KW: First of all, let’s speak about terminology. For example, can we use in our interview the conventional notions healthy and handicapped? Or should we use some other terms? After all, we don’t want to offend you in any way.
 |
| PHÎÒÎ: A. GUDZENKO |
Y.B.: You can freely use healthy and handicapped. We are adults and are accustomed to many challenges in life. We understand and accept it normally. As you quite rightly mentioned, the notion healthy is quite conditional. We all walk under the grace of God. Today a person is healthy and tomorrow, God forbid, something may happen. Then one’s perspective on life is different.
KW: Tell us how you got into Paralympic sports?
Y.B.: I was born in Simferopol, where I spent my childhood. When I was eight years old I was in a car accident in which my mother and brother died and I lost my right hand. My father was behind the wheel and luckily survived. Before the accident I was into artistic gymnastics and was considered a highly promising athlete. Even today I have the best stretch on the team. But I had to forget about that. I finished school in Kovel, where my father moved after his second marriage. I also graduated from vocational school in Kovel with a degree in accounting. During my study, I was invited to try out sports at the local branch of the Foundation for Supporting Sports for the Handicapped. First it was track and field – I ran and jumped. Then, due to stiff competition in the summer Paralympic team, I was offered to take up skiing and biathlon.
 |
| PHÎÒÎ: A. GUDZENKO |
KW: The Paralympic Games were not televised, so I find it difficult to imagine how you compete in the biathlon, particularly the shooting part. Do you ski with your rifle?
Y.B.: No, I ski without rifle. The rifles are specially set up on shooting ranges. There are athletes that have had different appendages amputated. Those with no arms at all shoot using special devices with their teeth.
KW: In your everyday life you wear an artificial arm. Why do you compete without it?
Y.B.: Frankly speaking, I wear the prosthetic device not for aesthetic reasons, rather to prevent my spine from deforming and for better balance and coordination of movement. On the ski trail, however, a prosthetic arm is an obstacle because of its weight and bracings. So, I have to sacrifice balance for speed, though I still often fall. Such is life for us.
KW: How do you train? Tell us about your life in general?
Y.B.: I basically have three homes. Together with my husband we live in Lutsk, where I received an apartment from the government after the games in Turin. We also spend a lot of time in Kyiv, where we stay at my in-laws’ apartment and I spend even more time at training camps for ten days in the Carpathians and Crimea. In the winter, we travel to Russia, Finland and Norway, where training camps could last up to six weeks. It turns out that I see my husband less than my teammates. We train three times a day every day and only rest for half a day on Sunday. The load is heavy and I get exhausted very quickly, but there is no other way to accomplish victory. During the training camps I usually lose 5-6 kg and change my clothes and footwear by several sizes.
KW: Are your coaches healthy people?
Y.B.: Yes indeed. And sometimes we face certain psychological problems connected with our reactions to physical overload, the demands and everyday tensions. At training camps, however, we are settled into rooms in such a way that we can help one another. I’ve been sharing a room with Lyudmyla Pavlenko. Though, honestly speaking, I would rather stay with my husband Mykola. While he sometimes joins me at the training camps in Ukraine, my coaches do not let him travel abroad with me.
 |
| PHÎÒÎ: A. GUDZENKO |
KW: How did you meet your husband?
Y.B.: Kolya is also a handicapped athlete. At the age of 24 he was in a car accident and lost a leg. Having gone through a stage of depression, he joined Paralympic sports switching from diving to swimming. We met in Yevpatoria at the training camp for Paralympians. We have been together for five years now and got married two years ago. Paralympian athletes generally marry each other as there is better understanding and mutual support. So, in our family we have three hands and three legs and we supplement and help one another. He is my hands and I am his legs.
KW: In what everyday situation do you experience problems?
Y.B.: I have difficulty cutting something in the kitchen with one hand. But I have a great assistant – my husband. We cook together and in all other situations we find a solution together.
KW: Are you thinking about having children?
Y.B.: Naturally. We have several friends from the team who already have children and we will definitely have kids of our. I just need to decide whether I will manage to do so within the timeframe of the Olympic cycle before Sochi 2014. Otherwise, I will have to postpone it until after I become champion.
KW: What are you engaged in besides sports? How do you earn a living?
Y.B.: We are students. We study at the Lutsk branch of the Ukraina Open International University of Human Development. It is a learning institution that teaches students with special needs and has a special quota for the handicapped. After graduating, we want to become professional recreation therapists. Frankly speaking, right now I do not know where I would like to work. At the moment, my whole life is one big training session. The sources of financing are pensions, athletic scholarships and royalties for victories.
KW: How is the situation with royalties? (Yulia earned UAH 1.850 mn – UAH 500,000 for each of her three silver medals and UAH 350,000 for the bronze at the Vancouver Paralympics). Is the government paying the promised royalties or delaying payment?
Y.B.: After the games in Turin, the payments, which where much lower then, were protracted over six months. This time, we received valid gold cards bearing the earned prize amount practically within a day. Mind you, this year we did not rejoice as much as we did after receiving the first prize money for our performance in Turin.
 |
| PHÎÒÎ: A. GUDZENKO |
KW: What do you do with the money? Has something changed in your life?
Y.B.: I first helped my relatives. Specifically, I helped my dad to pay off a loan. Then I simply wanted to help somebody and bought a washing machine for a handicapped person in Lutsk.
KW: What about yourself?
Y.B.: We realized our long-time dream and bought an Audi – the model I really wanted. As soon as we saw it parked on the street, I immediately fell in love with it. Ironically, on April Fools’ Day our dream came true. We bought a brand new car at a dealership and even got a discount.
KW: If you had regained your health in exchange for giving up your athletic and financial success, as well as the fame and glory, which would you choose?
Y.B.: This thought never even crossed my mind. You cannot change life. What happened is a thing of the past. So, fantasizing or worrying about it is senseless. I am very satisfied with my life despite all the trials and tribulations I’ve gone through. In truth, if it had not been for my trauma, I would not have met my dearly beloved husband. You must agree that this means a great deal.
Printable version
