The 17th World Indoor Athletics Championships will be held in Birmingham in early March. It was during these terms that the strongest athlete in the triple jump was invited to the award ceremony, where a bronze award from ten years ago will be presented. Olga Rypakova herself shared her impressions of this news and told about her future plans, since the athlete is currently at training camps in Thailand.
– Olga, tell us what emotions are you experiencing? After all, the situation can be viewed from two sides: on the one hand, the reward, on the other, the circumstances.
– Actually, there are no emotions. Ten years have passed, and in connection with such circumstances, according to the rules, it is simply necessary to transfer the medal to another participant. So much time has passed, I don’t even remember exactly how everything went (smiles). Feelings of joy and delight, to be honest, are not felt. I believe that this should be done in hot pursuit.
– Have there been similar cases during your sports career, or is this the first time?
– This is the first time with me when a medal passes to me from another athlete.
– Let’s still be nostalgic. Tell us about that start, because then it hasn’t been long since you started competing in the triple jump?
– I was pleased with my result – 14.58 m. Yes, it hasn’t been long. In the summer of 2007, I tried my hand at the triple jump for the first time, immediately fulfilling the standard for the World Championships in Valencia. We went to Spain without thinking at all about prizes and high results, as I understood that I would have to jump in the same sector with the most famous athletes in the triple jump. I just needed to gain experience in this form. If I’m not mistaken, I qualified in last place, with the eighth result – it was a great achievement for me. In the main competitions, I just tried to jump, for me it was training. I didn’t count on anything and was pleasantly surprised that I beat many experienced track and field athletes and received a wooden medal (laughs).
– You learned about this news quite recently, and now you are at the training camp in Thailand. As far as we know, the issue of your departure has not yet been resolved. Have you decided now and what are your future plans?
– Yes, we had difficulties with the trip to Birmingham. Unfortunately, I will not be able to go, as I do not have a British visa. I received an official invitation from the organizers of the competition on the evening of the nineteenth of February. Moreover, I arrive from the training camp on February 28, and the championship starts the next day and I would not have had time to physically arrive.
– In any case, no matter what the reward is and no matter how it gets, it is the result of your hard work and efforts. We congratulate you once again and wish you a productive training camp!
– Thank you very much!
Inna Semenyak
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