Ukraine will compete in the full program of the European Skeleton Championships for the first time, fielding athletes in men’s, women’s, and mixed team events.
The Ukraine national team will compete in a full program at the European Skeleton Championships for the first time in history. This was reported in an exclusive comment to Suspilne Sport.
The European Skeleton Championships will take place on Friday, January 9, in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The program will include three events: men’s and women’s races, as well as the mixed team competition.
In previous years, Ukraine had limited representation at the European Skeleton Championships — until the 2023/24 season, only one athlete, Vladyslav Heraskevych, competed. Over the past two years, however, the number of Ukrainian skeleton athletes has increased to two, with Yaroslav Lavreniuk, a regular participant in World Cup stages, joining Heraskevych.
At this year’s European Championships, Ukraine’s representation will be even larger. As a result, the blue-and-yellow team will be able to compete in the full program of the tournament, which has been expanded in the current season.
What happened?
As reported in an exclusive comment to Suspilne Sport, Ukraine will travel to this year’s European Championships in St. Moritz with a team of three skeleton athletes. In addition to Vladyslav Heraskevych and Yaroslav Lavreniuk, the squad will also include 17-year-old Mariia Ivchuk.
Ivchuk made her international skeleton debut only last year. She competed at the Junior European Championships, finishing 11th among athletes under 20, and also took part in the European Cup, where her best results were 27th-place finishes in Sigulda. This season, she has already competed at four European Cup stages, though without top-30 finishes.
For Ivchuk, the European Championships will mark her debut at this level. It will also mean her debut at the World Cup level, as the competition results will count toward both standings; however, only the performances of European athletes will be included in the continental championship rankings.
At the same time, Ivchuk will compete only in the events in St. Moritz scheduled for January 9. She will not take part in the rescheduled World Cup stage, which will be held on the Swiss track on Wednesday, January 7.
Why will Ukraine have a full program at the European Skeleton Championships thanks to Ivchuk?
At the 2026 European Championships, mixed team events will be held for the first time. Two skeleton athletes will compete in these events — one representative from each gender.
As a result, Ivchuk’s participation at the European Championships will allow Ukraine to be represented not only in the women’s competition but also in the mixed team event. It is currently unknown how many teams will compete in the team tournament at the European Championships.
Until now, the mixed team event at the highest level had been held only at the World Championships, starting from the 2019/20 season. At the previous World Championships, 16 teams took part, while the Ukraine national team has yet to compete in the team event.
Schedule of events at the 2026 European Skeleton Championships (January 9)
09:30 — Women’s singles
13:00 — Men’s singles
17:00 — Mixed team event
Tags: EMPR.media European Championships Heraskevych Ivchuk Lavrenyuk skeleton sport breakthrough Ukraine
