These are the first medals in the history of Ukrainian beach volleyball at competitions of this level.
This was reported by the Odessa Regional Department of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.
Odessa athlete Eduard Reznik in a pair with Sergiy Popov from Zaporizhzhia became a bronze medalist at the European Championship held in Vienna.
In the match for the bronze medals, 34-year-old Eduard Reznik and Sergiy Popov, who celebrated his 32nd birthday on the final day of the Euro, defeated the Italian duo of Samuele Cottafava / Paolo Nicolai with a score of 2-0 (22:20, 21:13). The winning point in the match was scored by Reznik himself, who spiked the ball past the blocking hands. In the first set, at a score of 20:20, Eduard first put Ukraine ahead with a powerful attacking strike, and then sealed the victory with a strong block (Reznik's height is 207 cm).
For the first time, Ukrainian athletes have reached the top 4 in the European Championships, both in the men's and women's categories.
It's worth noting that the Ukrainians had only the 13th ranking among the participants of the European Championship 2023.
