Indian proverb says: "Sow a deed - you reap a habit, sow a habit - you reap a character, sow a character - you reap a destiny." Actions from childhood were sown together by Oksana Savchenko and her mother. They manifested themselves in a character with a core that nothing can break from the age of sixteen, when the girl became the world champion in swimming.
How it all began
October 10, 1990 in the family of Vladimir and Svetlana Savchenko there was a holiday - Ksyushenka, Oksanochka was born. Her name will be significant early, from infancy. It is translated into Russian as "wanderer". Mom and dad lived in a hostel in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and began to notice that the baby was rubbing her eyes all the time. They called a doctor, and he convincingly said that it was just conjunctivitis. But my daughter cried all the time and did not sleep. Mom was seriously worried, began to seek a referral to the capital, and when she finally received it, she went with a four-month-old baby to Moscow. There they made a terrible diagnosis: glaucoma, the eye nerves are dying, all the lacrimal canals are clogged, and an urgent operation is needed. This is how Oksana Savchenko began her life.
Several operations were performed during the year. One eye andremained blind, while the other saw barely, but still saw. And the process was stopped. With such results, the daughter and mother returned home. Parents had to get used to the fact that their daughter is not like all children. And the child himself perceived himself as if it was necessary. The girl got used to one eye.
Sport, let's be friends
At the age of five, mom started taking her daughter to the pool. She seemed to feel that it would benefit not only he alth and figure. She wanted Oksana Savchenko to grow at least without physical limitations. Indeed, at school, the daughter was teased with cross-eyed, but she did not pay attention to it. Vision remained minimal, 0.05! I had to spend twice as much effort on my studies as my classmates. Oksana Savchenko wanted to run around the yard with her children after school, and her mother purposefully led her to swim again and again. Her first coach was Natalia Vladimirovna Sadovskaya. The child showed obvious abilities. Honored coach Vladimir Vasilyevich Revyakin began to work with Oksana. At the age of 13, Oksana Savchenko won a prize at the world championship. At the age of 14, she became a candidate for the Russian Paralympic team.
In Bashkiria
After graduation, it was decided that the girl would move to Ufa to Igor Tveryakov, who raised more than one champion. He noticed Oksana when she was 12 years old. First, she lived for 2 years in the family of her coach, Igor Lvovich. He did not want Oksana to be lonely in the hostel. He himself does not have a mansion, but everyone is accommodated. Igor Lvovich lived with his wife in one room, his son Denis lived in another, and Oksana and her daughter lived in the thirda coach who was 2 years younger than her. Bed - one for two. Since that time, the girl had a second family, and even a brother and sister. This is how she perceives the Tveryakovs.
After three gold medals in Beijing (the first Paralympics) in 2008, Oksana Savchenko bought a one-room apartment in Ufa. And the coach - a jeep "Nissan", because he was not paid anything for 3 gold medals. There is a rule that you need to raise a champion for 2 years, but he lacked a few months. She was in a slight euphoria, her head was spinning from success, there were tears of joy and happiness. Oksana Savchenko became a little proud of herself. The Paralympic champion remained sociable and accessible, friendly and affable, as she always was. But still, she fell ill with star disease and at the next competitions in Ireland at the European Championship she received only silver. The coach got angry and promised to give her up if he was lazy. The conclusion suggested itself: you need to train more. Since then, Oksana has not lost again.
Fly in the ointment
In our country, for some reason, it is customary to consider a disabled person or, to put it more beautifully, a person with disabilities who has no arms or legs. But in the Paralympic movement, sick people are strictly divided into classes and compete with each other. There are such rigid commissions that it is impossible to outwit them. We envy the success of even a sick person.
The coach immediately warned his guys to beready for tubs of dirt after victories. Oksana is the best, she gets the most. Oksana has a friend, whose name is Anechka. She was actually abandoned by her parents. The girl needed a complex operation. And who gave the money? Oksana. But no one appreciated it. Now there is some dynamics for the better. After the London Paralympics was widely covered, people began to gradually change their attitude towards athletes. Thanks for the great example. The symbol of the Paralympians is Olesya Vladykina (swimmer) - Ambassador of Sochi.
Study
The coach believed that Oksana should get a higher education, and not just swim. She began to study at two universities in Ufa. In pedagogical, at the faculty of physical education, and oil - in the speci alty "fire safety", and successfully graduated from them. No one provided help, and she did not expect it. She understands that, most likely, she will not be a coach or an engineer. These tendencies do not exist. Therefore, in 2014 she continued her studies, now as a part-time student, at the Bashkir Academy under the President of the BR. She's going into politics.
What is the character of the champion
She is a calm and confident person, although her eyesight is extremely poor. Sometimes a girl wears glasses, but her head starts to hurt very quickly. Oksana never took offense at God for her weakness. She is already happy that she sees the world at least a little, at least with one eye.
