Dobrynska seeking motivation | 25.10.2012
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| Former Olympic champion Natalya Dobrynska. |
Former Olympic heptathlon champion, Natalya Dobrynska, was one of the athletes listening to talks for former elite sportsmen on the subject of the transition from being active in sport to finding work in the labour market.
But when Dobrynska spoke to EME News, she was quick to point out that her presence at the forum did not mean her active career in sports was over: "This does not mean my retirement from athletics," she said categorically.
After her shock defeat of outright favourite Jessica Ennis at the world Indoor Championships in March, Dobrynska suffered the trauma of losing her husband and coach to cancer. During a difficult period for the defending Olympic champion, Dobrynska lost over 10kg in weight and much of her winter form which had still not returned by the time she got to London to confront Ennis. After an encouraging start to her Olympic defence where she set a season's best in the hurdles, Dobrynska's performance fell away and she eventually retired after the long jump.
What Dobrynska did admit to in Kiev, however, was a lack of motivation: "I have lost the desire to compete," confessed the 30- year-old, "though I have not lost the desire for future achievements. I need time to get back my energy and strength to continue competing. I need time to miss athletics. Only then will I come back and compete again, win medals and set records. But I cannot say for sure when that will happen."
This is not unusual for the Ukrainian since she is known for having fallow years before suddenly exploding into life. She took her first major medal in 2004 when she won world indoor silver, a feat she repeated in 2010. But no one suspected what she would do when she reached Istanbul this year. After all, in the previous summer's world championships she had finished no higher than fifth with an, for her, average score of 6,539. But in Turkey she confounded everyone with a world record score of 5,013.
There is plenty for Dobrynska to aim for. European gold is still missing from her cabinet (At the 2010 European championships she took silver) as well as world gold and next summer the IAAF World Championships are being held in Moscow.
Despite the fact that she is giving the indoor season a miss, Dobrynska is back in training: "I started recently with some light lifting two or three times a week just to keep my usual physical shape," she said.
In that case, could she explain what she was doing at a conference for people who have left the world of sport: "I like everything new," explained the world indoor champion. "I like to study and research unknown branches of knowledge. I'm sure all athletes will get a lot of useful advice during this education program."
