Athlete Andrei Vdovin won three medals at the Paris Paralympic Games: gold in the 200 and 400 m and bronze in the 100 m. He even surpassed his result in Tokyo, where he became the champion in the 400 m and took two silver medals. In an interview with “Championship”, Andrei explained at what price these victories came to him.
“I hate this distance”
— Andrey, you have again won gold in the 400m, a distance that you do not consider a favourite. How does this happen? – I don’t know how to explain this. Somehow I ended up winning this distance, even though there was no bet before Paris. Or rather, in theory it was, since everyone told me that this was my distance. But it turns out that they believed in me more than I did. I didn’t think I could win this race. The rivals are still impressive, young and energetic. But everything worked out great.
— Your main rival was the Brazilian, who achieved the best result of the season. He came out of the corner a little better and you have the most inconvenient ninth lane. Have you seen it at all? — To be honest, I even glanced at the scoreboard – it’s on the right side of the track. And I saw that we started almost equal. That’s when I realized that not everything was lost. Coach Galina Nikolaevna Kosheleva and I discussed everything before the race, and she told me that if I work on the turn well, then at the finish it would be decided who has more strength in their legs. And so it happened. At the World Championships in Kobe in May, I lost precisely because I did the turn wrong. And in Paris, we almost made it to the last hundred together – everything was decided on the cages. And 20 meters before the finish, my legs just gave out. I ran on natural instinct, I couldn’t control my legs at all. But the Brazilian was also screwed. After the finish, I look at the scoreboard and there’s nothing there. How can that be? I guess I’m the first. Then the results came out, and I was overwhelmed with emotions. They expected me to repeat the success of Tokyo, but I understood that there were many factors against it.
Andrei Vdovin
Photo: Fake Images
– For example? “The form was not the best and the preparation was a bit spoiled. Until recently it was not clear whether we were going to Paris or not. Imagine the situation: we have to fly on Wednesday morning and on Monday evening I cannot say that I will take part in the Paralympics. I thought that I would fly to Paris after all when the tickets were sold on Tuesday evening. Before that we were in suspense, although the management reassured us. But some guys in our team were cut off at the last moment. The fact that the International Paralympic Committee admitted us did not mean that everyone would go: the admissions commission controlled the candidates and France simply could not grant a visa. In theory, if I had missed the 400 metres, I could have put it down to nervousness. But the weak look for excuses and the strong look for a chance to win.
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“It seemed like you had waited too long to get to the victory bell.” Did the organizers not let you in? – That’s not the point. I went to ring the bell just 25 minutes after the race. At first I poured out my emotions, and then I was overcome with wild pain. I have vegetative-vascular dystonia and after such a load my head hurts. The vessels are narrow, the blood flow is strong and reaches the forehead and temples. Honestly, this is simply unbearable, I am very envious of those athletes who can run 400 m and calmly go to the mixed zone to communicate. After the final, I just lay down, relaxed and tried to come to my senses. It’s just a feature of the body.
— So you don’t like this distance, but at the same time you get better results at it? – I don’t like it? Yes, I just hate it! If you run without trying, that’s one thing. But if it’s at the limit, it kills. I know I’ll feel really bad after the race. I started running it before Rio de Janeiro. In my class there were no 200 meters, and going to 100 meters you never know what could happen. So we started trying it with the coach and it turned out really well. But they still didn’t let us into Rio.
Andrei Vdovin
Photo: Fake Images
— It seems that after your victory in Tokyo you said that you were willing to endure the 400m just for the sake of Paris. – That’s true. I endured and do not regret how much I had to endure for this. I understood that my last Paralympic start was at this distance. If in four years you suddenly see Andrei Vdovin at the Paralympics at a distance of 400 m, then a miracle has happened. And I endured it because the next Paralympic cycle was one year shorter. Now I am a veteran, I am already 30 years old. The rest of the guys were born in the 2000s. That’s it, I’m running out of time.
And mentally it is already difficult for me to run 400m – this is not a short sprint where you don’t have to think. Even during training it is difficult to get mentally prepared. 300m is normal. And when the coach says we are going for 450m, it is over. Here you have to be so prepared that you cannot allow defeat even in your head. In Kobe I lost the World Championships with my head. I went out like this: I will run as fast as I can. And in Paris there was my, as the French say, “la chance finale”. I went out with the thought that I have to take the gold here and now, there will be no other way!
– But you also won the 200m, what kind of “final”? – Yes, at first I had practically no chance of doing it. I thought that the maximum was silver. And the victory can only be due to some unsportsmanlike moments: the disqualification of a rival for a false start or something else. It turned out to be gold and it is inexplicable! According to the broadcast, it looked beautiful; I just won right at the finish line. There are a few millimetres between us there, it is simply brutal! I was completely prostrate; I did not immediately believe that I had won. In reality, this is a fairy tale come true, there is no other way to put it.
“I have been a fan of Stas Mikhailov since I was 14”
— How did you prepare to win races? After all, this is the hardest part: getting rid of all the cockroaches in your head just before the start. – Yes, from the entrance to the call room to the entrance to the rink are the most difficult minutes. I walked, warmed up a bit, hummed the songs of my beloved Stas Mikhailov, tried to distract myself from what awaited me.
