“There are explosions in Ukraine, and a Russian woman is sitting nearby.” Oksana Boturchuk – about the provocations at the Paralympics, Yanukovych’s fear and the film about herself, Pulse

At the Games in the capital of France, the athlete won bronze in the 400-meter run and silver in the 100-meter run in the T12 class (the category of athletes who cannot see objects at a distance of more than 2 meters). It is worth noting that thanks to this, the athlete became the Ukrainian record holder for the number of medals at the Paralympics in athletics – 12.

At the age of 13, Oksana and her family got into a car accident, as a result of which she completely lost her sight, but doctors managed to partially restore it. Later, she connected her life with professional sports and repeatedly ended up on the podium.

Oksana Boturchuk’s story inspired Ukrainian film director Serhii Chebotarenko to make a film about her, called Pulse.

Photo: Oksana Boturchuk

In the first part of the interview, NV Oksana Boturchuk recalled what her debut Games were like, told where she keeps her Paralympic awards and admitted how she felt when she found out that they wanted to make a movie about her.

— Oksana, tell us about your life after the 2024 Paralympics.

This is a very interesting question, because most people ask what happened during the Games, what emotions she felt when she won a medal, etc. But, as they say, the fun starts after. The first month is very emotional and full, because many places invite, welcome, this is important and it inspires me a lot. I am grateful to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, ministers, city and regional heads for the greetings, awards and honors. This motivates to continue winning medals. I remember when I was awarded for the first time, it was “Wow.” Therefore, the first month is full, then calm begins, journalists stop calling. When I felt it for the first time, I thought: “That’s it, is the holiday over?”. I think maybe someone gets depressed because after you’ve achieved everything you wanted, you don’t know what to do next. Fortunately, I have something to do now – training, children, lessons, school. I quickly transitioned from the role of an athlete to the role of a mother. Of course, I would like to rest somewhere, but it is not possible yet, because my husband is in the service, he is a policeman. Perhaps, somewhere closer to the New Year, it will be possible to go somewhere on vacation. Now the children are in school, and I continue to be a mother.

– Where would you like to go on vacation?

I dream of going to the sea, which I haven’t seen since 2021, we were there before the full-scale war. But we didn’t rest as a whole family – only my husband and I, and the children were at my grandmother’s, because we went there right after the Paralympics in Tokyo. And now I would like to have children with us, I especially want to show my little son what the sea is, because he has only seen it on the TV screen and in pictures. But while we are resting in Ukraine, I am very pleased that we discovered the west of Ukraine and the Carpathians. I was very surprised by the service, we have no worse rest than abroad. I like that you can rest in Ukraine, spend money here, and not take it abroad.

— You won gold at the Paralympics in Beijing in 2008. Tell us how those Games differed from the Paris Games?

Any Paralympics is not like the previous one. For me, the Games in Beijing remain the top, they were incredible. At that time, what they did in Beijing at the opening and closing – wow. People descended from the sky on ropes, we wrote letters to the future, the audience was completely immersed in it all. Therefore, the Games in Beijing are the best for me, maybe because it was my first Paralympics, but no one has yet been able to make such an enchanting show as it was in China. Of course, there are changes. For example, after Rio 2016, one of the fast food companies stopped being a sponsor of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For some it is a disappointment, and for some it is very good. In terms of organization, I had no complaints – the French, the Chinese, and the Brazilians organized everything well. The only thing is that everything was in Tokyo during the coronavirus. In Japan, I was only at the airport, at the stadium and in the room, but then there were such realities. However, every Paralympics is incredible, I am very grateful to Paris for the emotions it gave me this year.

Photo: Oksana Boturchuk

– Do you remember what you wrote in your letter to the future?

No, unfortunately, I don’t remember anymore, but it was something incredible, I really wanted to get it. I thought that letter would reach me in London, I don’t know why they didn’t give them to us. Then in Beijing, postmen descended as if from the sky, like clouds. We gave them a letter and they flew off somewhere. Then some postcards fell from the sky, we collected them to keep. For me, a 23-year-old girl, it was at an incredible level, I have never seen anything like this anywhere in Ukraine, so it was something incredible.

