since soviet times, gymnast polina ostakhova, record-breaking track and field athlete sergei bubka, andhtar and zarya football clubs have been remembered here. in the fifties and sixties , polina ostakhova was a student of the donetsk physical education technical school. five times became an olympic champion, was considered the most graceful gymnast of her time, in the west she was called the russian birch. pole vaulter from donetsk sergei bubka was the first in the world to clear the bar at a height of 6 m. his record stood for decades. lugansk football dawn was the champion of the ussr in seventy-two, and the donetsk miner took silver twice and won the ussr football cup four times. after 2014 , it was difficult for sports in donbass; football and other sports clubs, which became private under ukraine, from the republics left. athletes who remained at home could not compete in international competitions due to their unrecognized status, and there were no special funds for the development of sports in donbass at that time. nevertheless, they continued to work here. gymnastics, basketbal