Sushkevych: Ukrainians are ready for the Paralympic Games

Author: Natalia YartsevaPhoto: InterMedia consulting

A girl was sitting in a wheel-chair at the reception of Valeriy Sushkevych, the President of the National Committee on Paralympics. She raised a gun, took aim and shot. "Don't be afraid. Our young sportsmen train themselves. The gun is not loaded,"  Valeriy Mykhaylovych told without surprise. The IMC's correspondent asked: "Is tenacity the most important thing in our life?" - "No, kind people," Sushkevych parried.

- Valeriy Mykhaylovych, do you go to the Olympics in China?

- No, I don't. It is the most intensive time for us as we are preparing actively for the Paraolympic Games. I have never been to the Olympic Games, but I visit all Paralympic Games for many years, I am at head of our delegation.

- Is Ukrainian Paralympic Team ready for victories?

- We are ready, of course. Though not all the question have been decided as we wished. Our team showed rather good results during the qualifying period. I mean our participation in the World and European Championships and international competitions where our Paralympic sportsmen showed the best results. Winning the licenses they set records at the world and European levels. They won many medals.

We planned about 115-120 participants to take part in the competitions. We have 125 sportsmen today. As compared with the previous Olympics, there were only 88 sportsmen there. It is a significant progress! 

This year we shall be lettered in 11 sports, while we were lettered in 9 sports only in Athens. Shooting and rowing and canoeing have been added.

- Does the National Committee on Paralympics (NCP) choose itself the sportsmen for the Olympic Team? What is the role of the President of the NCP in this question?

- It is impossible to participate in the Olympics for nothing. The decision is not made by the Committee or the Ministry for Family, Youth and Sport of Ukraine. this decision depends on fact whether a sportsmen has established himself at the preliminary period and on his qualification.

As for me, when a big boss phones and asks me to help the sportsman in question go to the Olympic Games, I refuse. If this sportsman took the 37^th place when another took the 5^th place, how can I send the 37^th to the Olympics? It is a great sin to make something unjust towards a disabled sportsman if he has achieved certain result. It is our distinction from the big time sports of healthy sportsmen. We have firm discipline. For instance, one of our sportsmen does not go to the Paralympics Games, though he showed very high results.

- Why?

- He split a bottle of wine after having showed his high result. He has been disqualified. A sportsmen drank wine! The representatives of the International Federation, the judges and all the sportsmen, foreigners and Ukrainians, saw that. If a representative of Ukraine affords such deeds, this is no place for him in the Paralympic Team.

- Does the State lay out enough money for the Paralympic sportsmen or they can't do without sponsors' help?

- Support of the sportsmen of the Paralympic Games is much worse than support of the sportsmen of big-time sports. The reasons are subjective as well as objective. First of all, our sport is much younger. It will be only 60 years old soon.

However, informational discrimination takes place. The National Television Company of Ukraine (NTKU) has not answered me whether it will be live broadcasting of the Pralympic Games, though I made my requests as the Head of the VRU's Committee and the President of the NPC. I have addressed the President of Ukraine too. This time the sportsmen themselves want to address the President with an open letter and tell him about informational discrimination of the Paralympic Sportsmen.

Our Paralympic sportsmen made a lot to raise our national prestige. We have to be proud of it and not to beat down doors trying to draw attention to us.

- Velriy Mykhaylovych, why have you never block the podium like disabled MP from the Party of Regions? (Sushkevych is from BYuT)

- I have been ashamed. I am not ashamed for myself, but for such speculation in disability within the VRU. It seems to me that Oleksiy Vasylyovych (Zhuravko - IMC) discredits the problem of disability in this way. I receive many letters from disabled persons, they write that such behaviour is inadmissible.

One can not speculate in disability. We have to strengthen health of the nation. Then there will be less disabled persons. Disability is not only personal sorrow of a man, it is a tragedy for the whole family. I know very well what my parents had been brought through as I have been ill since the age of 3.

- Did anybody help your mother to go through your illness and death of your brother?

- My mother is 82 years old now. She was brought through great sorrow. She is a teacher of mathematics, she is very reasonable and logic. First of all my grandmother and my father and many other kind people helped her. I am sure that success in one's life is tightly connected with meeting with a kind man. Many of my achievements would be impossible without these kind people. As well as the successes of the Paralympic Sports are tightly connected with thousands kind people in the Cabinet, Secretariat of the President, Ministries and other organizations. Do you know how it occurs? A strong feel of kindness arises, and your interlocutor tells: "I'll help you". He helps for nothing. Such help is really essential.

- You are not afraid of calling things by their proper names. Invalids have been called "people with disabilities" recently.

- It is wrong. Potential of human body has immense resources. Its compensatory possibilities are obscure. I have only one healthy arm - my spine does not work, my legs don't move. But it does not [prevent me from working, being an MP, head the VRU's Committee. I have three children and six grandchildren. I lead normal life. Sports has been an instrument for me to find compensatory possibilities of my body. I have managed to find them. Sports give physical, spiritual and volitional functionality.

It is essential to lead normal life. Potential of a human body is still unknown. It is important to live normal live. But integration into the world of healthy people is still inaccessible for the majority of disabled - here it is considered to be a great achievement, while in the world it is a norm.

- Is our society the cruelest in the world? or there are other reasons?

- These are atavisms of Soviet Union - disabled must be isolated in order not to break the cosmetic beauty of the society. You remember that we did not have sex, natural disasters or catastrophes. There were no disabled as well. Everything was wonderful and beautiful. I often think about my first attempt of going abroad. It was necessary to pass through such a great many of agreements at the highest levels that that my visit to Poland and Germany had been one of my greatest achievements. It is so fun to think about it today!

- Does Yulia Volodymyrivna respect you?

- I think so. She recognizes my work on solving the problems of disabled. She told me on my birthday: "There is another man in Ukraine who has done for disabled more than you have." I was very pleased with her words. However it must be told that I have many problems at different governmental levels and Yulia Volodymyrivna is often an arbiter between the Cabinet and me.

Many officials do not understand that handicapped persons needs the same rights ad healthy people. They are the same people as all others. While they try to make certain limits for us. It is wrong. We have many things to be proud of. I mean the Paralympics, at least.

- What are they?

- We connected the state system and the social movement of disabled for the first time. It resulted in high achievements of disabled sportsmen. The International Paralympic Committee is studying the Ukrainian experience now. Our young state has made significant progress. It is a great victory if they raise the state flag in honour of a disabled person in a wheel-chair or a blind sportsman. And we have achieved it!