Oleksandr Okipniuk reached the finals of the 2026 Olympics and maintains good chances for a medal for Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
Oleksandr Okipniuk became the first Ukrainian finalist in freestyle skiing at the 2026 Olympics, scoring 112.67 points. Other Ukrainian athletes did not qualify.
Ukrainian freestyle skier Oleksandr Okipniuk has qualified for the finals of the aerials competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics. In the first qualifying attempt, he scored 112.67 points, taking sixth place and securing his spot among the finalists, UNN reports.
Details
Thus, Okipniuk became the first Ukrainian representative to secure a place in the finals in this event at the 2026 Games. According to the rules, the six best athletes from the qualification round advance to the decisive stage.
Meanwhile, other Ukrainians — Dmytro Kotovskyi, Yan Havriuk, and Maksym Kuznetsov — failed to improve their results in the second attempt and did not qualify for the finals.
For the Ukrainian freestyle team, this is one of the key chances to compete for medals, as aerials traditionally remains the strongest discipline for the Ukrainian team at the Winter Olympics. The finals will take place on February 20 at 2:30 PM.
Recall
Earlier, UNN reported that Austrian ski jumper Daniel Tschofenig was disqualified at the 2026 Olympics due to non-compliant equipment. His boots exceeded the allowed size by 4 millimeters, costing him a chance to compete for a medal.