"They showed character and teeth": Ashapatov on the performance of Russians at the Paralympics and their gym for people with disabilities

- The Paralympic Games have recently ended in Tokyo.

How do you assess the performance of the Russian national team?

- The Paralympic Games were a success, despite the difficulties that were ahead of them.

There was a very long pause due to the fact that athletes were not allowed to enter Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

This constant life of ignorance, misunderstanding of the situation put pressure on the guys.

But they are great: they all got together, showed very good results, in some places outstanding.

We managed to overcome the pressure that came from the outside and showed that Russian athletes, even in difficult situations, can show the maximum they are capable of.

- You are a four-time champion in shot put and discus throw, but now you have not participated in the Games.

Why?

- I am already a fairly old athlete, 47 years old.

I tried to qualify, but failed.

I do not give up hope, in three years Paris.

Hope to prepare and perform.

I don’t want to end my career when I was not allowed to enter Rio and I didn’t qualify for Tokyo.

This must be done at the Paralympic Games.

- There was no discus throw in your category, was there a pass associated with that?

- Discus throwing is my main sport, in which I have quite high results.

There is a practice in Paralympic sports to add and remove certain disciplines.

I hope that the International Federation will return the discus throw again.

The view is interesting, and shot put and javelin throw has been in the program for a long time.

- Did you keep in touch with the team in Tokyo?

Whose performances were watched especially?

- I followed everyone, after all, I am the team captain, I was interested in all the results.

I repeat: many performed very well, all showed character and teeth.

It costs a lot.

- Did the athletes worry about the absence of a flag and anthem?

- This story has been dragging on for a very long time.

Of course, it's an honor when you stand on a pedestal and play the anthem of your country, it always takes pride.

By the way, it was also difficult for me in connection with this situation, since in 2008 and 2012 I was the standard bearer of the national team, and now the team was left without him.

But nothing, after such a long absence in the international arena, the guys should prove themselves in any case.

The thought was present in their heads that it was difficult without a flag and anthem, but it was more important to show the result.

Everyone was thinking about the implementation of their works, which they had been doing for nine years.

- You are not only an athlete - you have your own Paralympic support fund and a gym in Surgut.

Tell us more about them.

- My coach and I opened a fund named after me on the basis of the Training and Sports Rehabilitation Center, made a gym fully adapted for people with disabilities.

More than 100 people study there absolutely free.

We develop inclusiveness so that healthy people train there, see the hard work and perseverance of people with disabilities, and vice versa.

This practice is already working.

- Does your foundation have any successes?

- The main thing is that we have a lot of people training.

I constantly hear words of gratitude from them, because we are doing a good job.

Not every region has such conditions, not everywhere a person can come and study for free.

The hall is conveniently located and has an adapted study environment.

This business works and lives.

- Do you want to expand somehow?

- We already have a wonderful Adaptive Sports Center in Surgut with a large territory, halls and arena.

People with disabilities have a place to go.

You can develop only new sports for practicing.

- And what is your goal in this direction?

M

ozhet be

raised with

voego Paralympic champion?

- I have not finished my career yet, but yes, there is a desire to pass on my experience to someone.

I have been in sports for many years, I can teach a lot.

I do not exclude that I will be a coach.

- You were born in Saratov, and then you moved to the north and settled there.

How did he bribe you?

- I started my sports career in volleyball, played in Noyabrsk, Surgut, Nizhnevartovsk.

Then it grew roots here.

In Surgut, there is a very good attitude to sports, as well as in Khanty in general.

They support him, love him.

I didn't even think about moving somewhere, everything suits me.

The attitude to sports in the district contributes to the fact that every year more and more people appear in different national teams.

A wonderful region, I stayed because there is a warm, friendly attitude to sports.

- Do you follow regular athletics in Russia?

- Of course, we still have the same bases, we train in the same regions, we always see each other.

I definitely follow the results and support the guys.

I would like the current state of athletics to change.

At least the ten athletes who made it to the Olympic Games would expand their roster in the future, and it would be better if all restrictions were lifted altogether.

- Do you have an explanation for this situation: in Paralympic sports, the Russians were also under sanctions for a long time, but in Tokyo they were able to break the national record for the number of medals, and in athletics, the overall level of the sport is only falling?

- In athletics, a tense situation has really developed, but there is already a shift for the better. Maybe the prejudice towards the guys is to blame, they are all under tremendous pressure. I don't know why this happened with the athletes. I just want to wish that everything would end faster and this sport would be revived, so that the “queen of sports”, as athletics is called, would still become it in Russia. I'm waiting for the athletes to prove to the whole world that all these suspensions were meaningless.