Oleksandr Abramenko

Oleksandr Abramenko
Full nameОлександр Володимирович Абраменко
Born (1988-05-04) 4 May 1988 (age 36)
Pervomaiskyi, Kharkiv Oblast[1]
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
World Cup career
Indiv. podiums8
Indiv. wins1
Discipline titles1 – Aerials (2015–16)
Medal record
Men's freestyle skiing
Representing  Ukraine
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Pyeongchang Aerials
Silver medal – second place 2022 Beijing Aerials
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2019 Utah Aerials
Junior World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2006 Krasnoe Ozero Aerials
Updated on 7 February 2019.

Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Abramenko (Ukrainian: Олександр Володимирович Абраменко; born 4 May 1988) is a Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist freestyle skier, specializing in aerials.[2] He is the 2015–16 Aerials World Cup winner. He competed at the 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics,[3] winning the Olympic gold medal in the men's aerials event at Pyeongchang. Abramenko is also 2019 World Championships and 2022 Winter Olympics silver medalist.[4]

Career

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Abramenko competed at the 2005 World Championships in Ruka, Finland, where he was 25th. Abramenko made his World Cup debut on 8 January 2006 in Mont Gabriel, Canada. He placed eighteenth. Even though he was quite young and inexperienced, he competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. In aerials, he did not advance, placing 27th in the qualifying round. On 6 March 2006, he won a silver medal at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Krasnoe Ozero, Russia. On 19 January 2008, Abramenko finished tenth at the World Cup event in Lake Placid, United States. He was among the best in four of seven competitions that season.

Abramenko competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, for Ukraine. In aerials, he placed 24th in the event's qualifying round, again failing to advance to the final.[5]

His first World Cup podium came on 25 February 2012, in Minsk, Belarus, when he was second after another Ukrainian Stanislav Kravchuk. That year he also was 3rd in Voss, Norway.

At the 2014 Winter Olympics, he reached the final and placed 6th.

He celebrated his first victory on 1 March 2015 in Minsk, Belarus. In 2015–16 season, he became the first-ever Ukrainian to win World Cup in aerials or any other freestyle discipline.[2][6][7][8] That season was the most successful for him because Abramenko's results were 5th, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd, 13th, and 5th.

In the summer of 2016, Abramenko suffered a severe injury. While practicing on water, he injured his cruciate ligaments and his meniscus and transverse ligament.[9] His knee injury didn't allow him to compete whole next season. He also missed 2017 World Championships.

He returned in the pre-Olympic 2017–18 season. There were concerns that Ukraine, for the first time ever, would not qualify any sportsman for men's freestyle skiing due to crisis in Ukrainian freestyle skiing. Abramenko started that season not confidently, finishing 21st in Beijing. But later, his performances improved, and on 19 January 2018, he achieved his eighth podium in Lake Placid, United States. He was then second after China's Jia Zongyang.[10] These results assured him a spot in 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.[11] At the 2018 Winter Olympics he surprisingly became the winner.[12] Abramenko became the second native of Ukraine to win Olympic gold in freestyle after Anton Kushnir, who in 2014 represented Belarus.

On 6 February 2019, he won the silver medal at the World Championships in Utah, United States.[13] It was Ukraine's first World Championships medal in men's aerials.

In 2022, Oleksandr Abramenko competed in his fifth Winter Games in Beijing.[14] He won a silver in the Aerials with a score of 116.5.[15]

Personal life

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Abramenko's father is Volodymyr Abramenko, a former footballer who played for a few amateur teams in Ukraine and is currently a security officer at MFC Mykolaiv.[16]

Largely unknown to the public until he earned his 2018 Olympic gold medal, Abramenko's place of birth was a source of confusion to his fans as many populated places in Ukraine carry names similar to Pervomaiskyi.[3]

On March 4, 2022, The New York Times reported that Abramenko was planning to leave Kyiv to stay with his coach Enver Ablaev who lives in Mukachevo, Transcarpathian region.[17]

Career results

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Winter Olympics

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Year Place Aerials Team event
2006 Italy Torino, Italy 27 —
2010 Canada Vancouver, Canada 24 —
2014 Russia Sochi, Russia 6 —
2018 South Korea Pyeongchang, South Korea 1 —
2022 China Beijing, China 2 —

