Ukraine won its third gold of the Paris Games on Wednesday when Oleksandr Khyzhniak triumphed in the men’s 80kg final at Roland Garros for the second Olympic medal of his career.
Khyzhniak claimed a split points decision victory over Kazakhstan’s Nurbek Oralbay to go one better than the silver he claimed at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
On that occasion Khyzhniak was knocked out in the final by Brazil’s Hebert Conceicao. He has not been beaten since.
The 29-year-old won four bouts to clinch gold in the French capital, including a points victory over Cuba’s two-time gold medallist Arlen Lopez in the semi-finals.
The all-action Ukrainian raced after his Kazakh opponent from the opening bell.
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Inevitably he could not keep up that pace, but he was the aggressor and busier of the fighters for most of the contest.
Oralbay was more methodical, twice connecting with the Ukrainian’s face in the second round to draw gasps from the crowd and leave the fight in the balance going into the third and final round.
When the verdict went his way, the Ukrainian collapsed to his knees in the ring.
War-torn Ukraine have also won gold in Paris through Yaroslava Mahuchikh in high jump and in the women’s sabre team competition in fencing.
Mahuchikh dedicated her Olympic high jump gold medal on Sunday to the nearly 500 athletes and coaches who have been killed since Russia invaded her country in 2022.
Khyzhniak is from Poltava in central Ukraine and was born into a boxing family, with his father also a boxer in what was then the Soviet Union.
In the final of the men’s 63.5kg division at Roland Garros, better known as the home of Grand Slam tennis, there was disappointment for the home fans.
Despite their best efforts to roar France’s Sofiane Oumiha to gold, he lost on split points to Cuba’s more accomplished Erislandy Alvarez.
