At the end of this summer, from August 24 to September 5, the Paralympic Games were held in Tokyo, in which the Latvian athlete Diāna Dadzīte won two medals – silver disc throwing and bronze javelin throwing. Preparing for the competition was full of challenges – it was not enough that the games were postponed for a year, in the last four months before the games Diana had to prepare alone – without the help of a coach. Fate threw a spell in Diana’s way from time to time, but they only made him stronger. “This is my life, and I can’t change it,” she says with a confident voice about her mother’s loss, her sisters, and her accident, which both deprived her of the ability to walk.
Diana is not completely satisfied with her performance in Tokyo. She went home with a sense of accomplishment, and it still feels. “I did the impossible on the disc – I surprised not only myself, but also the people around me,” says Diana, adding that the main thing in throwing the disc was to show her the best she could, and the result was surprisingly good. “I’m improving my personal record. I’m very, very happy about that. Silver is gold for me in this race.” It was the javelin throwing, where the gold medal was convincingly won at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, that created a sense of unfinished business. “I didn’t do what I could. The girls were much better that day, and I have nothing to add. Everyone is to blame for not doing something. That loss gave a blow. “
Diana never knew her father, but she lost her mother at the age of seven, when the man she was living with at the time beat her before Diana’s eyes. “I never called him my father or stepfather – he was a stranger to me. Yes, my mother had chosen that path, and I couldn’t do anything there, although as a small child I always got inside and got myself. The sister tried to tell her too. “There’s no need to do such nonsense. Unfortunately, what happened happened – I’ve lost her. My mother’s loss at the age of seven had its consequences: “It was a difficult period of life, I had a hard time sleeping – I was screaming at night. I also went to a psychologist.”
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