Semyon Novikov became Olympic champion as part of the Bulgarian national team.
Former Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler Semyon Novikov won a gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
In the final fight in the weight category up to 87 kg, the 26-year-old native of Kharkov, representing Bulgaria, defeated Iranian Alireza Mohmadipiani (7:0), who lost to Ukrainian Zhan Beleniuk in the semi-finals.
For a long time, Novikov was Beleniuk's main competitor for a place in the Ukrainian national team at major international tournaments, including the 2020 Olympics, which took place in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Then, it was Zhan who was entrusted to represent our country and he became an Olympic champion, and Semyon went to Tokyo as his sparring partner.
Before that, Novikov won gold at the European Championships in 2020 as part of the Ukrainian national team, which Beleniuk missed. Semyon also won the U-23 World Championship twice, which no Ukrainian had ever done before.
Subsequently, Novikov decided to change his sports citizenship and began playing for Bulgaria in 2023.
After winning the Olympic gold, Novikov made a statement about his roots. Semyon admitted that he feels Ukrainian, despite the change of citizenship.
“I was born in Ukraine, I feel Ukrainian. If I changed my citizenship, it does not mean that I stopped being Ukrainian. My family lives in Ukraine. My friends live in Ukraine, they defend Ukraine. I help them as much as I can,” Tribuna.com correspondent Irina Kozyupa reports Novikov as saying.
After winning the Olympic gold, Novikov also took a joint photo with Beleniuk, who won the bronze and beautifully announced the end of his career.
This is the first Olympic medal in Novikov's career. In addition to the Olympic gold, he won bronze at the 2023 European Championship as part of the Bulgarian national team.
See also: 2024 Olympics: which Ukrainian athletes won medals and how much money they earned
Ukraine is represented at the XXXIII Summer Olympics by 140 athletes competing in 23 sports. The Games in Paris will last until August 11.
As of now, Ukraine has ten awards at the 2024 Olympics: three gold, three silver and four bronze. The “blue-yellows” are in 15th place in the medal standings.