“If Russians and Belarusians had performed, I definitely wouldn’t have gone there”: Vinnitsa athlete became world champion

“I have no competitors in Ukraine for the next 15 years”

“I think that my action is absolutely appropriate, knowing how in Ukraine innocent people are killed and injured by Iranian drones, animals are killed, houses are lost. - told Ivan Chuprinko. - I do not want to put pressure on those who support the occupying country. During these days, I received thousands of comments of support, where people thanked for the position and deed. It couldn’t be otherwise.

- How did the preparation for the championship last? Did the air raids, and earlier the blackouts, have an effect?

- To get to the World Cup, you need to win regional competitions, national ones. It was and will be. But in Ukraine for the next 15 years I have no competitors. So for me it is not a serious selection. Thanks to the APU, I have the opportunity to train and compete. I was preparing in Vinnitsa with my coach Vadim Mokhnik. Training went well, given that the country is at war. I also coach the younger generation myself. Then I worked out by myself for 3-4 hours. During the first performance, he became the world champion in the weight category up to 74 kilograms. Successfully completed the first attempt at 210 kilograms, broke away from the nearest opponent by as much as 40 kilograms. It was an athlete from Georgia. The fact is that my most serious competitor is Japanese. Since 2018, we have been fighting with him for the title of champion, losing to each other. But this year he went to a different weight class so he wouldn’t have to deal with me. (laughs. - Auth.) During the second attempt, I planned to set a world record by lifting 225.5 kilograms. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. In general, in this exercise and in my weight category, I had a bench press of 220 kilograms. I hope that this year I will win.

So you can do more?

- Can. It is likely that the road affected, because it was difficult to get to South Africa. Everything took three days. First I went to Chernivtsi, spent the night, then to Bucharest by bus. From there I flew to Istanbul, and then another 12 hours to South Africa. So you can imagine my state. But nothing, I succeeded. After all, on May 27, during the second performance, I broke the world record, which has been held since 2015, lifting a weight of 300.5 kg! I just missed it a little to raise the bar even higher, because 310 kilograms almost submitted in the third attempt. He went to the awards ceremony with local powerlifter Marcel Forster, who lifted 190 kilograms in equipment, and Iranian Amir Reza Mesforush. His result is 167.5 kilograms.

- You don’t have to go on diets?

No, I eat what I have. And I can afford sweets.

- How did you meet the Ukrainian team in South Africa? Are they really not worried about our troubles there?

- The Africans themselves are not very worried about our problems, but the same Georgians, the Poles were very supportive.

- How did our team perform?

— There are 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze awards. Andrey Balenkov from Zhytomyr took second place at the World Championships in the weight category up to 83 kg. With a result of 270 kg, the athlete lost only five kilograms to the champion in this weight category.

In the weight category up to 47 kilograms, Oksana Motrunchik from Lutsk became the world champion for the first time. The result of the athlete is 100 kg. In the weight category up to 57 kilograms, the bronze medalist of the championship, with a new Ukrainian record of 140 kg, was another Luka woman - Oksana Medved. In the weight category up to 63 kg, Anna Buturlim from Dnepr took 4th place with a result of 125 kg, only 2.5 kg was not enough for the athlete to climb the podium. Anna Rykun from the city of Sumy confirmed the title of world champion in the classic bench press. Competing in a new weight category for herself, the athlete conquered the barbell weighing 110 kg and won the highest step of the podium in the weight category up to 63 kilograms. In the weight category up to 93 kg, Bogdan Bon from Kiev won a silver medal, successfully fixing a barbell weighing 222.5 kg.

- There were no Russians and Belarusians?

No, they weren’t allowed. If they were, I wouldn’t have gone there.

“I began to appreciate life more”

- How many of your friends and colleagues are at war?

- There are such. There are athletes who, unfortunately, died. One of them is a 23-year-old master of sports and a champion of Ukraine among young men from Peschanka, Vinnytsia region.

- You lived in a hostel from the Kolos sports complex for a very long time, and more than once the locals asked to resolve this issue, because you are the pride not only of the Vinnitsa region, but of the whole of Ukraine. Has the problem been resolved?

- Yes. I had my own savings, they helped a little, and I have an apartment since 2019 and I am a native of Vinnitsa. The kitchen still needs to be refurbished.

- Is your age for sports still considered acceptable? Indeed, in boxing and football, athletes are quickly forced to leave their careers.

— My main rival is now 45 years old. So I’m still in my prime. Powerlifting is a sport where you can train as much as you want and can, and as your health permits. For example, I restore mine in the sauna, buy sports nutrition.

To whom do you dedicate the victory?

- First of all - APU. If not for them, I don’t know what would have happened. Therefore, if necessary, I help everyone as much as I can.

How has the war changed your life?

“I started to appreciate life more. I think that every Ukrainian is hurt. Many acquaintances in the prime of life lost. I knew Russian athletes, but they all ran away. One in the US, the other stands for Germany and has citizenship. I talked with adequate Russians even before the war, who understood how everything would end.

- What is the phenomenon of your strength?

“Ukrainians are indeed the most powerful nation in the world. But there must be work, perseverance, stubbornness.

Earlier, “FACTS” reported that a veteran of the ATO and the prize-winner “Igor the Unconquered” Andrei Kotovenko, who in 2021 in Poland at the World Championships in powerlifting won “bronze” in the bench press discipline, died in the Kharkiv region.