The boxer from Poltava won the first Olympic gold in his career.
On the night of August 8, Ukraine received another Olympic champion. Alexander Khizhnyak won the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics boxing tournament in Paris in the 80 kg weight category.
In the final, the 29-year-old native of Poltava defeated Kazakhstani Nurbek Oralbay by split decision.
Khizhnyak won the first round on the judges' scorecards (3:2), his opponent Alexander won the second three-minute round (2:3), but in the decisive third round, all the referees gave the victory to the Ukrainian – 5:0.
See the striking photos of Khizhnyak's triumphant fight in the 2024 Olympic final.
For Khyzhnyak, this is the second Olympic award in his career and the first gold; he was a silver medalist at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. Then Alexander reached the final in the weight category up to 75 kg, but in the fight for the “gold” he lost by knockout to the Brazilian Herbert Souza.
Khizhnyak's medal was the eighth for Ukraine at the current Olympics. Now the “blue-yellows” have three gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
Another medal, at least a silver one, was guaranteed for Ukraine by Greco-Roman wrestler Parviz Nasibov, who reached the final. The fight for the “gold” with his participation will take place on Thursday, August 8. On the same day, another representative of our country in Greco-Roman wrestling, Zhan Beleniuk, after a defeat in the semi-finals, will fight for the bronze medal.
Ukraine is represented at the XXXIII Summer Olympics by 140 athletes who compete in 23 sports. The Games in Paris will last until August 11.
