Olympic Heptathlon champion Natalia Dobrynska in her latest diary entry talks about her recent win in Gotzis and shared the plans for the rest of the season.
“Hi everybody,
“To be honest, I feel a huge relief now, when I know that all my season preparations were not in vain. You know, the meet in Gotzis has always been special for me. After the Olympic Games and the World Champs, it is my first priority. To compete at the same meet with the legends like Roman Sebrle, Carolina Kluft and Eunice Barber – this is really special, and I’ve always tried to peak my shape for Gotzis.
“But still, somehow at this very meet before I had never been successful! I achieved my best result five years ago at my very first Gotzis meet, when Carolina Kluft won and I was third. After that I never managed to be in the best three here, although very much wanted to. I don’t know what the secret is, but in Gotzis I had always been either injured or not in best shape. Maybe because this meet is in the beginning of the season and it was hard for me to be in time with my training. Having won it this year, I am so happy to break this bad tradition, I just can’t describe!
“In Gotzis I always feel that the attitude to multiple events in Austria and Germany is different from the rest of the world. They consider it a “king discipline” in athletics, and the stadium is always full and so much supportive. It was the 35th edition this year and I know there are people who have been coming to Gotzis for 30 years running or more. This is just unthinkable! When you come there you feel that this is the meet with the history and with long tradition, there are even special books and photo-retrospective. I think the meet organizer Konrad Lerch is number one in his business, it’s just a pleasure to experience such perfect organization and huge respect to the athletes.
“The first day of the competition was not good for me. Maybe I was just a bit relaxed and was feeling too confident. I was really 100 percent sure in my high jump, shot put and sprints, and when these very events did not work out I just could not understand – how this could have happened?! I felt huge responsibility to prove that what had happened in the Bird’s nest was not by chance. I wanted the world to know that I am not a leader for a day or so. I so much wanted to show everyone that I was ready to stay on the top for long.
“I did not manage my emotions in the first day. After the competition I went for a walk in town for about half an hour. Fresh air, beautiful town, so clean and neat… I thought everything over and pull myself together. I thought that I still had a chance and that I would do everything not to let it go. I was so nervous, but I returned from this short walk calm and relaxed and ready for the second day.
“It was a big surprise for me to set PB’s in 800m and long jump. Maybe this is the law of life – where you feel confident, like I felt in high jump, shot put and sprints, you fail, and success comes from where you do not expect it. I think I just managed to show my character. I did not give up, I did not let the emotions spoil my performance, I showed my best results in the events where they were most needed.
“I was really happy for the two Ukrainian girls to be in the best three with me. They fought, they showed their best results at one of the most prestigious meets in the season. I think this is a special moment for Ukrainian multiple events – to have the entire podium to ourselves!
“What is our secret that we succeed in heptathlon? I think it is again a character of our women. Compared to other countries, we do not have the material conditions for success in Ukraine at all! But our women are so stubborn, in the good sense of this word; they have huge determination to accomplish something in sports. We have hard life but we like to say – the harder the better, and may be that’s why we succeed in one of the hardest sports - multiple events. Moreover we have good traditions left from the Soviet times, and very good coaches.
“It has become a tradition for me already that I celebrate my birthday in Gotzis. It is on May 29, and comes usually either during or right before the meet. This year we, together with my husband and at the same time my coach Dmitry, celebrated it, just symbolically! I was just happy that Dmitry was there with me because we do everything together. I think my win in Gotzis cost him much nerves, he was so emotional and so much afraid that it would not work out!
“Now I am going to take a break from training for a couple of days, and then start getting ready for my next meet in Kladno on 23-24 of June. There is no time to relax. The meet in Gotzis was another proof to that!
Take care.”
Natalia
