Ukraine To Send 245 Athletes To London 2012 Olympics

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine will send 245 athletes to the London 2012 Summer Olympics, the press service of the National Olympic Committee has reported, quoting its head, Serhiy Bubka. The Ukrainians will compete in 28 sports. A total of 78 Ukrainian sportsmen will compete in track and field events, 24 in rowing, 14 in swimming, ten in wrestling and judo, seven in boxing, nine in weightlifting, eight in shooting, and nine in diving. In addition, Ukrainian athletes will participate in fencing competitions, tennis and table tennis, modern pentathlon, archery, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, sailing and many other sports. The Ukrainian Olympic team will include well-known athletes, such as Olympic champions Vasyl Lomachenko (boxing), Olha Kharlan (saber fencing), Artur Ayvazyan (shooting), Iryna Merleni (wrestling), Inna Osypenko-Radomska (canoe) Natalia Dobrynska (athletics); silver medalist Vasyl Fedoryshyn (wrestling); bronze medalists Yuriy Cheban (rowing and canoe), Illia Kvasha and Oleksiy Pyrohov (diving). According to the National Olympic Committee, Ukraine had 230-strong team at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, 231 Ukrainian athletes competed in Sydney in 2000, 245 in Athens in 2004, and 254 in Beijing in 2008. The XXX Summer Olympic Games are scheduled to take place in London from July 27 to August 12, 2012.