— Did you teach your opponents “Dawns and Fogs”? Becoming a Paralympic champion with Stas Mikhailov’s songs is great. — (laughs) Yeah, it’s great. I like his lyrical songs about life the most, so I muttered them in the call room. My opponents probably looked at me like I was crazy, but I don’t care. On the eve of my last races, I watched videos of his concerts on his official channel. I’ve been a fan of his since I was 14, so I’ve been a fan for half my life.
— You don’t know him personally? – No, it hasn’t been possible yet. I attended his concerts several times. The first time was when I was 14, when I used my first digital camera to photograph my mother hugging Stas as he walked through the rows with the audience. And then, when he started earning money, I bought tickets for his concerts when he came to Nizhny.
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Russia performed brilliantly at the 2024 Paralympic Games. The team has 64 medals, 20 of which are gold.
— Few 30-year-olds can say that they are fans of Stas Mikhailov. People have slightly different musical hobbies. — I can say that I was probably the youngest at his concerts (smiles). I became a fan of him not when he became fashionable, but when he was a little bald man with a huge cross, who could easily be seen in any cafe, and he only released a couple of albums. On my first phone, I filled the entire memory with his songs; my friends won’t let me lie.
— You won your first gold in Paris on September 4. And if you had won a day earlier, would Mikhail Shufutinsky become your favorite singer? — (laughs) That would be a great story. But no, I like Stas Mikhailov. I have a lot of respect for him, not only as a musician, but also as a person.
Andrei Vdovin
Photo: From the athlete’s personal archive.
“They will talk about us for a month and then forget about us”
— Are you a star in Nizhny Novgorod? – Of course not. There is a wave of hype now, but in a month it will disappear, just like after Tokyo, nobody will remember us. And our sport is not that popular. We are not football players or hockey players. Now go up to anyone and ask them: which track and field athletes do you know? At best, they will name Usain Bolt. Nobody even knows the world stars, let alone the Russian ones, especially the Paralympic athletes.
— What if it wasn’t for sport? “I had completely different plans for life. But when I entered university, that’s when I discovered professional sport and for the last 11 years this has been my life. Everything I have is thanks to sport.
— Honestly, you won’t look at yourself and say that you’ve been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. If I were to organize ordinary competitions, no one would suspect it. – Well, this is the perception of the vast majority of people. If you say that you are a Paralympic athlete, they are surprised. In people’s minds, these are people in wheelchairs who cannot walk or amputees. But there are many different kinds in Paralympic sports. I have a fairly mild degree. And there are guys who have constant tremors, X-shaped legs, etc. But then fate decreed it.
— Did you have any difficulties in Paris because you are from Russia? – You’re welcome. There was not a single sign or clue. Although there were conversations before leaving – yes, they will bully you there, they will humiliate you. Nothing like that. Everything was great. I stood in the stadium with a gold medal, volunteers surrounded me and asked me to take a photo. The same goes for ordinary fans. They don’t care where you’re from. As soon as we arrived, a man came into our tent, at the entrance of which was written in big letters Neutral Paralympic Athletes and said: “Oh, Russians? Do you speak English?” He was the translator. He knew perfectly well who we were and where we came from. On weekends I probably travelled half of Paris and I didn’t have any problems because I was from Russia.
Andrei Vdovin
Photo: Fake Images
“Lord, thank you that these clowns exist”
“Yes, and our Olympians spoke about the same thing.” Although in Russia the attitude towards them was completely different from that towards the Paralympians. — There are many such “unique” ones. The mayor of Dzerzhinsk congratulated me on his social networks, and there one of the subscribers said: “Ivan Nikolaevich, what are you doing? He – this is about me – signed papers on neutrality and you congratulate him, is this normal? FSB, pay attention.” Well, what can I say? It’s good that such clowns exist. If you read this, laugh, there’s no need to even go to the circus. There is no other way to approach this. Lord, thank you for existing, like that.
— And if in Russia it was decided that there was no need to go anywhere, would you still try to go? “So in this case, no one would go anywhere, no one would talk nonsense.” As citizens of our country, we would do everything in accordance with such a decision. Well, since the athletes were allowed to decide for themselves, we took this opportunity. I would like to thank the President of the RKR Pavel Alekseevich Rozhkov and all those involved who worked on our admission, despite the controversial opinions surrounding us.
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— It’s great that we went, and not just 15 people, but a large delegation. Still, looking at what’s ours versus what’s not ours is a completely different emotion. – Of course! I myself, when I went to the stands and cheered on all the guys, even my hands were shaking with excitement. You’re not just watching competitions, you’re rooting for your own people. I’m not good at swimming at all, but I didn’t mind at all. When I was able to watch, I screamed in the same way as in athletics. It doesn’t matter who performs there, the main thing is their own. I think that any fan has the same feelings.
— Did you receive the same emotional support at home as Sasha Kostina? — (smiles) Maybe even more emotional. My main fans are my wife Oksana, my son Pavel and my parents. They care about me a lot. Mom always takes icons, valerian, when I’m not competing. We also have a social media chat called “TikTokHouse”, where there are 14-15 people with whom I’ve been friends since childhood. I always post photos and videos from competitions there. We always support each other in any life situation. These are my main fans.
