Tiraspol, September 14 /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The Pridnestrovian paratennis player Dmitry Lavrov at the Paralympic Games played in the Russian Paralympic Committee’s national team. Tiraspol resident upon arrival from Tokyo gave an extended interview to Novosti Pridnestrovya news agency.
– Dmitry, welcome back! I know that you have been acclimatized for a long time already in Tiraspol.
– The flight is very difficult. From Tokyo to Moscow we were flown for 12 hours, and then was a stop over at Sheremetyevo, we flew home at night. But this isn’t the worst thing. Adaptation as well as acclimatization is much worse, because after all, it’s the East, the sun rises early. The time difference is about 6-8 hours. Therefore, a couple of days after arrival, I felt so sleepy.
– The 9th place in the individual competition, the 5th one in the team competition. How do you assess your results?
– Generally speaking, I’m satisfied with the performance, but the result could have been better. I was oriented for a better result, but this’s the first Olympics. In sports, there are both victories and defeats. On bases of all, it’s necessary to draw productive conclusions. For me this’s an experience as well as an opportunity to further career development. However, everything that was at the Paralympics, I’ll have to take into account.
– A lot of people think that for a Pridnestrovian athlete just getting into the Paralympics is already a victory.
– The Paralympics’ level is the 12 strongest athletes of the world. I had a bad luck with the draw ceremony. I got into the group with the second and fourth tennis players. My Korean and English rivals in the group won the silver and bronze medals.
– Are couple performances different from playing on your own?
– Definitely yes. It’s much more difficult even because I didn’t perform in my class, because the first and the second classes were combined. Rasul Nazirov from Dagestan became my partner.
– Do you think you have a well-coordinated duet?
– In my opinion, the most important thing in a team is mutual understanding, specifically teamwork. For example, our European rivals are people, who constantly perform in their classes, attend competitions. Unfortunately, we cannot do this in pairs. Our meetings with Rasul are very rare. The last time it was in the year of 2019 at the European Championships. I think if you constantly play team competitions, the result will be much better.
– Nevertheless, you were one pace away from bronze medal at the Paralympics?
– In my opinion we performed well with our Polish. Unfortunately, we lost by a score of 2: 3. Then Rasul lost to the second world racket. Who knows, maybe if he had won, and I wouldn’t have lost further either, we would have won a bronze medal. However, we were still very close to the awards stand.
– Upon arrival in Tokyo, you were surprised by the cardboard beds in the rooms. Are your impressions changed at that moment?
– Yes, it was definitely the coolest bed on which I had to sleep at competitions. It has not only an unusual design, but also so practical construction with orthopedic mattresses. Everything else was just super too. We are often asked if it was boring without spectators. Of course not. The village has a huge area, containing about five thousand people. There were athletes, who ran and trained right in the village. There was such an atmosphere with mutual understanding, where the Paralympic spirit was felt.
– During the Paralympics, you were exclusively the Russian Paralympic Committee’s tennis player (the WADA’s decision). Can we call you a Russian athlete now?
– Definitely, yes. From September 6 it’s already possible. We were greeted at the Moscow airport with Russian flags. They congratulated and named everybody. Such was the festive atmosphere with music, it was so pathetically.
– Will you rest according to plan, or will you go fight again for training?
– I think I need a little rest. A lot of social work has accumulated. I’m the head of the Tiras-Rocket sports club for disabled people. We won a presidential grant no so long ago, now it’s necessary to buy equipment. As for the competitions, in the near future it will be the All-Russian competition on table tennis in Bryansk. We received an invitation there and at that moment we are working on sending a team there.
– How do you think your example motivates other the Tiras-Rocket club’s tennis players?
– They are definitely interested in. The result is obvious. This year our guys became the Belarus Championships’ prize-winners. The team’s backbone consists of those people who are tennis’ lovers. They don’t need to be forced to go out on training, whether I’m in a club or somewhere at a training camp. They have a purpose.
– What target do you have now?
– For me it’s of course the next Paralympics. Goodbye Tokyo, as the saying goes! And Hello Paris!
