The main characters of the last two sports weeks, the participants of the Deaflympic Games in Turkey, returned to Mariupol. At the railway station, they were met by Viktor Remskyi, the Deputy Head of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, Natalia Tochilova, the Deputy Head of the Department of Physical Training and Sports of the Regional State Administration, Oleksiy Kazantsev , the Head of Sport of Mariupol City Council, representatives of the Donetsk regional branch of Inva-Sport, as well as the supporters and friends of athletes.
Six Ukrainian athletes from Mariupol are capped: Marina Pogorelova, Rimma Filimoshkina, Yevgeny Nekhayev, Oleksandr Kuznetsov, Yevhen Polukhin and Andriy Pogorelov. They took part in three kinds of sports: judo, athletics and basketball.
In Mariupol, athletes and their coaches were solemnly welcomed with flowers, words of gratitude and congratulations from friends, relatives, colleagues, regional and city authorities. Flags were fluttering, music and applause was sounding.
Viktor Remskyi, the Deputy Head of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, noted, that the results of the sportsmen of the Donetsk region were one of the best in the country: “Out of 24 oblasts of our country, Donetsk athletes showed the best collective result: six athletes and five medals. By the decision of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, you will be awarded payments in Kramatorsk for the won first, second and third places. All of you and your coaches will receive about a million hryvnas”.
Oleksiy Kazantsev, the Head of the Department of Physical Training and Sports of the Mariupol City Council, noted that according to the decision of the session, the medalists would be awarded with the prizes from Vadim Boichenko, the Mayor: for the 1st place - 16 000 UAH; for the 2nd place - 12 800; for the 3rd place - 9,600.
After the solemn part, the athletes happily talked to the media and told how they managed to achieve such good results, and why it failed to implement the plan.
“I wanted gold medal, but it didn’t work out. The next time I will try and I will definitely receive a gold medal”, - Rimma Filomishkina said. The girl told that it was slippery and this factor didn’t let her perform the throw properly.
We remind that four our athletes brought to their native Mariupol 5 medals of different denominations from the Deaflympic Games in Turkey:
- Marina Pogorelova won a bronze medal in a weight category up to 70 kg in judo contest (she was also a bronze medalist in the Games of 2013) and a gold medal in team competitions among women;
- Rimma Filimoshkina won the silver medal in athletics in hammer throwing, thus, for the third time in a row, she climbed to the prize pedestal of the Deaflympic Games (before she won the silver medal in 2009 and the bronze medal in 2013);
- Yevhen Nekhaev took part in the men's team competitions in judo contest in the category up to 100 kg, where he won the bronze medal;
- Oleksandr Kuznetsov took part as a member of the Ukrainian national basketball team and won a bronze medal. We note that Oleksandr played in all matches of the men's national team of Ukraine.
Yevhen Polukhin also represented Mariupol graciously. He took the 4th place in hammer throwing. And Andriy Pogorelov took the 5th place in a weight category up to 100 kg in judo contest.