And with letters to the future… We thought they would fly to us in London, somehow they would deliver them to the country, but, most likely, they did it as a show, and our letters disappeared.

– Was there fast food in the village itself?

Yes, it was free, like everything in the Olympic and Paralympic Villages. Usually, everything there is free for athletes, but trainers, massage therapists and doctors do not have such services. In Beijing-2008, I saw all these brownies and frappes for the first time… Then there was no such thing in Ukraine… I thought it was something “Wow.” It was incredible, because such discoveries give the athlete positive emotions, relax him, because everyone is tense at competitions. That’s why it was cool that it happened then.

— How did the coaches feel about it?

Before going to the Paralympics, the coaches warned us that we should watch our weight. They said that in 2000, the team came to the Games in Sydney, and there was incredible cuisine, everything was very tasty, and the athletes gained five to seven kilograms. And that was before the competition, because we usually arrive a week before the competition. And so, they gained five to seven kilograms each, which was a shock for the trainers. Since then, even at the world and European championships, coaches have asked to control all of this. Now the generation of athletes has changed, we have a lot of what is available abroad. And then, in 2000, people almost left Ukraine for the first time and never had such food chili, i understand them. Now everyone is watching themselves, they know what they can eat and what they can’t, but then the track and field athletes gained weight and it was nonsense. For example, I have such a state before the start that I can’t eat anything at all because of emotions and excitement. I took food, took a bite and threw it in the trash. There, the girl looked at me like that and said: “Why are you going to throw it all away and not finish it?”. I say: “No, I can’t, it won’t work.” She had such a surprised face. Now I already understand that I had such a condition, I no longer experiment, I just wait until the first final, the first medal or no medal, and it lets go. I have already studied my body, so I don’t translate products as much as I used to.

— You have 12 Paralympic awards. Where do you store them?

Oops… It’s been a long road to this. Once they were on the shelf when we lived in the apartment, then they were lying on the mezzanine. When the first daughter was born, she broke the boxes of London medals and played with them. Later we hid them so they wouldn’t get covered in dirt. Now we all live in a house, so we have a special bedside table, but the last two medals do not fit there. In Paris, they gave out such giant boxes for awards, they are, of course, beautiful, but they did not fit. The man says that it is necessary to either change the bedside table, or to expand it, to deliver something so that the Paris medals can fit. By the way, I somehow felt that everything would end at the number 12, because September 12 is my birthday, for me it is a magical number.

— Ukrainian Olympians say that the Paris medals are starting to come off, what do yours look like?

Well, the Paralympians got them a little later, so it’s fine for now. I was at the award ceremony at the Minister of Internal Affairs Klymenko, Ludmila Luzan, Oleksandr Khizhnyak, Mykhailo Kokhan were there, we were comparing our medals. Lyudmila said that she was already starting to get into trouble, Khyzhnyak showed his gold, so everything is fine with him there. I will say that something rarely happens with gold awards. One girl said that her gold medal from Rio 2016 was stained. I’m fine so far, although from experience, I have a lot of silver medals, so they start to oxidize and become stained. I can’t keep them in a special place, maybe they should be cleaned from time to time, taken to jewelers, some kind of paste should be bought. My bronze medal from London looks very good, nothing happened to it in that time. In Paris, I won my second bronze medal, maybe something will happen to her, let’s see.

— Do you have an interesting story with medals, maybe you lost one somewhere or couldn’t remember how many you have?

