Ukraine’s 2024 Olympic medals: Celebrating every Ukrainian medal winner

Ukrainian athletes secured 12 medals — three gold, five silver, and four bronze — at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Let's meet all of Ukraine's 2024 Olympic medal winners!

Gold medals 🥇

This gold medal was one of the most emotional and special wins for Ukrainians at the 2024 Summer Olympics. The team of accomplished Ukrainian saber fencers Olha Kharlan, Alina Komashchuk, Olena Kravatska, and Yulia Bakastova sensationally beat the South Korean athletes after Olha, supported by the crowd chanting her name, scored the eight points needed for the victory in the final bout, securing Ukraine's first gold in Paris.

Happy screams, hugs, and jumps followed as the Ukrainian fencing team was announced champions of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Everyone in Ukraine celebrated the first gold — the second gold in saber fencing for Ukraine after the team's victory in Beijing in 2008. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated the team on the win and thanked them for uplifting the people of Ukraine amid Russia's full-scale war: "I thank them for the result, for the spirit, for showing that Ukrainians win!"

Despite holding the world record in the women's high jump, Ukrainian athlete Yaroslava Mahuchikh had a lot riding on her performance as she arrived at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Everyone in Ukraine, including her family, hoped — even expected — Yaroslava to win, and she confidently met all the expectations, becoming an Olympic champion in the women's high jump.

Yaroslava Mahuchikh, a Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, secured her first Olympic gold, jumping the best result from the first try and napping between jumps while her competitors were trying to beat her. After her victory, the audience cheered on Yaroslava and her fellow high jumper Iryna Herashchenko, who took third place on the pedestal, wrapped in the Ukrainian flags. Yaroslava later said, "I want to thank the armed forces of Ukraine and all the military, volunteers, and people who support us. These are medals for the whole country."

Another emotional and oh-so-deserved win for Ukraine is Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Khyzhniak's gold medal. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Oleksandr epically defeated his competition and rose to the first position on the podium in middleweight boxing. Proving worthy of the Olympic champion title, the Ukrainian athlete redeemed himself after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where he was defeated by a Brazilian boxer and then awarded silver.

When Oleksandr was announced Ukraine's 2024 Olympic medal winner, he dropped to his knees and let out a cry of triumph at the ring. As the Ukrainian boxer received his long-awaited and hard-earned gold medal at the ceremony, he couldn't hold back the tears at the sound of Ukraine's hymn and the sight of the Ukrainian flag rising. Now, we're expecting more victories from Oleksandr in professional boxing.

Silver medals 🥈

Serhii Kulish, a Ukrainian military officer, was the first Ukrainian athlete to win a silver medal at the 2024 Olympics. Competing and winning an award in the 50-meter rifle in three positions, Serhii bounced back after a mishap at the previous games in Tokyo when he accidentally shot at a rival's target and was disqualified from the competition. 

This award holds a special meaning for the Ukrainian medal winner and his people, who are proud to welcome this victory amid the war. "An Olympic medal is always important," Serhii said. "But considering what's going on back home, this is more important than usual." The Ukrainian shooter, who also won silver in the 10-meter air rifle in Rio in 2016, is now determined to fight for the gold medal at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Illia Kovtun, the sweetheart of the Paris 2024 Olympics, is now the proud owner of the silver medal in men's gymnastics. While the Ukrainian gymnast didn't reach bronze by 0.7 of a point, finishing fourth twice in the all-around and men's floor exercise, he secured a rightful spot on the podium for his remarkable and complex routine in the men's parallel bars.

This accomplishment is Illia's first Olympic medal and Ukraine's first Olympic gymnastics medal since 2016 — a huge step up for the gymnast. At the previous Tokyo 2020 Olympics, he placed seventh in the team events and 11th in the men's individual all-around exercises. Since the war, Illia has dedicated each success to Ukraine and its soldiers defending their people.

Ukrainian athlete Parviz Nasibov secured a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling in the 67 kg category — a well-deserved win, considering Parviz competed with an injured eye. After initially leading in all his fights with impressive victories over Serbian, Kyrgyzstani, and Azerbaijani athletes, Parviz was narrowly defeated by an Iranian wrestler in a closely contested final, ending 6-5 with silver. 