It is difficult for her today to imagine life without sports. But when a he althy person begins to complain about life in front of her, Oksanaalways offers to watch the Paralympic Games. There are guys without arms, without legs, with cerebral palsy. It is very difficult and painful to watch, but necessary. Oksana does not like sympathy. She has a proud, self-respecting personality.
No one needs examples
She believes that when some illness suddenly knocks a person out of a full life, he falls into depression, and he simply does not know how to live on. Not everyone is able to rebuild. It is very difficult for such people to find themselves again. There are about fourteen million of them in our country, and most of them just drink too much. We need to talk more about those who go to the stadium, the gym, the pool so that people realize that not everything is lost.
Oksana Savchenko is a big promoter of he althy life. Her work is simply unique. With her own money, Oksana made a video about visually impaired and hearing swimmers. They even showed a young man who does not have two legs. Oksana put the case on a professional basis. Filmed by amateurs. They wanted to show everyone that ailments can be overcome, overpowered. It turned out to be a short, 3-minute story, which then won prizes abroad. But in Bashkiria it was not shown on TV. They answered that they had no place for social advertising. And Oksana dreamed of continuing and making videos about fencers in wheelchairs, about judo for the blind. The meaning is the simplest: do not be shy, come to the sport. And it turned out to be of no use to anyone! Oksana did not give up. I used my own money to print discs with stories and wanted to distribute them to schools and universities for free. But thisdid not arouse interest. Although if a he althy young man or girl sees what guys with severe disabilities are doing, they may think that they themselves can do it.
A typical day for a champion
Rise early, at six o'clock in the morning. He is followed by a run. At 7:00 - breakfast, and then training until lunch. Then, according to the schedule, daytime sleep follows. After it, the 2nd workout, which lasts until dinner. During training, everyone swims about 10 - 20 km. And then it's time for bed. Despite exhausting workouts, Oksana's smile never leaves her lips.
Sunday is a rest until 12 noon (sleeping, reading, etc.), in the afternoon - a walk. The main problem is the pool. It doesn't meet Olympic standards. The length of the tracks should be 50 m, and in Ufa - 25. So athletes get used to swimming incorrectly. Therefore, when Ufa residents come to international competitions, they have to reorganize. When a person is blind, he swims and counts the strokes with his hands in order to know when to enter the turn. The coach stands with a pole and hits the water, the sound notifies that the side is nearby. Still, there were injuries. Swimmers hit the board hard with their foreheads or hands. It takes at least a week to properly adjust to the standard track size. If you don’t change, you will wait in confusion for the path to end, look around and eventually lose speed, and maybe even victory. Oksana sees a little of her rivals on adjacent lanes. It is very important for her that they are strong swimmers, so that they cannavigate.
How to find out the result
The scoreboard is hard to see, more precisely, Oksana can't see anything on it, and to find out the result, she immediately runs to the coach. In London, light bulbs were placed near the starting tables. An athlete swims to the finish line and immediately sees: one light is on - it means first place, two - second, three - third. The lights are off, so there are no prizes.
Great English fiction made life easier for athletes.
A curious case
On the first day of the competition in China, Oksana went for a swim in an unmarked swimsuit in the morning.
This used to be allowed. And suddenly - you can't. Need a special suit, licensed. There was a quarter of an hour before the start. And the trainer has the right swimsuit. In a panicked state, she ran around the entire pool and changed in a minute, although this takes at least ten minutes. I managed to swim, but in the pool I realized that I was incredibly tired and, probably, would swim badly. Yes, she received bronze, but everyone learned how to prepare for the first swim.
How many medals does the champion have
Sama Savchenko Oksana Vladimirovna did not consider her awards. He thinks there will be about a hundred. About fifty have been won at the World Cups alone. And it's all gold.
She has some silver and bronze. And now let's count the gold since 2003: 124 medals have accumulated. In addition to sports awards, multiple Paralympics champion Oksana Savchenkoin 2009 she was awarded the Order of Honor, and in 2012 - the Order of Friendship. Now her native Bashkiria celebrated Oksana's achievements with the Order of Salavat Yulaev and the Order of Friendship of Peoples. This is how 26-year-old Savchenko Oksana put her life together. The biography will show what she will do in the future.
Paralympics in Brazil
By 2016, everyone was preparing hard. But our Paralympic team was cynically dismissed. 266 athletes were preparing for a fair and stubborn fight, but turned out to be powerless in front of the dirty behind-the-scenes games of the organizers. Eight-time champion of the Paralympic Games Oksana Savchenko believes that without our participants there will be no competition and struggle. And the games themselves in Rio will be boring. If we consider the issue as a whole, then this is a violation of human rights, especially those already disadvantaged by fate. When our athletes were suspended, they did not even indicate the terms of disqualification. Therefore, no one knows when our athletes will be able to return to international tournaments. At the same time, doping control constantly shows their purity.
The replacement, which took place in the suburbs, was broadcast on television and took place at the same level as in Brazil. Our athletes set new records and received worthy awards for their achievements. Now we are preparing for Tokyo 2020. Everyone is sure that the victories will be ours.
