You're reading: Ukraine’s golden girl ready to shine

Returning to Ukraine from the World Indoor Championships earlier this month with a gold medal and a world record, track-and-field star Natalia Dobrynska was not greeted by the television and newspaper coverage you may expect after such a resounding victory against fierce rivals.

Instead, ignored by disinterested media, she headed home to relax quietly with family and friends before preparing for the year’s main challenge: to defend her Olympic heptathlon title in London in August.

“The bitter truth is when someone wins a title, he or she becomes the object of media attention just for a week or two,” Dobrynska said in an interview.

“The Olympics are coming. About 150 sportspeople have already qualified, but you don’t see them on TV, read their interviews. Ukrainian supporters don’t know who will defend the honor of the nation, what chances our team has.”

The story of Dobrynska’s rise to success is one of overcoming common obstacles for post-Soviet athletes. She has had to work hard, fighting state and public indifference, a contrast to the way Soviet sports stars were feted.

Born in 1982 in Vinnytsia Oblast, Dobrynska came from sporting stock. Her mother was a regional arm-wrestling champion and her father was a sports administrator. She followed her sister into athletics, choosing the heptathlon – a grueling mix of seven different events — as she was good at all track and field events.

Dobrynska trained in Vinnytsia until she was 21, but thought about quitting after sustaining a series of injuries. Instead, the heptathlete moved to Kyiv and began working with former Soviet decathlete Mykhailo Medvid. She progressed well in the 2000s, making the top 10 in European and global championships.

Natalia Dobrynska, a world champion. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

Her major breakthrough came when she took a surprise gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Trailing in 10th after the hurdles and the high jump, she fought back to win the shot put – her best event – and the long jump, before hanging on in the final 800 meters.

But Dobrynska was unable to repeat her success at the World Championships the following year, finishing fourth.

Britain’s Jessica Ennis emerged as the world’s top heptathlete and the favorite for the 2012 Olympics in London.

Her record-breaking performance at the World Indoor Championship in Istanbul signaled her return to top form. Beating off challenges from Ennis and Russia’s Tatyana Chernova, Dobrynska bested the 20-year-old world record.

“I don’t like to be a favorite. When I am in the shadow that is good for me,” she told reporters after her victory.

Sipping coffee in a central Kyiv cafe on March 16, the tall, striking Dobrynska exuded the confidence that comes with being the best in the world. This confidence and calm can be crucial in the heptathlon, which takes its toll on the body and mind over two days and seven events – 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 meters, long jump, javelin and 800 meters.

“Those 10-15 athletes who will compete with me will give everything in each of the seven events. So I’ll need to get to every start like it is the first one and handle my emotions and not get frustrated if the previous event was a loss,” Dobrynska said.

Ukrainian media pay attention when there is any kind of scandal in sports. They fan the flames and ram into people that sports are bad.

– Natalia Dobrynska

But, in a tragic contrast with previous performances, she won’t be able to look up to the stands for support and advice from coach and husband Dmitry Polyakov.

He died on March 25 after a battle with cancer. Speaking in the interview before his death, she said he pushed her to greater heights.

“He believes in my capability to win like no one else, always knowing my potential,” she said. “He worries, perhaps, more than others, because Dmitry sees how my training is going, feels my mood and that’s why his faith in me is the strongest.”

Dobrynska will need plenty of strength to see off her opponents in London.

Ennis will start as favorite, cheered on by her home crowd. Chernova will want to bounce back from a disappointing fifth in Istanbul, and bronze medalist Austra Skujyte from Lithuania will also challenge.

The Ukrainian track-and-field team performed well in Turkey, finishing sixth in the medal table with Dobrynska’s gold and two silvers.
The multi-event champion said this was in spite of the poor support that athletes receive.

“There were about 170 teams in Istanbul, so our result is very good,” Dobrynska said. “It shows that athletics in Ukraine is alive and kicking.

However, it isn’t flourishing. There is no special stadium even in Kyiv, just a covered track and field where experienced athletes train along with teenagers and children. The training centers in the Crimea are overcrowded as well. Ukraine needs to develop sports infrastructure, otherwise athletes will go to train to Russia, Italy and Portugal. And some may prefer to stay there for awhile.”

Financial support for anyone but the top athletes is rare in Ukraine, making the difference between winning and losing all the more stark, as failure to perform well in several competitions can bring an end to a career.

The bitter truth is when someone wins a title, he or she becomes the object of media attention just for a week or two.

– Natalia Dobrynska

As can doping, a black spot in the history of track and field in the Soviet Union and Ukraine. Lyudmila Blondska, who won the silver medal in Beijing, was stripped of the award and banned for life after testing positive for steroids.

Dobrynska has never been connected with doping, and she bristles at the media for only covering sports when there’s a scandal involved.

“Ukrainian media pay attention when there is any kind of scandal in sports. They fan the flames and ram into people that sports are bad,” she said.

Dobrynska said she wants to contribute to society and bring some more positive attention to her sport, like legendary Soviet and Ukrainian pole vaulter Serhiy Bubka, who is now an adviser to the president and head of Ukraine’s Olympic Committee.

She is already a deputy on the Vinnytsia Oblast council and sees a possible future in politics when her career ends, or as a sports administrator.

Not that Dobrynska is thinking of retiring just yet.

At the age of 30, she said she has a few more years at the top level, and is even aiming higher.

“I haven’t won golds at the world or European outdoor championships,” she said. “I want to fully realize myself in sports. I achieved good results in Istanbul in setting the record. But I need to gain even more points than my 5,013 mark. The record should be bettered so it will remain for a longer time.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Denis Rafalsky can be reached at [email protected]