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Olympic Dreams develops Ukrainian-Slovak sports cooperation: the 5th camp for young Olympians has already taken place

The fifth judo camp of the Olympic Dreams project took place in Michalovce, Slovakia. More than 50 young athletes from the war-affected regions of Ukraine, including Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, Chernihiv, Vinnytsia, and Kherson region, joined Slovak athletes to gain international experience for the development of Ukrainian sport.

The sports camp was made possible thanks to the fruitful cooperation of the Olympic Dreams project team, the Slovak Judo Federation, the Embassy of Ukraine in Slovakia, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Slovak Republic, the Judo Academy in Košice, and the Mayor of Michalovce, Miroslav Dufinec.
“The Olympic Dreams project remains committed to its mission of preserving Ukraine's Olympic reserve. We continue to support talented sports youth by providing them with the necessary resources and training opportunities. Providing our children with systematic and invaluable international sports experience is our priority,” said Anatoliy Boyko, the project's philanthropist and ideologist.

The Ukrainian judokas were trained by some of the best coaches in Slovakia – Gabriel Čopák, Dominika Kincelová, Jozef Lenčeš and Ján Gecko, as well as a well-known coach from France – Pierre Neyra.

Coach Pierre Neyra and CEO of the Olympic Dreams project Oleksandra Novikova

"We are pleased to once again host Ukrainian athletes in our country, pleasantly surprised by the level of their training and ready to work together to improve the skills of our athletes. Therefore, within the framework of this already established cooperation between our countries, we plan to continue this good tradition in 2025,” said Ján Krišanda, State Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Slovakia.
Last week, the Olympic Dreams project participants won three gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the New Generations VOT Valencia Judo Tournament. This happened at the end of the Valencia Training Camp New Generations, which took place in Spain. The competition was attended by athletes from Ukraine, Israel, Spain, France and other countries.

We would also like to remind you that in May 2024, the fourth camp of the international sports camp project Olympic Dreams took place in Slovakia. Young Ukrainian boxers of the Uzhhorod Boxing Federation, with the support of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Slovak Republic, the Slovenská boxerská federácia, the National Sports Centre of Slovakia and personally the President of the Slovak Boxing Federation Tomáš Kovács, spent a week training at the Akadémia Tomiho KIDA sports complex. Previously, the Olympic Dreams camps in Slovakia took place in September 2024.

Information and contact details:
Email: uachildrenfund@gmail.com
Website: maydit.com.ua/olympic_dreams
Facebook: @olympic.dreams.project
Instagram: @olympic_dreams_ua