PARIS (AP) — Oksana Kozyna was excited about her first Paralympics, knowing it would bring some surprises. However, nothing could have prepared her for the unexpected reunion she experienced before her match.
The Ukrainian para badminton player grew up in an orphanage for children with disabilities in Dnipro, Ukraine, where she formed a close friendship with her teammate Oleksandr Chyrkov. Just before her first singles match in the SL3 category (for athletes with lower limb impairments), she had an emotional encounter with one of her former teachers from the orphanage. Seeing Svitlana Shabalina brought back memories of learning badminton and was a poignant reminder of the ongoing hardships faced by Ukrainians due to the war.
“I didn’t recognize her at first, but when I did, I couldn’t believe it,” Kozyna remarked about her teacher during a press conference on Sunday evening. “It felt like a dream.”
Shabalina had moved away from the orphanage years ago and recently settled in Sweden. Kozyna, on the other hand, fled Ukraine shortly after the Russian invasion in 2022. Now, she lives in France with Chyrkov, two other Ukrainian athletes, and their families as they prepare for the Paralympics.
Kozyna has been an important figure in Ukrainian para badminton, having earned a silver medal at the 2017 European Championships and leading Ukraine to its first world para badminton title in 2022.
Shabalina’s visit to Paris was not planned. Chyrkov had actually surprised her during a training session in Sweden. They had kept in touch since he left the orphanage, and he invited her to support him and Kozyna at the games. Just two weeks before the event, Shabalina decided to make the trip.
“Since the war began, we’ve been trying to figure out the best way to cope,” Chyrkov explained. “Having support from many Ukrainians has really made a difference.”
Kozyna shared that the three of them have spent the past few days reminiscing about their lives since leaving the orphanage. This was the first time Kozyna had seen Shabalina since the war began.
In her opening singles match on Sunday, Kozyna faced tough competition, losing in straight sets to the top seed, Qonitah Ikhtiar Syakuroh from Indonesia. She is set to compete against Mariam Bolaji from Nigeria for the bronze medal on Monday.
“I had some favorite students, and they were among them,” Shabalina said affectionately, referring to Kozyna and Chyrkov. “I loved my work and my students; they truly felt like my own kids.”
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Jack Leo is an undergraduate student in the certificate program at the Carmical Institute of Sports Media at the University of Georgia.
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