Luger Anton Dukach performed brilliantly at the Euros: Ukraine’s best result in 17 years
20 January 2025 11:42
Ukraine has achieved its best result in men’s single luge at the European Championships in 17 years. Sledder Anton Dukach from Lviv region took eighth place, entering the top ten in the competition held in Winterberg, Germany. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Suspilne.
The 2025 European Luge Championships became part of the World Cup stage, bringing together the continent’s strongest athletes. Ukraine was represented at this prestigious tournament by three luge teams: Anton Dukach, Andriy Mandziy and Daniil Martsinovsky.
After his first attempt,Anton Dukach showed the eighth result with a time of 51.290 seconds.
In the second attempt, he finished the race in tenth position, but managed to stay in eighth place in the final protocol with a total result of 1:42.692 minutes.
This result was historic for Ukraine. The system of the official website of the International Luge Federation has been storing data since 2008, and during all this time, Ukrainian athletes have not been in the top 8 of the European Championships.
Dukach showed the second best result in the history of Ukraine at the World Cup. The national record remains the seventh place that Anton took in the 2023/24 season at the stage in Sigulda.
Andriy Mandziy was 13th in the first attempt with a time of 51.488 seconds, but lost one position in the second race, finishing in 14th place with a time of 1:43.210 minutes.
Danylo Martsynovskyi was eliminated after the first attempt. He finished with a time of 52.263 seconds and took the last, 23rd position in the final protocol.
Austrian Jonas Müller becamethe European champion for the second time in a row, winning the gold medal at the continental championship.
The best performances of Ukrainians at the Luge World Cups
Anton Dukach is the leader of Ukrainian luge on the international stage. His results at the World Cups:
- 7th place – Sigulda, 2023/24 season;
- 8th place – Winterberg, 2024/25 season;
- 9th place – Altenberg, 2024/25 season;
- 10th place – Sigulda, 2022/23 season.
Andriy Mandziy also demonstrated high skill:
- 9th place – Sigulda, 2023/24 season;
- 9th place – Sigulda, 2022/23 season.
Who is Anton Dukach?
Anton Dukach is a 29-year-old Ukrainian sledge skater representing the Lviv region. His career began at the World Cup in the 2012/13 season.
The athlete has participated in two Olympics. He showed the best result in Beijing 2022, taking 11th place in the relay. In the single luge, he finished 22nd at the 2022 Olympics.
At the Nations Cup level, Dukach won nine medals, including gold and silver in the 2024/25 season.
