Ukrainian women’s double canoe team claims silver medal at 2024 Olympics

At the 2024 Olympics, Ukrainian rowers Anastasiia Rybachok and Liudmyla Luzan snagged the silver medal in the 500-meter double canoe rowing event.

The broadcast of the competition evidences this.

After resuming performances together in the 2024 season, Luzan and Rybachok entered the Paris Games as the reigning vice-champions of the Olympics.

During their journey to the A final, the Ukrainian athletes surpassed two stages: they advanced from second place to qualify for the semi-finals, where they claimed third in their group with the fourth fastest time among all the boats.

At the finale, the current Olympic gold medalists Xu Shixiao and Sun Mengya from China, the world silver medalists in the 500-meter event Antia Jacome and Maria Cabrera from Spain, and the second-ranked duo from Hungary Agnes Anna Kiss and Bianca Nagy faced off against Ukrainian rowers and other duets in the highly–anticipated race.

In the final race, they began on the second track, and the "blue and yellow" team was outside the top five leaders. The Ukrainian women reached the halfway point of the 250-meter distance in sixth place, trailing by 1.79 seconds.

Luzan and Rybachok finished in the top five during the second half of the race and then pushed forward to secure the second spot on the podium. The Ukrainian women crossed the finish line in 1:54.30 minutes, just behind the Chinese national team's boat, earning them the silver medal.

Olympics-2024. Double canoe, 500 meters

• Xu Shixiao / Sun Mengya (China) 1:52.81 minutes
• Liudmyla Luzan / Anastasiia Rybachok (Ukraine) +1.49
• Sloan MacKenzie/ Katie Vincent (Canada) +1.55

^{Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi}

It should be noted that this is the third Olympic award in Luzan's career, the second for Rybachok. Together, Ukrainian women finish with the "silver" of the Olympics in doubles for the second time in a row.

And in general, this is Ukraine's fourth "silver" at the 2024 Olympic Games in all sports and the 11th medal in all sports.

Luzan and Rybachok will be able to add to the joint "silver" and the medals of individual canoe competitions at a distance of 500 meters – on Saturday, August 10, the Ukrainian women will perform in two different semi-finals and qualify for final A if they finish in the top 4.

As Rubryka previously reported, the International Canoe Federation demanded the removal of part of the inscription "I am Ukrainian" from the boat of Ukrainian canoeist Anastasiia Rybachok, who is competing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

It should be noted that the athlete who won the silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo intended to secure more medals this year. Rubryka recently interviewed Anastasia Rybachok, a Ukrainian canoeist participating in her second Olympic Games. Find out more about her journey in Rubryka's article: "I hope for gold: the story of canoeist Anastasiia Rybachok, Ukraine's representative at Paris Olympics".

For reference:

On July 26, the opening ceremony of the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games was held in the capital of France, Paris, officially kicking off the biggest sports event in the world. This year, for the first time, the celebrations were held not at the stadium but on the water. The 2024 Olympic Games will be held from July 26 to August 11.

• On July 29, saber fencer Olha Kharlan brought Ukraine the first medal of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris—she won the "bronze" medal in the individual saber fencing tournament.
• On August 1, Serhii Kulish won silver in rifle shooting from three positions at 50 m, giving Ukraine its second award of the 2024 Games.
• On August 2, boxer Oleksandr Khyzhniak succeeded by advancing to the semi-finals of the 2024 Olympics, which secured him a medal. He competed against Brazilian fighter Wanderley de Souza Pereira and ultimately won by a unanimous decision by the judges in favor of the Ukrainian.
• On August 3, in the finals of the 2024 Olympics, Ukraine won a gold medal in saber fencing in the women's team. For the first time, the Ukrainian national anthem was played during the winners' award ceremony at the 2024 Olympics.
• Ukrainian track and field star Yaroslava Mahuchikh won gold in the high jump on August 4, earning the top spot in the final at the 2024 Olympic Games. Fellow Ukrainian jumper Iryna Gerashchenko also won bronze.
• On August 4, Ukrainian hammer thrower Mykhailo Kokhan became the bronze medalist of the 2024 Olympic Games. His best result is 79.39 m.
• On August 5, Ukrainian gymnast Illia Kovtun won a silver medal in the parallel bars competition at the 2024 Olympics.
• Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Khyzhniak became the Paris–2024 Olympic boxing champion on August 7. In the 80kg weight class, he defeated Kazakhstan's Nurbek Oralbay in a close split decision, solidifying his win and securing the highly coveted gold medal.
• On August 8, Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler Parviz Nasibov won the silver medal of the 2024 Olympics.
• On August 8, Ukrainian wrestler Zhan Beleniuk competed in the Greco-Roman bronze medal match and won.