‘I lost myself at 22’: Iryna Gerashchenko on overcoming injuries, therapy, and her journey to Olympic podium

"No sport for a girl"

I came to sports by accident. My parents wanted to find something for me to do, and at first my mom brought me to the piano. From there, I was politely asked to leave. We came to figure skating, and they said I was too tall, so "it won't work out." I really did grow tall and stood out among my peers.

I was seven, in the second grade. Our school hosted a children's competition called "Cossack Entertainment," and it was at that time that Iryna Hryhorivna came to recruit children for her training group. She came up to me and my friend and personally handed us business cards. She said: "Girls, come. I'm recruiting a high jump group. It will be interesting, you will be training."

She explained everything so well, I fell in love with her right from the first seconds. She was also so stylish: with beautiful hair, makeup, and nails. I just looked at her and thought: "I want to be just like her, just like her." I came to my parents to ask. They said that if I was interested, they were ready to take me. Although my grandmother thought it was "no sport for a girl" and "you'd be better off doing dancing or singing." But I was not good at it.

By the way, Iryna Hryhorivna had more ambitious plans for Masha, my friend. Maybe she was stronger, I don't know. But she attended for a while, and then she pursued other interests. I, on the other hand, tried my best to prove that I was there for a reason.

We trained three times a week - at a regular school, in a sports hall. And every Saturday, my family took me to the arena at the Ivan Piddubny Kyiv College. By the way, my husband works there now as a children's coach.

What I liked was that Iryna Hryhorivna didn't care where we were or what the infrastructure was. She would always come up with some kind of workout to engage all muscle groups, to do what we needed, and to make it interesting.

That's why I have only the most wonderful memories of my first training sessions. I remember we were in a small gyhallm, holding each other's elastic bands to jump over. It was my second or third lesson. And the trainer said to me: "Ira, hold the elastic, let Alina jump." I answered: "But I want to jump too". The coach thought it was too high for me, but I insisted. And I went to jump anyway.

Later, recalling that incident, Iryna Hryhorivna said that it was at that moment that she realized how persistent I was. She said: "When you were jumping, I closed my eyes because I thought you were going to fall and get hurt." But everything was fine.

Back then, as a child, I once told my coach that I wanted to go to the Olympics. She reminded me of this phrase just before the Summer Games this year. She said: "I didn't understand how you knew about the Olympics at all. But I realized that I had to take you to them because you wanted to go so badly.

You should be able to control your psyche

As a child, I wanted to become a psychologist. I can't remember why exactly, but I clearly saw myself in this field. I even planned to enter this specialty. And my parents wanted me to have some kind of "stable job" because sports was not considered such a job back then.

But Iryna Hryhorivna, although she supported me, made it clear that this would put an end to my international achievements. After all, I would hardly be allowed to leave school for training camps, competitions, etc. And at that time I already had high results for my age. I wasn't ready to give it up.

In the end, I changed my mind. I entered the Institute of Physical Education, but promised myself that if I wanted to, I would return to psychology later. And just the other day, I submitted my documents to the office of the admission officer, having previously passed professional exams. I will fulfill my childhood promise.

Even now, as an athlete of the highest sporting achievements, I realize that without psychology, an athlete will not be able to achieve the Olympic result they are striving for.

Competitions are the most stressful, and you need to be able to control your psyche. I decided that in the future, having gone through my own path of psychotherapy, I want to help the future generation to have more control over themselves and understand where our reserves are hidden and how they can be used.

I first went to a psychologist myself in 2017. That was when my grandmother passed away, followed almost immediately by my grandfather. It was a very difficult loss for me because I was very attached to them. I am half Kyivan and half "rural". There, in Sokilcha, in Zhytomyr Oblast, I had many friends and my first love. I remember my youth there very fondly. When my grandmother was sick, I took care of her, took her to the hospital. And when they passed away, something inside me switched. And then, at the age of 22, instead of developing in sports, I lost myself. I continued to attend training.

In fact, never once in my life, and even at that moment of breaking, did I miss training because I wanted to. I would come and just do some exercises automatically, without analyzing how I was doing them, with what strength and why. It was just like a job you don't enjoy.

And high jumping and sports in general is a process that you have to enjoy in order to be useful and effective. As a result, I didn't show any results for a long time.

