Discus giant Pishchalnikova is “a bit of an exception”

What are the first impressions when meeting Russia’s European Discus Throw champion Darya Pishchalnikova?

The 22-year-old at 190m in height and 103kg in weight is a very large athlete and she also possesses a friendly and out-going personality. As such she is an extremely good promotional asset for her event which like many of the women’s throws seems to lurk in the shadows of the track events in the public’s appreciation.  

Pishchalnikova, the World Championship silver medallist in Osaka, competes for the sporting club “Dinamo”, and the cities of Maikop and Saransk, the capital of the central Russian Republic of Mordovia, are listed as her permanent residences. But normally Pishchalnikova is always on the move. Why? She is always in search of the best places where she can train properly, in the optimum conditions.

The village of Adler near Sochi has become her favourite training location. It’s not a paradise but has attracted many Discus throwers, as the local stadium has been adapted to their specific needs.  According to Pishchalnikova she has spent half of her young life in Adler.

But despite her training preferences we fixed our meeting to interview Pishchalnikova in Moscow at figure skating’s Grand Prix “Cup of Russia” where she enjoyed watching the exploits of athletes with talents so much different from her own.

For the purpose of the interview she was granted a special press pass but despite winning the European title in Gothenburg and the World silver in Osaka she wasn’t recognized by any sport reporters and fans at the event.

“But some people in the street do know me now, especially after the Worlds and the Europeans when luck was on my side,” says Pishchalnikova modestly.

Yet was it really luck that brought her success?

Family tradition and the attractions of an individual sport

Pishchalnikova was born into a family devoted to sport, her father Vitaliy, as well as her mother, Tatyana, were well-known Discus throwers who made USSR athletic teams. Her elder brother Bogdan Pishchalnikov was the first to follow his parent’s athletics life. No wonder that under the guidance of his seniors he progressed tremendously well in his youth.

Darya Pishchalnikova by contrast initially rebelled against such conformity and made up her mind to change the family traditions. She went into Handball.

Pishchalnikova was physically strong, tall and with good concentration, and everything went very well with Handball. The coaches were happy with her and Pishchalnikova soon became the team leader.

It was to take Pishchalnikova several years to understand that Handball was not her kind of sport. And eight years ago she made the definite step, gave it up and switched full-time to the Discus Throw.

“I got to realize that it wasn’t really me,” said Pishchalnikova. “Team games are excellent, I like the team spirit and the collective effort, but on the playing ground you remain one of the many even if you are the leader. Not everything depends upon you. So I preferred to do sport on my own. It’s not egotism it’s just the need for constant self-perfection. I’m fond of taking my own moves.”

“My parents accepted the decision to move back to the Discus with deep understanding. They started to coach me with all their might and I responded with all the inherited willingness in my genes.”

But as Darsha Pishchalnikova returned to the Discus family her talented brother left for another sporting scene.

“My junior brother was considered by specialists as one of the hopes of Russian athletics. He won several major junior tournaments in the Discus. But he suddenly decided to change his sport profession and now is playing basketball in one of the American universities where he is a student. Maybe his dream will come true and the name Pishchalnikov, so difficult to pronounce for foreigners, will appear in the NBA lists?"

Hardly an unknown but still a shock winner

Pishchalnikova’s greatest performance so far came in 2006 when she won the European title, a real surprise. She was hardly an unknown, after all she had won World Youth and World Junior silver medals as well as a European bronze and a Under-23 championship silver, but the fact that the then 21-year-old could leave behind Germany’s World champion Franka Dietzsch really was a shock. In Gothenburg, Pishchalnikova set her then personal best of 65.55m.

Pishchalnikova confirmed that in Sweden she felt happy more than surprised by her win, as quite understandably surprises actually are founded on hard work. Pishchalnikova is at the stadium to train twice a day, six hours per day!

Feet firmly on the ground

Back home the continental winner was greeted with joy and  fanfares but luckily all the festivities surrounding her success didn’t affect her. She remained the same Darya, friendly and easy to deal with, and her parents sensibly advised their daughter to train even more assiduously then ever after Gothenburg. And it worked, her silver medal in Osaka the following summer was secured with a new PB of 65.78m.

“You enter the sector and the target is to forget about everything you have achieved before,” Pishchalnikova explains patiently. “The Discus is more capricious then one may imagine. And it takes a lot of time to tame it. Maybe it’s one of the reasons that top Discus throwers are usually a bit older then other athletes… I’m a bit of an exception.”

“What really inspires me is my silver in Osaka. I proved to myself and to a lot of others who doubted my first place at the Europeans wasn’t just an accident. In Osaka, Pishchalnikova failed to overpower Franka Dietzsch who adapted to the heat better then all her opponents.

“Maybe the silver medal is even more important for me,” confirms Pishchalnikova.

“Now I’m so much engaged in my preparations for the 2008 Olympics. With my parents we choose to prepare for the Games in the ordinary way. Nothing is changed. The procedure is routine. We haven’t decided yet even when to go to China. When we were flying to Osaka via Irkutsk I got so much tired of the long flight that I started to sleep in the corridor and my friends had to pass over my enormous body. Maybe it’ll be better if we arrive in Beijing a week before the start. We’ll take the decision later.

Pishchalnikova is so much devoted to the Discus that some people wonder how she managed to get her university diploma between her endless training camps and international tournaments. But she is like that, she works hard and has time for everything.

Nickolai Dolgopolov and Rostislav Orlov for the IAAF