, women).
The Ukrainian diving team is represented by 10 athletes: Kyrylo Azarov, Kseniia Bailo, Kiril Boliukh, Sofia Esman, Oleh Kolodiy, Danylo Konovalov, Yevhen Naumenko, Stanislav Oliferchyk, Anna Pysmenska, Oleksii Sereda.
On the first competitive day, medals were contested in mixed team events. Representing our country were Oleksiy Sereda, Kseniia Bailo, Danylo Konovalov, Anna Pysmenska. From the first dive, Ukrainians seized the lead and did not concede victory to anyone until the final 6th.
438.30 points – the result of the champions. The “gold” of our divers became historical, as our athletes had never before stood on the highest step of the podium at the European Games or won 1st place in team competitions in the new format of the European Championship.
Ukrainians managed to outperform the defending champions of the continental championship, the Italians (398.25 points), by 40.05 points. The Spanish team took third place with 381.45 points.
“I can’t say that this medal is unexpected for me; I saw that we had chances. We made all our dives and, therefore, won the gold medal. I felt that we would become champions when I performed my individual dive,” shared Oleksiy Sereda. “We are all happy that we won. This is a good start for us at these European Games. We are proud of our incredible country and unbroken people. Thanks to everyone for the support. We dedicate this victory to our Armed Forces of Ukraine. They do a lot for us, so we will dedicate all our awards to them and our entire country, because thanks to the soldiers, we have the opportunity to compete and win medals for the country.”
During the press conference, Oleksiy Sereda once again reminded that the war in Ukraine is ongoing, and all athletes are preparing amid constant sounds of air raids and shelling. He called on the sports community to continue the suspension of Russian and Belarusian athletes from competitions, as each of them is involved in the bloody war in Ukraine.
It is worth noting that the diving competition will continue until June 28.