Olympic heptathlon champion Natalia Dobrynska finished 4th at the World Championships and failed to pass the qualification in the Long Jump. Now Dobrynska is back to Kiev preparing for her final competition of the season – the Decastar meet in Talence on 19 September.
 
“Hallo all,

“I am finally back to Kiev after the long trip to Berlin. I had to stay there almost for the whole Champs, as I was doubling in the heptathlon and the long jump. What to say, of course I am disappointed with the result… Only 4th place in my favourite heptathlon is definitely not what I expected!  People say the 4th position is the worst possible in sports. So close to the podium, but still not there – we call it a “wooden” medal… And what really hurts, I was so close at least to the bronze!

“My javelin throw awfully let me down. To throw only 43 metres if you have a SB of 48.56m – this is really bad. Had I only performed my usual javelin, even with the same scores in the six other events, I’d be minimum third! I have no explanation why that particular day in Berlin my javelin did not want to fly far. In trainings everything was ok, I was actually quite confident in this event. But once I went out to the sector, it seemed I was a different person. Technically I was just terrible!

“I am quite realistic, and after the javelin I did not even look at the score to see if the bronze was possible. I just went out to run 800m and to give all the power that still was left in my body. I promised inside never to feel sorry for myself, not to give myself an easy time. I was leading the race from the start and ran 2.13, actually only half a second slower than my PB. This was still not enough for the medal…

“I had five days after the heptathlon to get ready for the long jump. I was feeling tired and disappointed, but it never came to my mind to quit the event. Compared to heptathlon, long jump is just fun, it seems so easy and entertaining, so why not to compete once more? Heptathlon is hard work, long jump compared to this is like you just go out to have fun.

“First after the heptathlon I was very much disappointed. I tried to focus on something else, not to think about sports all the time. So I went to see my friends in Hannover, saw the new city and we had great time together. When I got back to Berlin, I was just doing massages and only once went to the stadium to do a long jump training. It felt strange, my body was not fresh. I could not understand what to expect from myself in the sector.

“I had a chance to qualify for the final with one quite good jump, but I made a mistake in the run up and missed the board. Still that was alright, that did not matter much after the heptathlon. I wanted some fun and I had it.

“I have been thinking and thinking after the Champs why this happened to me. For every athlete there are good days and bad days. Two days of the heptathlon competition in Berlin were definitely bad for me. But I don’t want to explain it just like “bad luck”. Now I’ve come to understand the sport does not forgive anything. If you even a little bit ease your trainings, if you may be just for a moment start to think about something else apart from sports, be sure your bad results are coming.

“I wouldn’t say that before Berlin I had some specific problems. No, from the first sight I seemed healthy and motivated. But maybe I was not that hungry, I lacked this extra motivation I used to have last year before the Olympics. When you are dying at every training session it’s a special feeling. You may do all the same things in training but without this desire, only because you have to, and you’ll feel much difference in competition. I was definitely not lazy before Berlin, but I was a little bit relaxed. This was quite enough to let my expectation down.

“It was much easier in a way for the new World champion Jessica Ennis. I was not surprised she took the title. Last year she missed the Olympics and had much time for preparation. That is she saved not only the energy, she had plenty of ambitions and this specific hunger for the gold. What she had is exactly what I lacked!

“Maybe I am still thinking too much about my disappointment, but apart from my results, I really enjoyed the atmosphere at the Champs. The crowd was so supportive, they cheered not only for the Germans but for everyone! I loved this cute mascot Berlino but unfortunately I did not manage to bring a small Berlino home. I put off buying souvenirs till the very last day, and as it turned out later this was a huge mistake! We are used in Ukraine that Saturday and Sunday are so called “market days”. It’s natural, over the weekend people go shopping with their families, to buy something nice and have fun. But when I tried to buy some souvenirs in Berlin on Sunday it turned out all the shops were closed! So ironically I came home completely empty – no medal and not even a souvenir.

“To be exact I did not go straight home after Berlin. I decided to have a small vacation, and spent five days in Luxemburg with my friends. This cheered me up a lot. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and think: let it be like it this, I need to appreciate what I have.

“Soon I have my final meet of the season, on September, 19, in Talence. At times I am so enthusiastic about it, think about it like a revenge and want to show to the world what I really can do. But at times I feel just tired and want the season to be over. I don’t like it when my mood changes so fast. But what to do, this is what I have for now.

“Take care,”

Natalia