As a result of the war, she became a model: as a pair-caratist Karin Ayrapeyan decided to go on the podium
The sentence of doctors, unfortunately, was disappointing - a spine fracture and wheel chair as a means of transportation. However, health problems were not broken. In 2016, fate brought her into a big sport. "I started to do a pair-karate purely by accident. With my acquaintances I was at the same event, my future coach passed us, she noticed people on carts and suggested that everyone came to training. But in the end, somehow I came alone. ", - says Irapeyan.
Why sports and why karate? "I just didn't want to spend time on some seats, so I went to workout. I really like sports, movement, and I got involved in karate. And when I saw that I had something, I wanted to do a pair-karate seriously. Already a lifestyle. It's close to me in spirit. I have a kyahfu from what I do, "Karina explains.
"Something turns out", as a modest woman says, it is gold and silver of the European Championships 2019, 2020, the Bronze of the World Cup in 2021 and the 2016 World Cup title. What is the difference between a para-cararate from ordinary? "In ordinary karate there are disciplines" Cata "and" Kumite ". Cat, it is when you show a fight with an imaginary enemy: a set disciplines, however, carts, because they cannot move their feet, perform in the discipline "Cata".
Each executioner is different from each other and many of them. If the athlete is seriously engaged and performs well, he really is beating. It is not just Physical education, this is a fight. The task is to show at the maximum speed, as you beat the blows, blocking them. It is kind of a poem or a song, " - says Sposhmenko. However, it is much more difficult to "sing" such a song when you move on a trolley. "This is very difficult physically.
We perform on Tatami when you enter it on a trolley, then the wheels simply seize. Hands should be very well prepared, and in general you have to be trained. There are techniques with a trolley when you are on the balance, that is, on two, not four wheels, jumping, you try to break away from Tatami, spin. minutes, but in these 3 minutes you have to gather in such a way that you "squeeze" all the forces, everything you are capable of.
It is impossible to make a mistake, because it will be disqualified for it, so the psychological component and mood play a very important role " , - says Karina. The large -scale invasion that happened on February 24, 2022, the usual rhythm of sports life was broken: training was paused, Ukraine was in the chaos of war. "I did not believe it could happen. It was a terrible day.
When I went on the social network and saw all the technique that was going on us, it was just shocked," Karina Airapeyan recalls. However, there was no idea to leave Ukraine with the athlete. "I have a brother in the Armed Forces, because of this, my mother would not leave Ukraine, and I am a family man, got used to that we always support each other and I would be more abroad more than even here, running away from bombs and anxiety," - explains the athlete.
At the beginning of 2023, the Ukrainian national team made the decision to test their forces at the European Championships in Guadalahar. But the deadline was extremely rigid - only two months. "And competition in this sport is growing every year," Karina says. "My most important competitor is Spanish. She is amazing: a very technical and very strong rival. I don't know what will be ahead and what rivals are waiting for me, but so far in Europe I compete in Europe It is with Spain.
" But despite all the difficulties, Karina Airapeyan still managed to add silver to her sports piggy bank - 2023. The performance in Europe, according to a woman, was positively etched in her memory. "Europeans support us very much. I even kissed my hands, it was a shock to me. Europeans are concerned about our fate and sincerely sympathize with our fate, because they understand what is happening," the Airapeyan concludes. Now the plans of the athlete conquering the new top - the World Cup.
"But at the World Cup will be a different situation: Egypt is very strong there. The fact is that there is no clear nosology. Those who have cerebral palsy and partially walks, partly uses a trolley, he acts in the same category as I.
People who can move without a trolley, because they have nosology that suits the qualification, sit in the trolley and act here and here we are not very flat, because, for example, I have a injured back and does not work part of the muscles The backs, the press, the legs. There are many nuances, and so it will be until the pair-karate is included in the Paralympiad program, "the athlete explains. However, the woman not only cherished sports achievements.
Recently, Karina again changed her life and began his studies at the First Inclusive Modeling School "Novima" in Ukraine. Here the girls learn the same disciplines as in the usual modeling school: photography, fashion show, acting, style of style, makeup, care of themselves, the basics of healthy nutrition. "She decided that nothing happened in life at that moment, there was no sport, and here they were offered to do modeling. Well, why not.
I don't know that it would give me it, but it is better to do something than to do nothing. Our coach is very ambitious, she wants to promote inclusive modeling as a common phenomenon so that people with disabilities do not feel not like everyone. This project erases the borders, and you begin to feel that you are in principle like everyone And a trolley is just a way of moving and nothing more, "Karina Airapeyan sums up.