Speedway of Nations 2022: ‘The situation is very hard’ – Ukraine’s Stanislav Melnychuk hopes to honour war-torn homeland

Stanislav Melnychuk is hoping Ukraine’s participation at the Speedway of Nations will help put a “smile on the faces” of his fellow countrymen amidst the challenging situation in the country.

Ukraine is currently engaged in military conflict with Russia following the latter’s invasion of its neighbour in February.

Melnychuk will captain his nation at the event in Vojens, Denmark this week and admits that while sport naturally takes on a far less significant role in the lives of Ukrainians back home, he hopes he and his team-mates can provide some joy with a good performance.

“The Ukrainian people are not thinking about sport,” he told discovery+ of the event. “Because the situation is very hard.

“But I hope they see the Ukrainian team and have a smile on their faces.

“I hope we show good speedway for Ukraine, for my team and for my country, I hope we have good results.”

Racing alongside Melnychuk will be Marko Levishyn and Vitalii Lysak who featured as a reserve at the Speedway Grand Prix in Warsaw, Poland.

Ukraine will line up in the first semi-final alongside Poland, Australia, USA, Germany, Latvia and Finland, and will be considered outsiders as far as the tournament is concerned.

However, Melnychuk is optimistic his team can make an impression and perhaps even pull off a surprise as one of the three teams to go through to the final on Saturday, July 30.

“This is a wonderful feeling to be in the Ukrainian team,” he added. “I hope we can do good speedway and place high up.

“To be here with riders from the Grand Prix, this is very good for me and my team.

“I hope we take something from this race and into the next one.”

The fallout from the ongoing situation has seen Russian riders banned from competing in this year’s FIM events, including the Speedway of Nations which they had previously won three times between 2018 and 2020.

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