Itongadol.- Vladislav Bykanov on Sunday has won the gold in the 3000m race of the European Short Track Speed Skating championship in Dordrecht, The Netherlands. It is the first time an Israeli has won the international competition.
"I cannot express in words how it feels to be the European championship," he told Israeli news site Ynet. "This is a huge step forward in my career."
The 26-year-old Ukraine native, the first male athlete to qualify from Israel in short track speed skating, has competed since 2004.
Bykanov represented Israel in Sochi and even carried the Israeli flag during the opening ceremony and finished in 6th place during the second place finals.
At the 2014 Winter Olympics Bykanov needed a mere 76 hundredths of a second to win a place in the 1,500-meters semifinals and ended up at fourth place.
"I am very pleased with my performance in this season, because I manage to stay focused even when I fail. Of course, training with the Dutch team has also been an enormous help," Bykanov said.
Israeli delegations have competed at the Winter Olympics since 1994.