Ukrainians Continue to Climb the Rankings: A Weekend Across Poland, China and Romania
03.06.2026
News
Ukrainian triathletes were in action across three international venues last weekend, competing for valuable World Triathlon ranking points in Poland, China and Romania.
The Europe Triathlon Cup in Rzeszów saw sisters Yeva and Danna Soroka line up against a strong elite field, while Ukraine’s highest-ranked athletes — Sofiya Pryyma, Vitalii Vorontsov and Serhii Kostenko — headed to Taizhou for an Asia Triathlon Cup event. Meanwhile, at the World Triathlon Development Cup in Mamaia, Romania, Sofia Bondarenko, Oleksii Astafiev-Kulish, Ivan Shevchenko, junior national leader Zakhar Tsivkovskyi, second-ranked junior Fedir Bezlepkin, Arsen Adamov, Maksym Nesvat and Yehor Fokov competed for crucial ranking points.
In Poland, Yeva and Danna Soroka exited the swim within the main chase group, 35 and 40 seconds behind the leaders respectively.
Yeva produced the fastest transition of the day before launching an aggressive bike leg. After recording the 11th-fastest cycling split, she bridged to the leaders during the run and posted the sixth-fastest run split overall to finish an impressive fourth. The result earned her 237 World Triathlon ranking points and a jump of 119 positions to 265th in the world rankings.
Danna Soroka, currently Ukraine’s top junior athlete and third in the European Junior Rankings, made only her second elite-level appearance. After scoring her first ranking points with 49th place in Monte Gordo earlier this season, she improved significantly in Rzeszów, finishing 31st and collecting 28 ranking points. The performance lifted her to 664th in the world rankings.
The Soroka sisters will next turn their attention to Olympic qualification events, with Yeva set to compete at the European Championships in Tarragona before both athletes head to the World Cup in Tiszaujvaros. Final results
In Taizhou, Sofiya Pryyma once again confirmed her consistency on the Asian Cup circuit.
The Ukrainian exited the swim just 10 seconds behind the leader before producing the fastest bike split of the race. Arriving in T2 alongside the front group, Pryima remained in contention throughout the run and eventually secured sixth place with the eighth-fastest run split.
The result brought 175 World Ranking points and propelled her into the world’s top 200 for the first time, reaching a career-high 196th position. Over four Asia Cup appearances this season, Pryyma has recorded three top-10 finishes and accumulated 615 ranking points.
Among the men, Vitalii Vorontsov exited the water 35 seconds behind the leader and entered T2 in a strong position after an excellent bike leg. A solid run secured 16th place, moving him up to 260th in the world rankings. Across three Asia Cup events this season, Vorontsov has collected 289 ranking points, highlighted by a top-10 finish in Tam Chuc.
Serhii Kostenko fought hard from the chase packs but narrowly missed the points-paying positions, finishing 43rd and just 26 seconds outside the scoring zone. Nevertheless, he concluded his Asia Cup campaign with points from three of four races and now sits 514th in the world rankings with 91 points.
Both athletes are now preparing for Olympic qualification races, beginning with the European Championships and continuing at the World Cup in Tiszaujvaros. Final results
At the World Triathlon Development Cup in Mamaia, Sofia Bondarenko continued Ukraine’s impressive weekend.
After emerging from the swim just 14 seconds behind the leaders, Bondarenko remained in the front group throughout the race. A fourth-fastest run split secured fourth place overall and 98 World Ranking points, placing her 513th in the elite rankings.
In the men’s race, Oleksii Astafiev-Kulish and Zakhar Tsivkovskyi led the Ukrainian challenge. Both remained in the main chase group throughout the bike leg and continued moving forward during the run.
Tsivkovskyi delivered one of the standout performances of the day, finishing eighth and earning 72 ranking points. The result marked his debut in the World Triathlon Rankings at 787th overall.
Astafiev-Kulish crossed the line in tenth place, collecting 61 points and climbing 243 positions to 659th in the rankings.
Ivan Shevchenko finished 22nd and earned 24 ranking points, moving to 1,023rd in the world rankings. Fedir Bezlepkin placed 25th, Arsen Adamov 29th, Maksym Nesvat 35th and Yehor Fokov 39th. Final results
The next challenge for Ukraine’s developing athletes will be the Balkan Championships and the Europe Triathlon Junior Cup in Tiszaujvaros, while the senior team continues its pursuit of Olympic qualification points on the international circuit.
