From June 29 to July 3, the European powerlifting and bench press championships for athletes with visual impairments took place in Mersin, Turkey.
The Ukrainian national team took first place in the overall team standings, and athletes of the Donetsk regional children's and youth sports school for persons with disabilities and representatives of the city of Sloviansk made a significant contribution to this achievement.
Vasylysa Kozyreva posted the best results among her competitors in the 52 kg weight class: a total of 288 kg across the three events (squat, bench press and deadlift), and 58 kg in the bench press.
Valentyna Grygoryeva, competing in the 67.5 kg category, won gold in the total with a score of 335 kg (setting a world record of 118 kg in the squat) and took silver in the bench press, lifting 67 kg.
Volodymyr Shaulskyi became a two-time European champion in the 56 kg weight class: he totaled 422 kg across all three lifts, and his bench press result was 92 kg.
Volodymyr Dranyi won the 60 kg category with a total of 447 kg and took silver in the bench press (110 kg).
Yuriy Romaniuk became the best in the 67.5 kg weight class. He recorded a total of 540 kg across the three events and lifted 133 kg in the bench press.
The athletes were trained by honored coaches of Ukraine Ihor Kotlyarov and Oleksiy Pozdnukhov.