No, I didn’t count for a long time (laughs). Paralympics are easy to count, but usually medals are counted when the athlete ends his career. But there was nothing interesting. My silver medal from Paris-2024 had not even arrived in Ukraine yet, when an unpleasant story happened to it. In Poland, my godfather’s son met me with his mother, he is small, he is only five years old. I let him hold this medal, and he threw the silver like it was on the asphalt. The award was a little damaged, and Igor Tsvetov says in the bus: “Ksyuha, show me, he snored it like that.” I say: “Well, yes, a little beaten, but they are children, so it’s okay.” Then I took a photo of my husband, he said that we will take it to a jeweler, let him polish it. It’s a pity about this medal, because it hasn’t arrived home yet, and it’s already been hit hard, but I love children very much, so it’s okay.

Photo: Oksana Boturchuk

— Do you aim to go for the 13th medal?

When I came to the Paralympic Games in Paris, some of the team saw me and said: “You said that everything was already in Tokyo. Why did you come, it’s not enough for you?”. I say: “The real star came out for an encore”, I was told that Alla Pugacheva came out three times (laughs). I still had unfinished business, I shared first place with Roman Pavlyk in the number of medals in athletics, and now I am the record holder. It’s as if she has completed all her affairs, there is a very long cycle ahead, four years, I don’t want to guess, you need to find yourself in everyday life. Perhaps I will work as a coach or in a field related to sports. Now I am interested in the rehabilitation of our soldiers, I want to start doing free athletics training once a week for boys and girls who want to recover. They may need my support, at the same time they will look for themselves in another area.

— In Paris, you took a photo with the famous athlete Tara Davis, tell me where you met her?

Oh, I met her when we were going to the semi-finals of the 400 meters. We just entered the stadium and I met her eyes. I am visually impaired and ask, “Excuse me, are you Tara Davis?”. I decided to ask again, because I had an interesting situation, I thought I took a picture with a famous high jumper, but the coach said that it was not him. We zoomed in on the photo, looked around, I said: “Oh, they’re all tall.” That’s why I asked her, she willingly agreed to take a photo, it inspired me a lot, I think: “I watched her on TV, I was rooting for her, and now I came across her, this is a good sign.” Then we did not allow the Russian to reach the final. This confrontation was fundamental for me, and the meeting with Tara inspired and inspired me, gave me a positive charge. I think Tara had a direct impact on running in the semis with the neutral athlete.

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/boturchukoksana

— And maybe you have some more photos with famous people?

From athletes, only with Tara. And so I have a photo with our presidents — with Viktor Yushchenko, Petro Poroshenko, Volodymyr Zelensky. There is no photo with Yanukovych, but I don’t care about that (laughs). After the Paralympics in London, when we had a meeting with him, our phones and cameras were taken away. His greeting was not fantastic, and there is no photo with him, but thank God.

— What was Yanukovych like at that meeting?

Very formal. Viktor Yushchenko hugged us, even kissed the girls, but he himself chose whom to kiss and hug, and whom to just shake hands with (laughs). And when we came to Yanukovych, they took everything from us, only the medals were left. We were led into the hall, told to keep our distance, he shook hands with great distance. One girl emotionally hugged him, and he shrank away from her, he was frightened. It was noticeable that he became very uncomfortable. Therefore, there were no joint photos with him.

Later, we went to meet Azarov and I was pleasantly surprised, so I did not expect that he would communicate with us, look into everyone’s eyes, take pictures. It was such an informal meeting, his voice even trembled when he addressed the paraathletes. Maybe he was dishonest with us then, because he is a politician, but I believed him. He is a person who did not care about us, he was sensitive, my attitude towards him changed a lot then. And Yanukovych, as Yanukovych, I remember him from a distance, how he fell from the egg and how the wreath blew on him.

– Have you seen any of the world stars?

So, the famous singer Rihanna performed at the closing of the Paralympic Games in London. Then there was such a funny story. I am sitting, and next to me was a girl, our thrower, she says to me: “D oh phone, because you have a camera. Look who’s standing.” I ask, “And who’s standing there?”, she explains that it’s Rihanna, but I don’t know who that is. You should have seen this girl’s face (laughs). She spent half the evening explaining to me who she was, took a picture of her on my phone, this singer just walked out where the Ukrainian team was sitting. Another star passed by me, but I remembered Rihanna the most, because I didn’t know her at that time. My head was not filled with that, I was thinking about children, and this girl said to me so indignantly: “You are ignorant!” (laughs).

