Ukraine (UKR)

As a separate nation Ukraine had never competed at the Olympics until its début in 1994 at Lillehammer at the Olympic Winter Games and in 1996 at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. This is due mostly to the fact that, until the Soviet Union revolution of 1991, Ukraine had only been truly independent in the 20th century for a brief period around the time of the Bolshevik Revolution (and was at civil war for most of that time).

Many Ukrainians competed for the Soviet Union at the Olympic Games, however. Ukraine was second only to Russia among Soviet republics in terms of medals won. Ukrainian Larysa Latynina was the most successful athlete during the Soviet era, as she won 18 medals (nine gold, five silver, and four bronze) in gymnastics between 1956 and 1964. Other top Ukrainian gymnasts included Borys Shakhlin (7-4-2 from 1956 to 1964), Viktor Chukarin (7-3-1 in 1952 and 1956), and Polina Astakhova (5-2-3 from 1956 to 1964) represented the Soviet Union. Ukrainian athletes were present at Albertville and Barcelona in 1992 as members of the Unified Team.

The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine was formed on 22 December 1990 (before the break up from the Soviet Union). It was provisionally recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1992 and was fully recognized in September 1993 at the IOC Session in Monte Carlo. At Lillehammer, Ukraine accounted for two Olympic medals, highlighted by the gold-medal-winning performance of Oksana Baiul in women’s figure skating. Ukraine has never hosted an Olympic Games, but in 1980 several preliminary football (soccer) matches were held in the Respublikansky stadion in Kyiv.

Through 2022, Ukraine has won 148 Olympic medals, with 38 gold medals. Yana Klochkova won back-to-back victories in the two individual medley swimming events of 2000 and 2004, and is the only Ukrainian athlete with five medals and four golds. Three Ukrainian athletes have each won four medals: sprint canoeist İnna Osipenko-Radomska, fencer Olha Kharlan, and sport shooter Olena Kostevych.

Of these 148 medals, nine came at the Olympic Winter Games, including three golds (with the bulk of them coming in biathlon, with five medals). At the Olympic Winter Games, two athletes have won two medals: Vita Semerenko won a gold and a bronze in women’s biathlon in 2014, and freestyle skier Oleksandr Abramenko won a gold in 2018 and a silver in 2022, in the aerials event in both occasions.