Olesya Vladykina celebrates after she won a silver medal in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley - SM8 on the Paralympic Games in London
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In early 2008 Vladykina lost her left arm in a bus accident in Thailand.
With the philosophy of “Anything that does not kill us, make us stronger,” the keen swimmer decided to try out for the Beijing 2008 Paralympics.
Just five months after her accident, she was crowned Paralympic champion, breaking the world record in the 100m breaststroke. She dedicated her gold medal to her best friend, who had sadly died in the bus accident.
Two years later, Vladykina proved her class, winning the world title in the 100m Breaststroke at the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. She added a silver medal in the 200m Individual Medley and two bronze medals in the 50m Freestyle and the 4x100m Medley Relay.
At the 2011 IPC Swimming European Championships, Vladykina impressed her rivals by winning a total of seven medals, including the gold medals in her favourite event, the 100m Breaststroke, as well as the 200m Individual Medley and the 50m Freestyle. In addition, she won two silver medals (100m Freestyle, 4x100m Medley Relay) and two bronze medals (100m Backstroke, 4x100m Freestyle Relay).
In her second Paralympic Games in London, Vladykina won one of each medal and thrilled the crowds with some epic battles against USA’s Jessica Long and Great Britain’s Heather Frederiksen.
In addition to being one of the world’s top swimmers, Vladykina is also an ambassador for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, an event she believes can help change perceptions of people with a disability around the world.
As part of her ambassadorial role Vladykina recently learned to ice skate so she could receive the Paralympic flag on behalf of Sochi 2014 at the Closing Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.
