[1] He won a bronze medal in the 55-kg division at the 2003 European Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro, and then finished fourth at the 2004 Summer Olympics, representing his nation Ukraine.

[2] Vakulenko opened the prelim pool with a shut out 4–0 victory over Czech Republic's Petr Švehla, and followed it with a stunning 3–0 upset over U.S. wrestler and 1996 Olympic silver medalist Dennis Hall to secure him a spot for the medal rounds.

[3][4] Vakulenko edged past Georgia's Irakli Chochua (14–12) in the quarterfinals, before being overwhelmed by eventual Olympic champion István Majoros of Hungary with a 3–1 verdict.

Vakulenko challenged against Greek wrestler Artiom Kiouregkian for the bronze medal, but could not throw him off the mat in front of the home crowd and lost the match 1–6, dropping the Ukrainian to fourth.

[5][6] On March 3, 2007, at age 25, Vakulenko returned from his friend's wedding in Kramatorsk, when his car collided into the electric pylon on a traffic accident, killing him and severely injuring three of his colleagues.