— Volodymyr Zelenskyi recently awarded you with the Order of Princess Olga of the II century. Did you have time to talk to him?

No, this time I didn’t have time. This is the second award from Volodymyr Zelenskyi. He also escorted us to the Paralympics in Tokyo — it was very nice, because he became the first president to attend the Paralympians’ farewell. Then he took pictures with everyone who was willing, talked, I remember that the security came up to him several times and said: “We have to go already,” but Volodymyr Oleksandrovich said every time: “Until I give everyone my attention, I won’t go anywhere “. It was very nice, after the Paralympics he also presented us with awards, it was a quick meeting but you could take pictures. After Paris, everything was very limited, we were immediately warned about it. Then the photographers sent the photo to the Paralympic Committee and that was it. Before the award ceremony, we were told not to talk much with the president, not to hug, not to waste a lot of time, because everything has to be fast. But Volodymyr Oleksandrovich already recognized someone, asked something, shook hands, thanked him.

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/boturchukoksana

— Russians provoked Ukrainian athletes at the Paralympics. Have you had a similar story?

My opponent, I don’t remember, I think Sorokina, she already has a double last name, spoke to me before the semi-finals. She came up to me and asked: “Can I shake your hand? Will it be like in Tokyo that I can’t do this?”. In Tokyo, I refused to shake hands with her after the final race of 200 meters, although it is customary for medalists to shake hands with each other, but we said that we did not want to do that. She remembered it and decided to approach me with this offer before the semi-finals, she really wanted to. I say: “It’s not that I don’t want to shake your hand, I hate talking to you”, I turned away and left, to which she said: “Congratulations on the birth of the third child”. It was quite provocative, because my son does not even know what a peaceful sky is. I found out about the pregnancy a week before the war, my son was growing up during the bombings, I felt so sorry for him. I think: “I will kill you here now, without leaving you.” I understood that it would be a disqualification, my guide was sitting next to me and said: “Oksana, don’t behave, don’t behave, hold on, please, don’t pay attention to her.” I thought: “Now we will go out on the path and I will show you both the birth of the child and the sky in diamonds.” We went out and made it to the finals, but she was eliminated from the Games. I knew that this Russian woman would compete for medals at the Paralympics, and I really didn’t want that, so I went to Paris. This is my battlefield where I can fight the Russians and win. I managed to defeat her, just as our defender will be able to defeat them at the front.

– Then they didn’t make fun of her?

No, I tried not to notice the Russians, because they caused me very negative emotions. In our team, many boys and girls still communicate in Russian, some switch to Ukrainian, it is very difficult for some, but when you hear the language of the aggressor, the hair on your back stands on end. I wanted to throw trays of food on the Russians’ heads. It was very difficult with them, especially when we came back for a run, the Russian woman was sitting on the side, I called home, and the husband says: “Oh, you are calling with explosions.” I told them to go to the basement, I still thought to myself, what are they (the Russians, — note) are sitting here, besides, they have the right to compete with us.

– Do you have relatives in Russia?

I have relatives from the aggressor country, my grandfather is from Russia, he died before the war, but he lived in Ukraine all his life. His own sister remained in the Russian Federation, with whom my grandfather very much asked me not to lose contact. When the full-scale invasion began, my godmother from Nikopol just called me, she was constantly crying, she was always in touch. And my relatives from Russia decided to call two months after the beginning of the invasion. It was this grandfather’s sister, my mother’s aunt, I thought: “They just want to know if we are still alive?”. I couldn’t pick up the phone because I was pregnant, there were difficult moves, and they called only two months later. I immediately blocked them. Then my sister informed me that this aunt died this year. My mother says: “These are my relatives, and I didn’t even smell anything inside.” Now I believe that I have no relatives there. Sometimes strangers become closer than relatives, and relatives become strangers. This is the case when I now say that I have no relatives in Russia.