I was like in some kind of shell that I couldn't get out of. I realized that I was doing something wrong, not giving my best, and I stopped hearing my coach. But before that, I had shown results. And at that moment, I needed to find some kind of adjustment to myself. It was good that Serhiy was there, my boyfriend at the time and now my husband. He found the right words to support me. My coach and parents did the same. It was my mom who said: "Ira, you probably need to see a specialist."

I went through three psychologists before I found the right one. She revived my interest in training as if I were doing it for the first time. With her help, I realized that I shouldn't be focused on the result – I should enjoy the process. I still live with this attitude today. And yes, it helped me get out of the crisis and win again.

I thought it would hurt for a bit and stop

A medal at the Olympic Games is the most important goal for an athlete. All the training, training camps, competitions are just a path to Olympus. When I was preparing for the Games in Paris for three years, I had various competitions. Sometimes I won medals, sometimes I didn't, but I saw it all as training for the Paris Games. The final touch was supposed to be the Ukrainian and World Indoor Winter Championships. But I had to miss it.

We were at the training camp, training normally, but then my leg started to hurt. The coach reduced my workload, but it didn't help. So Iryna Hryhorivna advised me to take a break from training for a while, assuming that I had too much workload. Three days passed, but the pain did not go away.

I thought that my periosteum was inflamed from the change in the surface on which we trained. I started applying plasters and taking anti-inflammatory pills. But it didn't go away. Then I realized that it was probably something worse and I had never experienced it before. I had an MRI scan and a consultation. The diagnosis was a stress fracture of the fibula. I was sent for rehabilitation. The doctor said I would definitely miss the winter season.

And that winter I really rebooted. Because at some point my sport turned into a routine. Training, competitions, training, competitions. And then I had more time for my home routine: I saw my friends more often, cooked at home. But I thought: "This is all great, but above all, I want to fully realize myself as an athlete."

I didn't stop training. I worked out only those muscle groups that were possible. And, by the way, I didn't have enough time for them before. I realized: "Yes, this happened to me, I have an injury. But I have to do everything I can to be able to jump in the summer."

I wasn't the weakest in the summer season. That is, when we started checking my performance, four months later it was almost at the same level as it was at the training camp. It also gave me confidence that all this time I wasn't just lying flat in bed waiting for my leg to heal, but was doing everything in my power to recover as quickly as possible.

I'm glad I did it. I found this strength somewhere. I am grateful to the doctors, my family and the support of my coach, because it was a big shock for her as well. She has never had a single athlete with a stress fracture.

Overall, I had a really great summer season. There was fear, but I worked with it. I tried not to think that I might fail, because "what if I do?" And it worked out.

Only the ribbon from this medal belongs to me

"We did it!" was the first thing I said to Iryna Hryhorivna after the winning jump. It was incredibly cool. I'm very happy that she was with me at that moment, that she was the first person I approached. I am her first student to win a medal at the Olympic Games. "Yes, we did it. I am proud of you. I knew you could do it," she replied.

I kissed her hands. It was sincere. This is my gratitude to my coach for turning my childhood dream into a goal, and she helped me realize it.

I went all this way with one coach. There was a time when they tried to convince Iryna Hryhorivna that she was a "children's coach" and would not be able to bring adult athletes to the Olympic level. Other coaches wanted to lure us, athletes with results, to their group. And Iryna Hryhorivna even started to believe it a little bit. I told her: "No, I will never leave you". I love her like a mother. How can you leave your mother? We have never been torn apart and never will be.

When I came home, I looked at this medal and told my husband: "The only thing that belongs to me from this medal is the ribbon. Everything else is your merit." First and foremost, Iryna Hryhorivna, as well as my parents and friends who support me. And, of course, my husband, who has been by my side all this time, even though we spend time apart. When I go away for a few weeks to a training camp, he walks the dog, cooks, and supports me as much as possible. We did it together. And we will do so much more.

Many people have adapted to our schedule. Take Iryna Hryhorivna's husband, for example. He is also used to being alone at home, with the cat, because she is with us all the time at competitions and training camps. That's why the Olympics is an individual competition, but it's a team victory.

Everyone has to go to their own podium, no matter what field. You have to believe in yourself, look for opportunities to realize your dreams, and always have a positive attitude.

Our thoughts are material, and we shape our reality. It is the easiest thing to get bogged down in the negative, and the hardest thing to do is to work in a positive direction. But it has its fruits and results.

We, Ukrainians, are a very strong nation. And we have to help each other, encourage each other, set an example and motivate each other. We need to believe in our own business and overcome obstacles on the way to success.