No excuses: "To be number one" - interview with Irek Zaripov

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Irek Zaripov is a four-time Paralympic champion. In Vancouver, he has won more medals than the entire Olympic ski team. In an interview with Lifehacker, Irek spoke about the accident, due to which he lost both legs at the age of 17, about his way to Olympus, about his family and work.

Life "before"

- Hello, Nastya! Thanks for the invitation.

- I was born and raised in the city of Sterlitamak in the Republic of Bashkortostan in a simple working-class family. Mom and Dad worked for a local brick factory for many years. I am one child in a family, but I have never been spoiled. I went to an ordinary kindergarten opposite the house. He graduated from a regular secondary school.

After the ninth grade he entered the auto mechanic school. I have always liked technique, so I studied well. In my senior years, the master already trusted me to train newcomers.

- I attended various school circles: basketball, volleyball. I went to SAMBO. He loved to play football in the yard. But he did not connect his life with sports. I thought I'd graduate from college, go to the factory, become a senior mechanic, then a garage mechanic. He was going to the army, to the tank troops - again closer to the equipment.

- Yes.

Late 1990s, all the guys rode motorcycles, it was fashionable. "Java", "Izh", "Sunrise", "Planet" - these models were very popular. I also dreamed of a motorcycle. At first, my parents rejected it, but for the 16th birthday they made a gift and bought it. I was happy!

I unlearned my driving license, but I skated for only four and a half months - on September 12, 2000, I was hit by a nine-ton MAZ. The driver and the organization to which the car was listed were found guilty. An accident, but over the years I understand: it was destined.

- It was generally a difficult time. I spent the first six months in the hospital. Parents were always there. Although the management of the plant met halfway, at one point mom and dad still had to write statements "of their own free will."

Before the accident, I did not see people with disabilities and never thought about how and why they live.

A year and a half after being discharged from the hospital, I came to my senses.

- Whining and crying is not in my nature. But once there was a breakdown, he gave vent to emotions in front of his parents: “Why do I live? Why are you looking after me? Mom almost fainted. After that, I gathered my will into a fist and held on. There is no need to show the suffering to my family, it was no easier for them than for me.

At first, my mother was afraid that I would do something to myself. She got a different job, but kept running home to see me. And the realization gradually began to come to me: if I remained alive after such a severe accident, then I have some kind of mission. You just need to find her …

The path to Olympus

- I was looking for something to do. The profession of a mechanic is a thing of the past. I went to study to be a programmer, at the beginning of the 2000s it was relevant. One good man, Mudaris Khasanovich Shigabutdinov, gave me a computer, then not everyone had them.

At the same time, I joined the local disabled society. In May 2003, I received a call from there and was offered to participate in the Bashkiria weightlifting championship, which was held as part of the republican sports day. I consulted with my parents and agreed.

After the hospital, I had a weight of under one hundred - a sedentary lifestyle and hormonal drugs did their job. I decided to prepare for the competition, got hold of a barbell, kettlebells, dumbbells. I watched exercises on the Internet and practiced slowly. As a result, in three months, by August, I lost 10 kilograms.

I went to the Olympics and, to my great joy and surprise, won the weightlifting competition.

The moment they hanged me a medal, gave me a diploma and presented me with a gift, I realized that sport is my future.

I liked being number one. I saw how proud my parents were and I was happy.

- It was still far from the skis. I was mainly engaged in track and field athletics, I went to the All-Russian Olympics. He brought medals from everywhere. In 2005, they became interested in me in the national team, but at that time I did not have a good sports stroller. Mudaris Hasanovich helped out again - he gave money, a driver, we went and bought a used stroller. This allowed me to significantly improve the result - I entered the Russian national athletics team.

At one of the national championships, they approached me and told me that in Bashkiria there are cross-country skiing and biathlon coaches who deal specifically with people with disabilities. They were Gumerov Amir Abubakirovich and Gumerov Salavat Rashitovich. Before I had time to return from the championship, they called me and invited me to the training camp - preparations were underway for Turin, season 2005-2006. I didn't know what beans, skis, sticks were, but I went. He began to train, and in December 2005 he went to the stages of the World Cup.

