Oleksandr Abramenko came to the competition in Milan, but not as an athlete, but as a coach.
Oleksandr Abramenko is the most successful Ukrainian athlete in the history of the Winter Olympics. And a medalist of the last two Winter Olympics: in 2018 he became the champion, and in 2022 – the vice-champion.
In 2024, Abramenko decided to end his career, but he did not leave ski acrobatics. Instead, the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic champion joined Enver Ablaev's coaching staff – he arrived at the Games in Milan in the same status.
The 2026 Olympics are the sixth in Abramenko's career, but the first in his new status as a coach. The Olympic champion made his debut at this level 20 years ago at the Games, which were also held in Italy, although not in Milan, but in Turin.
“When we first arrived here and climbed the slope on the first day, I saw it, the Olympic rings. Of course, emotions flooded in,” Abramenko admits in an exclusive comment for Suspilne Sport. “You are no longer in the epicenter of attention, but somewhere on the edge; the one who already makes these competitions possible. There were thoughts that maybe we should have prepared for these competitions, but it turned out the way it turned out. We will never know this, how it could have been better.”
Oleksandr Abramenko at the previous Olympics in Beijing. Photo: National Olympic Committee
The status of not an athlete, but a coach, adds additional excitement to Abramenko. He explains: it's all because the result depends not on himself, but on the wards he works with. “I started with football and it was difficult for me to play it, because I felt responsible for others. And that's why I chose such an individual sport, where I am responsible for my actions, and I was comfortable. And now I'm already overcoming myself, because responsibility for athletes is very difficult.”
Abramenko's debut as a coach at the Olympics was supposed to take place on February 17, but was postponed: weather conditions in Livigno made changes to the competition schedule. As a result, they were moved to the next day and, according to the newly-minted coach, he turned out to be great for the starts.
“At the Olympic Games, as always, everything is perfect. Only the weather spoiled our mood a little the day before. But [the day of the women's start], I think, was extremely chic [for showing off your best jumps].
“We can talk about it [psychological pressure due to postponing the competition], but that's it. And the girls are debutants. The best we could hope for was to make it to the finals, but it didn't work out. However, they already performed better than their coach [Enver Ablaev] at the first Olympics (laughs).”
At the Olympics, Ukraine is represented by an almost entirely debutant squad — only Dmytro Kotovsky and Oleksandr Okipnyuk have competed at previous Games. In the women's team, none of the athletes have competed at this level before.
At the same time, Ukraine is one of three national teams that have the maximum quota at the Olympics in ski acrobatics. According to Abramenko, this happened not least after he won the “gold” at the Pyeongchang Games.
“If you recall my interview after the 2018 Olympic Games, I said that there was just an abyss behind me, there were no athletes, nothing. But after the “gold”, of course, funding increased, attention, and the opportunity to take athletes to train abroad. Because in Ukraine we have nothing, we cannot train in Ukraine, we have to take athletes abroad, and for this we need finances. And the gold medal just gave us the opportunity to take athletes abroad and in four years we have really improved in this regard. Dima Kotovsky, Angelina [Brykina], the girls and all the boys are young – they very quickly mastered the complexity of the jumps. This gave a plus for development.”
Ukrainian ski acrobatics team at the 2026 Olympics. NOC of Ukraine
Analyzing the performance of the Ukrainian women's team, Abramenko noted the attempt of Angelina Brykina, who dared to perform a jump with a difficulty of 4.690 points. “This is generally a very difficult, “male” jump. It is impossible to train it a lot. And Angelina has only just started jumping triple somersaults. It is very difficult emotionally to perform these jumps, especially at the Olympic Games.”
“Other girls could also [make it to the final]: Oksana [Yatsyuk], Diana [Yablonska]. Lay-full-full gives you the opportunity to make it to the final if you do it flawlessly. If, of course, there are mistakes, then this immediately nullifies all these opportunities. But they are only at the beginning of their sports career and there is room to grow, to train. Therefore, the next Olympics will be their Olympics, where they have to fight for awards.”
No less important for Abramenko is the mixed team tournament, where Ukraine will also be represented. Four years ago, he had the opportunity to perform in Beijing, but due to positive coronavirus tests in the “blue-yellow” team, they were forced to withdraw from it.
“It didn't work out, so [to compete in the team tournament], that was a shame. Now we hope that everything will be okay with the team. In general, the greatest hopes are for this tournament, probably. But we also hope for the individual competitions.”