Oleksandr Abramenko
Full nameОлександр Володимирович Абраменко
Born (1988-05-04) 4 May 1988
Pervomaiskyi, Kharkiv Oblast[1]
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
World Cup career
Podiums8
Wins1
Discipline titles1 – Aerials (2015–16)
Medal record
Men's freestyle skiing
Representing  Ukraine
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2018 PyeongchangAerials
Silver medal – second place2022 BeijingAerials
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2019 UtahAerials
Junior World Championships
Silver medal – second place2006 Krasnoe OzeroAerials
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

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

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

Winter Olympics

YearPlaceAerialsTeam event
2006Italy Torino, Italy27—
2010Canada Vancouver, Canada24—
2014Russia Sochi, Russia6—
2018South Korea Pyeongchang, South Korea1—
2022China Beijing, China2 —

World Championships

YearPlaceAerialsTeam event
2005Finland Ruka, Finland25—
2007Italy Madonna di Campiglio, Italy16—
2009Japan Inawashiro, Japan5—
2011United States Deer Valley, United States7—
2013Norway Voss, Norway6—
2015Austria Kreischberg, Austria10—
2019United States Utah, United States2—
2021Kazakhstan Shymbulak, Kazakhstan105

World Cup

Individual podiums

SeasonPlaceRank
2011–12Belarus Minsk, Belarus2
2011–12Norway Voss, Norway3
2014–15United States Deer Valley, United States3
2014–15Belarus Minsk, Belarus1
2015–16China Beijing, China3
2015–16United States Deer Valley, United States3
2015–16United States Deer Valley, United States2
2017–18United States Lake Placid, United States2

Team podiums

SeasonPlaceRank
2021–22Finland Ruka, Finland3
2021–22Finland Ruka, Finland3

Individual rankings

SeasonAerialsOverall
2005–0648177
2006–072574
2007–081548
2008–09928
2009–103084
2010–11820
2011–12720
2012–131138
2013–141243
2014–15621
2015–1615
2016–17missed
2017–18631
2018–191685
2019–20missed
2020–2113—

European Cup

Individual podiums

SeasonPlaceRank
2009–10Ukraine Bukovel, Ukraine2
2010–11Ukraine Bukovel, Ukraine1
2010–11Ukraine Bukovel, Ukraine1
2013–14Finland Ruka, Finland1
2014–15Finland Ruka, Finland2
2015–16Finland Ruka, Finland2
2017–18Finland Ruka, Finland1
2017–18Finland Ruka, Finland1
2020–21Switzerland Airolo, Switzerland2

References

  1. ↑ Олександр Абраменко – олімпійський чемпіон. kharkivoda.gov.ua (in Ukrainian). Kharkiv Oblast state administration. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  2. 1 2 FIS Profile
  3. 1 2 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.
  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.
  11. ↑ "Фрістайліст Абраменко зайняв 2-ге місце на етапі КС і кваліфікувався на Олімпіаду".
  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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