Students of National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” Denys Ostapchenko and Oleksii Virchenko became gold and bronze medallists of the Paralympic Games 2024 in Paris in the 50-metre backstroke and freestyle.
A student of group 301-pNH of the Educational and Research Institute of Oil and Gas of Poltava Polytechnic Denys Ostapchenko competed in the 50-metre backstroke in the S3 class. With the result of 45.16 seconds, the athlete was the first to finish in this competition and brought the fourth gold medal to the Ukrainian national team in Paris.
“It took us a long time to get here, we put a lot of effort into it,” said the athlete after the finish. – “I hope this is not the last victory for Ukraine. We are all waiting for the main Victory of Ukraine.”
It should be recalled that 23-year-old paraswimmer Denys Ostapchenko has already reached the highest level of the Paralympic Games in 2020 in Tokyo. The athlete won a gold medal in the 200 metres freestyle.
A student of group 501-FS of Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports of Poltava Polytechnic Oleksii Virchenko won a bronze medal in the 50-metre freestyle in the S13 class. This is not the first competition of this level for the Poltava resident in his sports career: at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, he won a silver medal in the 100-metre butterfly.
“The race is very cool, 50 metres is a very fast distance, very tough competition, everyone swims tightly, hand in hand, you are charged. And there is no chance for a mistake, you have to do everything precisely to achieve a result. Throughout my life, I have realised that if I swim, I will always need to work on something, learn to do something,” – said the athlete.
We sincerely congratulate the winners on their high achievements at the 2024 Paralympics. We are proud of them and wish them good health, inexhaustible strength, inspiration and future victories for the sake of Ukraine!
Recently, master students of Poltava Polytechnic became gold and silver medallists of the Ukrainian Dragon Boat Championship.
Media Center of
National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”
