The national team of Ukraine in ski acrobatics at the World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia, for the first time in history, won a medal in a team at the World Championships in team competitions.
Source: Community sport
Details: Ukraine won the bronze medal, the United States came first, and China came second.
The World Championships in ski acrobatics began immediately with the fight for medals: team competitions. Six countries had to start three ski acrobats (two men and one woman), and among the list of participants was Ukraine.
Team competitions at the World Championships have been held since 2019, while Ukraine made its debut at them in 2021, finishing fifth. Compared to the line-up for the previous World Cup, there was one change: instead of Alexander Abramenko, who finished the season ahead of schedule due to injury, Alexander Okipnyuk was supposed to compete. In addition to him, the team included Dmitry Kotovsky and Anastasia Novosad – winners of the season at the World Cup.
The program of team competitions of the world championship in ski acrobatics consisted of two finals, four best teams went to the “superfinal”. Given that the Swiss team withdrew from the competition before the start, Ukraine simply had to not take the last place in three jumps.
Ukraine was one step away from the last place. In the second and third jumps, Alexander Okipnyuk and Dmitry Kotovsky failed to cope with landings, for which the judges lowered their marks. However, in the top 4 participants of the “superfinal” Ukraine passed, knocking Canada out of there.
In the “superfinal” Ukraine has already fought for medals: after the first jump Anastasia Novosad was second. And she almost guaranteed herself a reward before the final third attempt: Alexander Okipnyuk again received a reduction in the score for a touchdown, but Ukraine was still ahead of Kazakhstan.
As a result, Ukraine retained the “bronze”, ahead of Kazakhstan. The world champions were ski acrobats from the USA, who scored more points than their rivals from China.
