2001: a new generation reaches the international stage
Anna Chala won bronze at the Open European Cup. New athletes joined the generation already experienced in world and European championships. Meanwhile, the international ITF succession crisis raised questions about future organisational relationships for Ukrainian coaches.
2002: European titles and youth victories
Anna Chala won the Open European Cup. Iryna Kolisnychenko also took gold there. Serhii Turenko and Volodymyr Nazyn became European champions. Nazyn was coached by Yurii Raduzhan. Luhansk’s Ihor Berestovyi won the Ukrainian Cup and became European champion in Košice.
Dmytro Stepanov and Taras Dubtsov won the World Youth Games, with Serhii Hrytsiuk taking silver. Young competitors were earning medals alongside experienced athletes.
Following General Choi Hong Hi’s death on 15 June and the subsequent ITF division, Ukraine’s community had to determine how it would participate in the international movement. Sporting work continued, but the shared name Taekwon-Do ITF no longer meant a single international organisation.
2003: world champions and recognition for coaches
Iryna Kolisnychenko became world champion, European champion and Open European Cup winner. Oleh Solovey won world bronze. Nataliia Taranina earned European silver and world bronze.
Yurii Raduzhan, Serhii Turenko and Artem Vasylenko won European gold. Dmytro Stepanov, Taras Dubtsov, Oleksandr Pershyn and Dmytro Kalynskyi collected silver and bronze medals at the European championship.
Volodymyr Dubtsov became head coach of Ukraine’s national team and was recognised as the country’s best coach in non-Olympic sports. Vladyslav Kim also worked with the Ukrainian team at the world championship in Prague.
A pan-European branch of the international organisation took shape with the AETF as its foundation. Its development determined the international path of the Ukrainian community to which our Federation belongs.
2004: further success for women and young athletes
Kateryna Solovey became European champion and World Cup winner. Iryna Kolisnychenko again won the European championship and Open European Cup. Nataliia Taranina also took gold at both European events.
Dmytro Stepanov, Serhii Hrytsiuk and Artem Vasylenko became European champions, while Yurii Raduzhan won bronze. Vladyslav Kim worked as a coaching consultant to South Korea’s team at the world championship.
Uk Dara Chan became a Ukrainian citizen and continued teaching children in Berezan.
2005: an established place among the world’s leaders
Kateryna Solovey again won the European championship and took world silver. Kharkiv’s Yaroslav Ziuz won European bronze. The athletes’ consistent results set an example for younger students in their clubs.
2006: establishing the Union and joining the AETF
The All-Ukrainian Taekwon-Do Union was registered on 19 July 2006. Following the international ITF division, Ukraine needed a legal entity through which to join the pan-European branch, whose organisational foundation was the All Europe Taekwon-Do Federation (AETF). The Union joined the AETF, providing Ukrainian athletes, coaches and clubs with that organisational route.
Experienced people stood behind the new structure: Ukraine already had established training centres, champions, international instructors and years of teaching experience. The Union connected this work with shared international representation.
The competitive season brought further victories. Kateryna Solovey won the World Cup. Yaroslav Ziuz became European champion, world silver medallist and European Cup winner. Nataliia Taranina and Tiarbei Arkania won European silver, while Rusudan Arkania took gold.
In September, Shevket Vaniiev won his second European title in Greece. Vladyslav Kim won a tournament in Atlantic City. In veterans’ competition, Volodymyr Taranin earned world silver and Oleksandr Popov bronze.
Volodymyr Dubtsov again took charge of the Kharkiv regional federation. Priunel left that regional organisation in the same year.