2. Match the names and the sporting event.

1. The graceful Galyna Prozumenshchykova. - •'•-

2. The walker Leonid Zhabotynskyi

3. The gold medallist in swimming Polina Astakhova

4. The weightlifter Volodymyr Holubnychyi

5. The gold prize winner in the high jump Valerii Borzov.

6. The yachtsman from Valentyn Mankin

7. The sprinter Valerii Brumel

8. The outstanding pole-vaulter Volodymyr Klychko

9. The figure skater Kateryna Serebrianska

10. Olympic champion free-style gymnastics Oksana Baiul.

11. The champion in boxing Serhii Bubka.

DISCUSSION

3. Discuss the answers to the questions with your classmates.

1. Who was the first Ukrainian athlete to win the Olympic title?

2. Who were Ukraine's first Olympic women champions?

3. What weight did Leonid Zhabotynskyi jerk? ,.

4. Why was Valerii Borzov recognized a hero of the 20^th Olympiad?

5. Who was 'the most feminine gymnast in the world"?

PROJECT Ukrainian Olympic Champions

Do you go in for sport?

Who's your favourite sportsman?

Who of the Olympic champions is your fellow townsmanUkrainian sports are well developed. Evidence of this is found in the Olympic results. The first modern Olympic games were opened on the Marble stadium in Athens on April 6, 1896. Among the 80 thousand spectators was our countryman - M.Ritter from Kyiv. He came to Athens on his own to compete in shooting and wrestling. However the rules proved unknown to Ritter and he had to cancel his entry. There were no our countrymen at the following Olympics. They were internationally recognized after the WWII.

In 1952 at the 15^th Olympic games 25 sportsmen of Ukraine won 10 gold, 9 silver and 1 bronze medals in individual and team scoring. A gymnast from Lviv Victor Chukarin /1921-1984/ was first on the pommel horse. He was the first Ukrainian athlete to win the Olympic title. V. Chukarin was born in 1921 in Krasnoarmiiske / Donetsk region/. In 1954 he became World Champion. V. Chukarin won 11 Olympic medals. He was twice overall Olympic Champion, a walking legend, a man of rare courage. Ukraine had also her first Olympic women champions in combined competition - Maria Gorokhovska from Kharkiv and Nina Bocharova from Kyiv. M. Gorohovska was born in Yevpatoria in 1921. In 1954 she became World Champion. A noted Greco-Roman wrestler from Zaporizhzhia Yakiv Punkin /b.1921/ won the Olympic gold prize. Yakiv Punkin had gone through the war of 1941-45 and at 31 he became the first Ukrainian wrestler to carry off a gold medal. Such was the Olympic start of the Ukrainian sportsmen.

In 1956 in Melbourne at the 16^th Olympics 34 Ukrainian athletes seized 14 gold, 4 silver and 11 bronze medals. The 16^th Olympics discovered the outstanding athlete Larysa Latynina, the "first grace" of the tournament. She came to Melbourne as unknown gymnast and said good-bye to Australia as an overall champion. Larysa Latynina was born in 1934 in Kherson. At school she was fond of gymnastic and became a Master of Sport. An outstanding sportswoman, she won 18 Olympic awards. Latynina is one of the brightest stars in gymnastics history. In Melbourne Borys Shakhlin /b.1932/, of Kyiv, won his first gold medal. The "iron" Shakhlin was idol of all boys and all gymnasts, a man of unbending will and power. He won 13 Olympic medals. Shakhlin is a living textbook of gymnastics that will never age. Yurii Titov was born in 1935. He was often called "B. Shakhlin's shadow". He never gave up hope. He became overall World champion in 1962. He won 9 Olympic medals. In 1976 Yurii Titov was elected President of the International Gymnastic Federation.

In 1960 in Rome at the 17th Olympics 36 Ukrainian athletes took 16 gold, 11 silver and 6 bronze medals. After the Rome Olympics the press nicknamed Polina Astakhova, a graceful gymnast from Donetsk, "a Russian birch-tree». Polina Astakhova was born in 1936 in Donetsk. In Rome she was the best on the asymmetrical bars. She was thrice Olympic champion. Reporters called her 'the most feminine gymnast in the world". The walker Volodymyr Holubnychyi. /b. 1936/ from Sumy won the 20-km walk in a brilliant style. He was the first of Ukrainian track and field athletes to carry off a gold Olympic medal.

In 1964 in Tokyo at the 18^th Olympics 33 sportsmen won 13 gold, 12 silver and 7 bronze medals. Galyna Prozumenshchykova, a 16-year old schoolgirl from Sevastopol became first Olympic gold medallist in swimming. The weightlifter Leonid Zhabotynskyi from Zaporizhia jerked 217,5 kg - a sensational result for that time! Valerii Brumel was a gold prizewinner in the high jump.

In 1968 in Mexico at the 19^th Olympic games 51 Ukrainian athletes took 14 gold, 10 silver and 8 bronze medals. Of all Ukrainian sportsmen the most outstanding was a yachtsman from Kyiv Valentyn Mankin. In the Bay of Acapulco he was the first in the Finn class.

In 1972 at the 20^th Olympics the Ukrainian sportsmen took in Munich 20 gold, 7 silver and 9 bronze medals. An outstanding sprinter Valerii Borzov was recognized a hero of the Olympiad. Valerii Borzov was born in 1949 in the town of Sambor, Lviv Region. Borzov came to Munich with a big sporting record in the 100 m 710 sec/.

In 1976 at the 21^st Olympics 95 Ukrainian sportsmen took in Montreal 27 gold, 21 silver and 21 bronze medals. The outstanding pole-vaulter Serhii Bubka from Donetsk set 35 world records in pole-vaulting. He cleared really "cosmic heights". On July 10, 1988 in Nice, he topped the bar fixed at 6,06. Serhii Bubka is eight times world champion. He has been named World's Best Athlete. At the Olympic Games of 1992 the Ukrainian figure skater Oksana Baiul won the first gold medal for independent Ukraine. At the Olympic Games of 1996 in Atlanta, Ukrainian athletes won 9 gold medals.