The victory was welcomed with praise by all Ukrainians, including Parviz's wife and newborn baby, who supported the Ukrainian wrestler in the audience at the Paris Games. This 2024 Olympic medal marks Parviz's second Olympic silver after performing at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Ukraine celebrated its 11th Olympic medal two weeks into the Paris 2024 Games when Ukrainian rowers Liudmyla Luzan and Anastasia Rybachok secured a silver medal in the 500-meter double canoe. Ukrainian athletes competed against top-ranked teams, including reigning champions from China. The duo finished at 1:54.30 — just 1.49 seconds from the gold.

This achievement added to Liudmyla's third and Anastasia's second Olympic medals. The pair were also silver medalists in the same event at the previous Olympics in Tokyo and were happy to retain their titles. "This is incredible. We're thrilled. We gave our best," one of the canoeists commented. The duo is sure there will be more medals at the next Olympics.

Ukrainian athlete Iryna Koliadenko delivered Ukraine's best Olympic result in women's freestyle wrestling in the last twenty years, winning a silver medal in the 62 kg weight category at the Paris 2024 Olympics. In the semifinals, in an emotional victory, Koliadenko defeated the world's top-ranked wrestler, Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan. She lost the final match 12-1 to Japan's Sakura Motoki, who claimed gold.

This title marks Iryna's second Olympic medal after securing bronze in Tokyo 2020. While the Ukrainian wrestler hoped to win the gold, she still became one of Ukraine's most successful wrestlers and one of the few fighters with more than one Olympic medal. Great result!

Bronze medals🥉

Ukraine's most meaningful Olympic medal was Olha Kharlan's bronze in women's individual saber fencing. It was the first medal secured for the country at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Olha commented on her dramatic win, "This is a message to all the world that Ukraine will never give up."

And what a remarkable comeback for Olha Kharlan! She has been invited to Paris to compete following her outrageous disqualification at the 2023 World Championships — where she participated to qualify for the Olympics — for refusing to shake hands with a Russian athlete. After winning this historic individual bronze and women's team saber gold, Olha became the most decorated Olympian athlete in Ukraine's history with six medals.

August 4 was a great day for Ukraine's high jumpers. While Yaroslava Mahuchikh became an Olympic champion in women's high jump at the 2024 Olympic Games, her fellow athlete Iryna Herashchenko won bronze in the same event, clearing heights of 1.86m, 1.91m, and 1.95m on her first tries. Iryna Herashchenko shared Ukraine's 2024 Olympic medal with Australian Eleanor Patterson, who matched her result.

This win marked her first Olympic medal after finishing 4th in Tokyo 2020 and 10th in Rio 2016. "We made a big holiday for ourselves, for our country, for our defenders," Iryna said about Yaroslava's and her triumph at the women's jump event. "[Ukrainians] are united, extremely strong and invincible."

Ukraine's Thor Mykhailo Kokhan was one of the three Ukrainian medal winners, alongside high jumpers Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who won gold, and Iryna Herashchenko, who took bronze, on the joyful 10th day of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Mykhailo secured an Olympic bronze title with a hammer throw of 79.39 meters — his first Olympic medal, after finishing 4th during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

This is quite an accomplishment for Ukraine and Mykhailo as it is the first Olympic medal in the hammer throw since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics when Oleksandr Krykun earned bronze. As he celebrated his win after the awarding ceremony, Mykhailo told journalists he would safely store the proudly earned medal in a box because the athlete has five cats, "This medal won't last a day if I hang it somewhere."

With his win at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Zhan Beleniuk became the first wrestler in Ukraine's history to win three medals at the Olympic Games. The Greco-Roman wrestler — a Tokyo gold and Rio silver medalist — won bronze in the men's 87-kilogram category at the Paris 2024 Olympics by defeating Polish athlete Arkadiusz Kulynycz 3-1.

Following the fight, Beleniuk symbolically left his shoes on the mat, marking his retirement from professional wrestling. The 33-year-old, announcing the end of his career after securing this medal, said, "Today, I am very happy that I can take the medal."