Ukraine Competes—And Wins—On The Curling Ice

Something awesome is going on in Lithuania.

Despite the ongoing tragedy of the war in Ukraine, that nation’s women’s and men’s teams have been competing at this week’s European C-Division Championship in Kaunas, Lithuania.

The women’s team skipped by Anastasiia Kotova missed the playoffs with a 2-5 record, finishing behind Finland (7-0), and Belgium, Ireland and Spain (4-3).

The Ukraine victories came over Belgium (9-5) and Bulgaria (6-5) and their last loss was a wild 12-10 slugfest against France.

The men’s team, however, defeated Portugal 7-2 on Wednesday night to close the round robin and grab the third of four qualifying spots into Thursday’s playoffs.

Eduard Nikolov’s foursome finished an impressive 6-2, tied with hosts Lithuania and a game ahead of Portugal, who grabbed the final playoff berth at 5-3. Ireland finished first at 7-0.

Ukraine meets Lithuania in one semifinal on Thursday, while Ireland takes on Portugal in the other semi.

As we said: awesome. But how did the teams make it to Lithuania amid war in their country?

“Our curlers used to practice every day and kept all the necessary equipment at the rink,” explained Nataliia Menzhega, Secretary Executive of the Ukrainian Curling Federation.

“The very day the war started, the trade centre where our curling rink is located, was closed. The curlers basically went to their homes away from Kyiv, some stayed with their families in Kyiv. At this time, our coach, Erkki Lill, offered us an opportunity to take our curlers to Finland to get ready for the European Championship.

“Erkki Lill contacted Lauri Ikävalko from the Kisakallio Sports Institute in Finland and they arranged accommodation, meals and practice facilities for the curlers.”

The Ukrainian Curling Federation collected and transported the players to Helsinki. “It took us about a week to put the curlers on trains and buses, deliver them to Lviv, and then put them on a train to Warsaw and a plane to Helsinki,” said Menzhega.

Upon leaving Ukraine, the athletes were able to take one backpack of personal items and their curling shoes with them, nothing more.

“That is why they came with nothing, and we needed help with equipment and clothes”, Menzhega said describing the teams’ journey to Finland.

Lauri Ikävalko provided the delegation with clothing and some brooms upon arrival at Kisakallio, while Lill gave them Estonian brush pads, so they were able to begin training. The teams later received a gift of free equipment from Canadian manufacturer Hardline that included brushes—with Ukraine-branded pads—as well as clothes and stopwatches.

As the Swedish and the Ukrainian national colours are the same, the World Curling Federation connected the two member associations and asked Sweden if they could provide uniforms to the Ukrainian teams.

The Swedish Curling Association and the Swedish Olympic Committee were happy to provide the Ukrainian delegation with Swedish Olympic uniforms and travel bags to allow them to compete.

The cost of the teams’ preparation for and participation in the European Championships is covered by the Kisakallio Sports Institute and its local partners, funding from the Olympic Solidarity Fund of the International Olympic Committee, support from the Ukrainian Ministry of Youths and Sports, Finnish authorities, with assistance from the World Curling Federation.

Additionally, the Lithuanian Curling Federation offered free accommodation for the teams during their stay in Kaunas for the European Championships.

When talking about their training conditions in Finland, Oleksandra Kononenko, the Ukrainian women’s third said, “The camp conditions for our teams are great, the process is organised at a high level. We practice twice a day on the ice and we go to the gym for our fitness training.

“Our free time is also very active: we play football, basketball, volleyball and table tennis. To relax, we go to the swimming pool and sauna.”

The Ukrainian Curling Federation became a member of the World Curling Federation in 2013. Their men’s and women’s teams debuted at the European C-Division in 2021, finishing eighth and fourth, respectively.