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Oleg Druzhynets
Sparring partner: Oleg Druzhynets, carried, trains with the British team
Oleg Druzhynets Yana Stadnik

Our 'foreign legion' of wrestlers

Matthew Beard, Evening Standard
25 Jan 2008


"It doesn't matter if he's Ukrainian or what the hell he is. If he's got a British passport he can compete for Britain", Malcolm Morley, chairman of British Wrestling

Yana Stadnik, 21, from Khmelnitsky, Ukraine: 2005 European junior champion. Last competed internationally for Ukraine in July 2006. A relative lightweight, she wrestles in the under-48 kilo category.

Olga Butkevich, 22, from Zaporozhye, Ukraine: 2006 European junior champion in the under-63 kilo category

Miroslav Dykan, 25, from Lviv, Ukraine: Came to Britain as a sparring partner in 2003, has married an English woman and lives in Bolton. He is ranked eighth in Europe's 63-kilo category and is several times Ukranian national champion. He is aiming for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, then London in 2012.

Krasomir Krastonov, 25, from Sofia, Bulgaria: Bulgarian number two in the 55-kilo category hopes his contract as a sparring partner will be renewed by British Wrestling this year. Unlike the Ukrainians, he does not need a visa as Bulgaria belongs to the European Union. He competes at club level in Germany.

Viorel Etko, 30, originally from Moldova: A member of the British national squad, based in Glasgow. He holds a UK passport having lived in Britain for around 10 years.

Oleg Druzhynets, from Ukraine: Sparring partner with the 2012 British team.

Anatolei Sergei: Former world number two and coach to the Ukranian women's national team which produced a gold medallist in Athens in 2004.

Nicolai Kornyeyev: Chief coach of the British national team and formerly a coach at the Dynamo Kiev sports club. Came to Britain to coach wrestlers for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and has stayed in the city.

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