Before the start of the competition, the Ukrainian champion announced a generous monetary reward for compatriots who win medals.
World champion according to WBA, WBO, WBC and IBO heavyweight titlesOleksandr Usyk reacted to Oleksandr Khyzhnyak winning the gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
On his Instagram page, he posted a frame from the broadcast after the final fight, where the Ukrainian boxer rejoices in his victory.
“Glory to God. Glory to Ukraine,” Usyk laconically captioned it.
We will add that before the start of the Olympics in Paris, Usyk promised from his own pocket to pay solid bonuses to the Ukrainian boxers who win medals. He estimated the gold award at 100 thousand dollars, the silver at 75 thousand, and the bronze at 50 thousand dollars.
After his victory in the final, Khizhnyak spoke about the support of Usyk, who had already managed to congratulate the newly-minted Olympic champion.
“For me, Oleksandr Usyk is a man with a capital letter, I respect him very much, I value him very much as an athlete, as a family man. I am very grateful to him for his support. He was one of the first to support me after the Olympics in Tokyo. He called and told me that I was great, that this is a very important medal for our country. My wife wrote that he also congratulated me on social networks. I respect him very much, I am very grateful to him.
I use him as an example for myself – how he behaves, his position as an athlete, as a family man, as a person. It was very nice that he came to us before the Games, supported us, even promised financial rewards. And in general, simply that he is a good person, humane. For me, this is very valuable.
I would like to say hello to him, thank him for having such a position, for being humane. I am very proud of him. The whole country was rooting for him when he boxed Fury, and is rooting for him now. He is very nice to me. I am very grateful to him,” Tribuna.com correspondent Irina Kozyupa quotes Khizhnyak as saying.
In the final of the 2024 Olympics in the weight category up to 80 kg, Khizhnyak defeated Kazakhstani Nurbek Oralbay, who is the current world champion, by a split decision (3:2).
After winning the Olympic gold, Khizhnyak shed tears during the performance of the Ukrainian anthem at the awards ceremony.
For the 29-year-old “Poltava Tank”, this is the second Olympic award in his career and the first gold; he won silver at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Then, Oleksandr reached the final in the 75 kg weight category, but lost by knockout to Brazilian Herbert Souza in the fight for gold.
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. With this result, Ukraine occupies 17th place in the medal standings.
Greco-Roman wrestler Parviz Nasibov, who reached the final, guaranteed Ukraine another medal, at least a silver one. The fight for 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.