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Former heavyweight champ seeks new life as mayor of Ukrainian capital
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - The former heavyweight boxing champion climbed nimbly onto the back of a pickup truck as the crowd roared his name. Vitali Klitschko smiled shyly and took a deep breath.
In this fight, Klitschko is the underdog - a position he's not used to.
Klitschko is running for mayor of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, in a contest that is about housing and garbage collection on the outside, but is also highly personal, and closely bound up in the Orange Revolution, Ukraine's 2004 leap into full democracy.
The mayor whose job he wants is a close friend of his, and he is also running for Parliament in national elections on March 26, the same day as the mayoral race, heading the candidate list of a new anti-corruption, pro-Orange Revolution political bloc.
In a field of 41 candidates, most opinion polls give the lead to the 67-year-old incumbent, Oleksandr Omelchenko, a decade in the job and seeking a third term.
Omelchenko leads by 6 percent in most polls, though the latest reported a dead heat. Most gave a margin of error of two percentage points.
A 34-year-old millionaire, 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 meters) tall and weighing 245 pounds (110.6 kilograms), Klitschko cuts an Arnold Schwarzenegger-like figure on the campaign trail.
"I'm not here because I need fame or a job,'' he told a couple of hundred Ukrainians - women in head scarves, autograph-hunting boys, black-clad young men - who turned out to hear him on a cold Saturday morning.
"I want to clear the road for new ideas,'' he said, glancing often at prepared notes.
"I want to work for you.''
Most applauded, but some were just there for the autograph of a national hero.
"I don't know if I'll vote for him - I just wanted him to sign something for my son,'' said Oleh Mashmanov.
Klitschko "is one of the next generation of politicians,'' said analyst Stanislav Belkovsky at a discussion of those poised to replace the Orange Revolution leaders whose appeal is already beginning to weaken in this ex-Soviet republic of 47 million.
"He's young and by 35 will have learned what Omelchenko won't be able to learn by 70,'' said Ivan Saliy of the Kiev-based Institute for Ukraine's Steady Development. He would be "a mayor with room for growth.''
Klitschko retired unexpectedly from boxing in November after hurting his knee in training and pulling out of a defense of his WBC heavyweight champion title.
That left his younger brother and fellow boxer, Wladimir, alone to carry the sporting mantle of "the Klitschko brothers.''
Vitali and Wladimir, sons of a teacher and Air Force officer, rose to fame not only by pounding their opponents, but also by smashing boxing stereotypes.
Both have Ph.D's in physical education and sport from Kiev University, and the elder Klitschko lets it be known that he plays a mean game of chess and relaxes by reading serious literature.
At the height of the 2004 Orange Revolution mass protests, Vitali Klitschko wore a small orange sash on his boxing trunks while pummeling British challenger Danny Williams in Las Vegas, then flew home to take the stage alongside President-to-be Viktor Yushchenko at the height of the revolution.
Yushchenko made Klitschko an adviser. In running for mayor of the city of 4 million he is taking on his longtime friend and former boxing patron.
Omelchenko had been quoted as saying the Klitschko brothers were like sons to him, while Klitschko reportedly declared that he fought better when Omelchenko was at a match.
That may explain why the race is much more sedate than analysts predicted.
"Klitschko is young and energetic. Ukraine needs people like him,'' said supporter Valentyna Rudenko, 60, waving a small Klitschko campaign flag.
"And he lived in America. I want to live like you do in America. He understands what that means.''
But that also works against him. At news conferences, he is often asked how he can run a city that he has spent so little time in recently, having made his principal home abroad.
His preference for speaking Russian rather than Ukrainian also upsets nationalists eager to shake off a long history of Russian domination.
Klitschko says he's learning, and now starts off his speeches in Ukrainian.
He also counters that with his international profile and contact book, he can promote Kiev's image abroad and apply solutions that work in other capitals.
Former heavyweight champ seeks new life as mayor of Ukrainian capital
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - The former heavyweight boxing champion climbed nimbly onto the back of a pickup truck as the crowd roared his name. Vitali Klitschko smiled shyly and took a deep breath.
In this fight, Klitschko is the underdog - a position he's not used to.
Klitschko is running for mayor of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, in a contest that is about housing and garbage collection on the outside, but is also highly personal, and closely bound up in the Orange Revolution, Ukraine's 2004 leap into full democracy.
The mayor whose job he wants is a close friend of his, and he is also running for Parliament in national elections on March 26, the same day as the mayoral race, heading the candidate list of a new anti-corruption, pro-Orange Revolution political bloc.
In a field of 41 candidates, most opinion polls give the lead to the 67-year-old incumbent, Oleksandr Omelchenko, a decade in the job and seeking a third term.
Omelchenko leads by 6 percent in most polls, though the latest reported a dead heat. Most gave a margin of error of two percentage points.
A 34-year-old millionaire, 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 meters) tall and weighing 245 pounds (110.6 kilograms), Klitschko cuts an Arnold Schwarzenegger-like figure on the campaign trail.
"I'm not here because I need fame or a job,'' he told a couple of hundred Ukrainians - women in head scarves, autograph-hunting boys, black-clad young men - who turned out to hear him on a cold Saturday morning.
"I want to clear the road for new ideas,'' he said, glancing often at prepared notes.
"I want to work for you.''
Most applauded, but some were just there for the autograph of a national hero.
"I don't know if I'll vote for him - I just wanted him to sign something for my son,'' said Oleh Mashmanov.
Klitschko "is one of the next generation of politicians,'' said analyst Stanislav Belkovsky at a discussion of those poised to replace the Orange Revolution leaders whose appeal is already beginning to weaken in this ex-Soviet republic of 47 million.
"He's young and by 35 will have learned what Omelchenko won't be able to learn by 70,'' said Ivan Saliy of the Kiev-based Institute for Ukraine's Steady Development. He would be "a mayor with room for growth.''
Klitschko retired unexpectedly from boxing in November after hurting his knee in training and pulling out of a defense of his WBC heavyweight champion title.
That left his younger brother and fellow boxer, Wladimir, alone to carry the sporting mantle of "the Klitschko brothers.''
Vitali and Wladimir, sons of a teacher and Air Force officer, rose to fame not only by pounding their opponents, but also by smashing boxing stereotypes.
Both have Ph.D's in physical education and sport from Kiev University, and the elder Klitschko lets it be known that he plays a mean game of chess and relaxes by reading serious literature.
At the height of the 2004 Orange Revolution mass protests, Vitali Klitschko wore a small orange sash on his boxing trunks while pummeling British challenger Danny Williams in Las Vegas, then flew home to take the stage alongside President-to-be Viktor Yushchenko at the height of the revolution.
Yushchenko made Klitschko an adviser. In running for mayor of the city of 4 million he is taking on his longtime friend and former boxing patron.
Omelchenko had been quoted as saying the Klitschko brothers were like sons to him, while Klitschko reportedly declared that he fought better when Omelchenko was at a match.
That may explain why the race is much more sedate than analysts predicted.
"Klitschko is young and energetic. Ukraine needs people like him,'' said supporter Valentyna Rudenko, 60, waving a small Klitschko campaign flag.
"And he lived in America. I want to live like you do in America. He understands what that means.''
But that also works against him. At news conferences, he is often asked how he can run a city that he has spent so little time in recently, having made his principal home abroad.
His preference for speaking Russian rather than Ukrainian also upsets nationalists eager to shake off a long history of Russian domination.
Klitschko says he's learning, and now starts off his speeches in Ukrainian.
He also counters that with his international profile and contact book, he can promote Kiev's image abroad and apply solutions that work in other capitals.