Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Khyzhniak reaches Olympic quarter-final.
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Become a member Support us just onceUkraine's Oleksandr Khyzhniak progressed to the quarter-finals of the men's middleweight boxing event at the Paris Olympics on July 30. Khyzhniak defeated Ukrainian Pylyp Akilov, who represents Hungary, by a majority decision. He will face Brazil's Wanderley Pereira on Aug.
2. This is Khyzhniak's second try at Olympic gold. He was forced to settle for silver during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Akilov was in Mariupol when Russia launched its all-out war, escaping the occupied city through Russia. Akilov settled in Hungary, receiving a Hungarian passport a year later. Elsewhere on July 30, Ukraine's Marta Kostiuk reached the tennis quarter-finals at the 2024 Olympics, beating Maria Sakkari of Greece in three sets.
Kostiuk won 4:6, 7:6, 6:4, and will play Croatia's Donna Vekich in the next round on July 31.
But there was disappointment for Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, who failed to progress to the quarter-finals. She was beaten by Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, losing 6:7, 6:2, 4:6.
Ukraine won its first medal of the 2024 Paris Olympics on July 29, when fencer Olga Kharlan took bronze in the women's individual saber event. In a fiercely contested match, the 33-year-old beat South Korea's Choi Se-bin 15-14.
Kharlan made her way to the Olympic semi-finals, beating Japan's Shihomi Fukushima, Azerbaijan's Anna Bashta, and Hungary's Anna Marton before losing to France's Sarah Balzer.
The bronze makes her Ukraine's equal-most decorated Olympian in history by number of medals, and the first Ukrainian to win medals in four separate Games.
Ukrainian athletes who will never have a chance to compete at the Olympics
Audiences from across the world tuning into the Olympics kicking off with this Friday's opening ceremony in Paris should, as they enjoy the show, be conscious of why Ukraine will not be fully represented this summer - and at future athletic competitions.
Among the tens of thousands of Ukrainians ki...
