2 silver medals at Taekwondo Youth Championships in Ukraine

"I'm working on my dreams in a very difficult and dangerous situation. Ukraine is mostly a risk zone right now."

Coach Nazary Kotyasi, who led the Ukrainian team to the 2023 World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Youth Championships, told WTF on Tuesday (Nov. 30).

The Ukrainian team collected two silver medals on the third day of competition at the Hills Hotel Arena in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This is Ukraine's best result at a WT-hosted event across all age groups. With one more day to go before the closing ceremony, the team has already surpassed its performance at last year's World Youth Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, where it won three bronze medals.

"We came here with a lot of heart," said Coach Kotyasi. We didn't get the gold we wanted, but we got two very valuable silver medals. I'm very happy and proud of my players," said Kotasi. 토토사이트

"I know they have been training in difficult and dangerous conditions. We are the winners," he added, "We still have one more day to go. We will not relax to create an even bigger miracle."

Most of Ukraine's athletes have been training in third countries such as Poland since the outbreak of war with Russia made it difficult for them to train normally.

There were 16 competitors in 16 weight classes for both men and women, most of them scattered across Germany, Spain, Poland, and Italy.

Of course, there are some athletes who never left their war-torn country.

Kirill Kuznetsov and Paulina Tupch, "13-year-olds" who won silver medals side by side in the men's and women's 168 cm and under (43-59 kg) divisions, respectively, have been training in the often shelled capital of Chiayi, WT reported.

Kuznetsov, who lost to Mexico's Guillermo Manuel Cortes in the final by a 0-2 round score, celebrated his silver medal by waving a Ukrainian flag at the ceremony.

"I want to thank my family, coaches and fellow athletes for their support in difficult conditions," Kuznetsov said.

Tuftsi struggled early against her final opponent, Iran's Rozan Soufi, taking the first game. However, she dropped the next two rounds to fall back to defeat, and the disappointment was so overwhelming that she couldn't leave the arena for a while.

"I'm very disappointed that we didn't win the gold medal, but I'm happy in this moment," Tuftsch said, "I want them to remember us. We are the winners, and we will never give up, even though the environment will continue to be difficult."

Meanwhile, the Korean athletes have collected seven medals in the men's (one gold, two bronze) and women's (two gold, two bronze) categories through the third day of the competition.