This was my first international competition - I was completely green. No tactics, he ran headlong with burning eyes. But gradually Amir Abubakirovich and Salavat Rashitovich made me a real skier.

- Until 2007, I was simultaneously engaged in skiing and athletics. But these are two completely different preparatory systems. I had to choose. I liked skiing better, and the coaches found the right approach to me.

In 2006 I already went to the Paralympics in Turin. He took fourth place, which was not bad for the start of a career.

- Five years have passed, and emotions, of course, have cooled down. But then there were indescribable feelings. Everything you did was not in vain! Calluses, pain, sweat and blood all worked. I was 101% ready for Vancouver, my body worked at its maximum, and my motivation just went off scale.

I proved to myself and to everyone, even to those who did not believe that I could be number one!

But the most interesting thing is that everyone can. If you stick your horn and plow, no matter what. Rain? Well, okay! Snow? You still need to go to workout. You need to leave everything behind and go to the goal.

- The era of the athlete - one or two Olympic seasons. My journey began in Turin. In 2011, I took another world title. After that, I had a sense of accomplishment.

I came to Sochi with serious injuries. I think I did everything I could. The medal fell into the collection of the national team - this is the main thing. After these games, I decided to keep my health and leave the sport. And I don’t regret it.

- I know.:) But I never suffered from star fever. I perceive my victories as a job well done. On the contrary, fame and state awards impose additional responsibilities.

Number one in everything

- I started to engage in politics back in 2010, in parallel with sports. First he became a deputy of the City Council of Sterlitamak, then he ran for the State Assembly. People trusted me because they saw that I was from a simple family, I achieved everything myself and I know many problems firsthand.

Now I am engaged in patriotic education of young people, social security, a barrier-free environment and, of course, the development of adaptive sports. We plan to organize a sledge hockey team in the republic in the near future.

- There is such a problem. Although now it is no longer as acute as, for example, in 2006, when the Paralympic movement in our country was just emerging. The essence of the problem is that before entering the federal level, before an athlete enters the national team, he must be supported by his native region. But, unfortunately, regional authorities are not always able or willing to develop adaptive sports. There is no such problem in Bashkortostan. I hope that in other regions and republics, the minds of officials will soon realize how important this is.

- Young people are good, only weak, infantile. Many people lack an inner core - wherever they are lured, they go there. At the same time, they want everything at once: a good salary, housing, and so on. They do not want to go along the vertical of life. This is bad, because only going up from the bottom up, you temper your character.

- Needed where was born. I was invited many times not only to Moscow (they gave me housing, work), but also to other countries. But I am a patriot, I love my small homeland.

You know, many people leave for megacities in search of a better life. But success can be achieved even in a small town. The main thing is not to sit idly by.

A bag of knowledge, skills and money will not fall on you - all this needs to be achieved.

- I did everything to become free. In my understanding, freedom is independence. Once I learned to go down from the third floor with a stroller behind my back without assistance and still try to do everything myself.

- Not a bad question for a civil servant.:) My answer is this: if I see injustice, I will not remain silent.

- I was in ninth grade, she is in eighth. But at school they did not intersect much, they met in 1995 at the city Christmas tree. We walked in the same company, but I always talked more with her friends than with her. She still remembers it to me.:)

Then the paths diverged. We saw each other again after the accident - she visited me in the hospital. But in 2006 we met by chance on the street. I have just returned from Turin. She has matured, blossomed. We exchanged phones. I promised to call in two months, when I come home from the camp, if I don’t lose my number … He was arrogant - horror!:)

I called and started dating. We met for a year, although it is loudly said - I was almost not at home. We talked more on the phone. But after 12 months they got married.

- The son is seven years old, we are preparing for school, and the daughter is four.

- Be fair and self-reliant. So that they grow up and understand: everything in life depends on themselves. Parents can help somewhere, but they have to do the main thing themselves.