“There are no gods in sports. We all have our advantages and disadvantages.” They are premature babies
Photo: Private archive
– We weren't supposed to walk or talk. But my mother didn't believe it. She showed the middle finger to the experts and fought. She practiced with us almost every day. I guess she overdid it, because now my sister and I are running up the wall, says Aleksandra Kałucka, bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in Paris in timed climbing.
They weren't supposed to walk. They don't just walk – they run, vertically, on the wall.
They weren't supposed to see. They can see out of one eye. Is it a problem to win the biggest events in the world? NO.
They weren't supposed to talk. You can hear them from afar.
Natalia and Aleksandra Kałuckie are world-famous climbers. Specialization: time trial. They often exchange places on the podium.
Natalia, the younger of the sisters (by two minutes), was the best competitor of the 2023 World Cup, and the world time trial climbing champion in 2021. In 2022, she won the silver medal at the World Games and the bronze medal at the European Championships in the time trial competition. In 2023, in her hometown of Tarnów, she won the gold medal of the European Games. In the same year, she won the final World Cup standings.
However, she did not go to the Olympic Games in Paris. She was eliminated by her sister.
Ola, in turn, won the gold medal at the junior world championships in 2017 in Innsbruck. A year later, she became the Polish senior champion in the time trial competition. She took part in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics, and in 2022 she won the general classification of the World Cup.
At the beginning of July, Ola successfully defended her bachelor's thesis. Major: mathematics. Topic: climbing – of course. A month later, she won the Olympic bronze.
– Natalia was my biggest fan during the games – Ola tells us now.
In a conversation with us, she also admits that their mother always closes her eyes when watching her sisters compete. They compete with each other… they like.
The bronze medalist told us how to reach for the stars. He also talks about prematurity, although he doesn't like to do it. He argues: you have to push.
– In our sport, there is no person who is perfect, is perfectly built, has a perfect body. Bolt – the fastest man in the world – had scoliosis and flat feet. Anything is possible. There are no gods in sports. We all have our advantages and disadvantages and we use them, says the Olympian.
November 17 is World Prematurity Day.
Klaudia Ziółkowska: What did you feel when you won the Olympic bronze?
Aleksandra Kałucka: I was very emotional. Throughout my stay in the Olympic Village, I kept my emotions inside so that they would let me start. Then they exploded, I don't remember much. Certainly – pride, happiness, but also relief. That it's all over. I kind of couldn't believe I did it. And the feeling: that there is nothing in sports that I cannot do.
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