World Championships

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Year Place Aerials Team event
2005 Finland Ruka, Finland 25 —
2007 Italy Madonna di Campiglio, Italy 16 —
2009 Japan Inawashiro, Japan 5 —
2011 United States Deer Valley, United States 7 —
2013 Norway Voss, Norway 6 —
2015 Austria Kreischberg, Austria 10 —
2019 United States Utah, United States 2 —
2021 Kazakhstan Shymbulak, Kazakhstan 10 5

World Cup

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Individual podiums

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Season Place Rank
2011–12 Belarus Minsk, Belarus 2
2011–12 Norway Voss, Norway 3
2014–15 United States Deer Valley, United States 3
2014–15 Belarus Minsk, Belarus 1
2015–16 China Beijing, China 3
2015–16 United States Deer Valley, United States 3
2015–16 United States Deer Valley, United States 2
2017–18 United States Lake Placid, United States 2

Team podiums

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Season Place Rank
2021–22 Finland Ruka, Finland 3
2021–22 Finland Ruka, Finland 3

Individual rankings

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Season Aerials Overall
2005–06 48 177
2006–07 25 74
2007–08 15 48
2008–09 9 28
2009–10 30 84
2010–11 8 20
2011–12 7 20
2012–13 11 38
2013–14 12 43
2014–15 6 21
2015–16 1 5
2016–17 missed
2017–18 6 31
2018–19 16 85
2019–20 missed
2020–21 13 —

European Cup

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Individual podiums

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Season Place Rank
2009–10 Ukraine Bukovel, Ukraine 2
2010–11 Ukraine Bukovel, Ukraine 1
2010–11 Ukraine Bukovel, Ukraine 1
2013–14 Finland Ruka, Finland 1
2014–15 Finland Ruka, Finland 2
2015–16 Finland Ruka, Finland 2
2017–18 Finland Ruka, Finland 1
2017–18 Finland Ruka, Finland 1
2020–21 Switzerland Airolo, Switzerland 2

References

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  1. ^ Олександр Абраменко – олімпійський чемпіон. kharkivoda.gov.ua (in Ukrainian). Kharkiv Oblast state administration. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  2. ^ a b FIS Profile
  3. ^ a b Romanyuk, T. "Golden" Abramenko: the route of the Ukrainian to the Olympic medal ("Золотий" Абраменко: шлях українця до олімпійської медалі). BBC Ukrayina. 19 February 2018
  4. ^ "Beijing 2022: Ukraine's Top 5 Takeaways - KyivPost - Ukraine's Global Voice". KyivPost. 2022-02-20. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  5. ^ "Sports Reference Profile". Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
  6. ^ "Caldwell and Lillis finish on top in Minsk".
  7. ^ "World Cup Ranking" (PDF).
  8. ^ "Oleksandr Abramenko – the holder of the small World Cup in freestyle skiing".
  9. ^ "Лідер збірної України з фрістайлу Олександр Абраменко відверто оцінив свої олімпійські шанси". Archived from the original on 2018-01-21. Retrieved 2018-01-20.(in Ukrainian)
  10. ^ "Олександр Абраменко у Лейк Плесіді здобув "срібло" етапу КС-17/18 з фрістайлу в акробатиці". Archived from the original on 2018-01-21. Retrieved 2018-01-20.(in Ukrainian)
  11. ^ "Фрістайліст Абраменко зайняв 2-ге місце на етапі КС і кваліфікувався на Олімпіаду".(in Ukrainian)
  12. ^ Video of Abramenko's Olympic performance
  13. ^ "Ukrainian freestyle skier Abramenko won a silver medal in aerials at the World Championships". ukrinform.ua. February 7, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  14. ^ "Official list of Ukrainian delegation at the 2022 Winter Games was published". Suspilne. January 21, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  15. ^ "China's Qi quint-twists to gold in men's aerials". ESPN.com. 2022-02-16. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  16. ^ A son of the MFC Mykolaiv security officer is an Olympic champion (Син офіцера безпеки МФК "Миколаїв" – олімпійський чемпіон). PFL.ua. 19 February 2018
  17. ^ Branch, John (2022-03-04). "He Won an Olympic Silver for Ukraine. Now He's Hiding in a Kyiv Garage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
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