As part of the national team of Ukraine in Pyeongchang will compete skier-biathlete Julia Batenkova, who has only one hand for the sport, and that left. However, she worked hard, and is now considered one of the favorites in the struggle for awards, says the TSN. 19:30.
"When someone regretted me, it irritated me. Well, there is no hand - and no. You go to the start, and everything, "- admitted the athlete. She says that the stopwatch does not regret anyone, and this is a much more objective indicator than human emotions. "No matter how difficult it was, you still have to overcome yourself," she says..
In the snow captivity Julia Batenkova surrendered voluntarily, for the last four months she spent only a week at home. Finland, Ukrainian Carpathians, Italy, Germany - hours of training, kilometers of trails. "Time is fleeting. I want to have time to reach this gold, "- admits the athlete. She was very close: in 2010 she won silver in Vancouver, the main award was not enough for 2 seconds. The same story was repeated in Sochi in 2014.
Ukrainka has already spent 15 years in skiing and biathlon, winning first place in world and European competitions. Only one name scares the rivals: Julia Batenkova. "Sport pulled me out," - does not hide a woman. He became a consolation, which she looked from childhood, when at the age of 8 she lost her mother, younger brother and her own hand in an accident. Accuracy of Julia in biathlon, the coach calls fiction, because the athlete can not fully lie down and lean on the arm, so she invented her own technique. The absence of the hand affects the distance. "If I had one more hand, it would be easier for me," she states.. Because when there is no full-fledged mach, pushing away during the run is weaker, accordingly the athlete moves more slowly.
To honestly judge such skiers, there is a formula: the heavier the injury, the more seconds are taken away from the overall result. In the case of Yulia, this is 4%. If she, for example, overcomes the distance in 45 minutes - she will get the result 43 minutes 20 seconds. But such mathematics is not a guarantee of victory. "Feeling of fear of speed. You now watch any video, as it is on high-speed descents, it brakes at corners, "insists the trainer of the national Paralympic team for skiing and biathlon Valery Kozakov. He stresses that this psychological barrier is the result of an accident that broke the life of Julia.
Two consecutive unsuccessful attempts to win gold for a while pushed the Ukrainian from the sport. She gave birth to a girl, who called Zlata, but then could not resist and returned. "Said: I do not want to, I will not, and went to training," - recalls her husband Nikolai Bauman. Now Julia Batenkova is ready for a new start and hopes that the third attempt will still bring her the desired result.
Correspondent of TSN Lyudmila Badalyan.