— The movie Pulse was made about you. How did you find out that they want to make a screen version of your story?

At first, the director of the film, Serhii Chebotarenko, called me, but I did not want to contact him. I thought he was a director of films for adults, why was he touching me. He found my phone number through the Paralympic Committee, called, then I contacted the management, they said that some journalist wanted something from me. I agreed to meet with him, but at first I didn’t believe it, I thought: “God, some dreamer came to see me, what a feature film, also in Ukraine, besides, it’s about me, who am I?”. But when they started to approve the cast, I thought: “Will he succeed?” Then the script was sent to me, and then I realized that he would actually shoot it. Ukraine and the world saw this tape, there was a fear of how people would react, how my life would change. Even before that, I asked my husband if we were ready for everyone to find out about us like this. He said that I live with the idea that it is better to do than not to do. At some point, I thought that let everyone know our story, and then we will think about what to do with it. But, thank God, everything went well. Of course, there was criticism, as always, but I was then concentrating on my performance at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, so I didn’t bother to read these moments. Most people received the film positively and still write to me from abroad. The film seems to be already on Netflix and people from Brazil and France are watching it, finding me on social networks and starting to thank me for this story. They say that I inspired them, it’s very nice.

– Why did you think that Serhiy is a director of films for adults?

He wrote to me on social networks: “Good afternoon, I want to chat with you.” And I am careful with them, I have open pages, it happened that I went in, and some Ahmed Mahmed sent an obscene photo, and I was like: “Oh my God!”. I immediately block such people, because they are not very pleasant oh when they send you something like this. I did not answer Sergey at all. Then he sent a link to his site, I went in, took a quick look, thought: “What kind of director is there, he definitely makes films for adults.” But Sergey looked very normal, he is a family man, he has two children, a wife. But for some reason, I had this thought, probably because of a negative experience of communication in social networks. Because of such inadequate users, you already have a negative attitude towards most of the guys you don’t know. Even later, he started writing that he wanted to come. I already thought that he was trying, I also wanted to chat on Skype. When he called and said that he was Serhii Chebotarenko, I was already familiar with this name, I thought: “That’s all, you have to call your husband.” When he said that he was buying a ticket and going to see me in Dnipro to talk, I thought: “What is this anyway?” But, as they say, you cannot escape from fate. Serhiy came, we recorded the interview and he shot the film.

— Natalia Babenko played the main role in the film. Did you somehow participate in the approval of the actress?

No, Serhiy and his team were selected by themselves. He told me that Natalya is a very good actress, he likes her drama, the way she plays. When Natalya was approved for the role, she contacted me and came to Dnipro, attended my training, watched me communicate with my husband. She spent one day with me, with my family, Natalya approached the role very seriously. She seems to be having problems with her knee right now. Recently, I went to her page on Instagram, she posted that she wanted to go for a run, but the filming in Pulsa still makes itself felt.

– And what exactly makes itself known?

Injuries She had injuries, Natalya was getting in shape to star in sports scenes, but after that she started getting injuries. When a person does not do sports professionally, the ligaments may not be ready after such loads. Now it has turned into a chronic injury.

Photo: Still from the movie Pulse

— Did any of the celebrities write to you after the premiere of the film?

Lilia Rebrik often mentioned me later in her stories, she is such an active user of Instagram. We corresponded with her for the first time. Stanislav Boklan also exchanged numbers with my husband when we were on the first block of filming. He gave us tickets to his show, invited us to Kyiv, and we came together with my husband, it was very nice.

– How many times have you watched a movie about yourself?

When the premiere took place, it seems five times. Then, when he came to us on TV, we left and watched. But, I know that the family, when I’m not there, rewatches it, they like the movie a lot, especially the daughters.

– And what did the parents say about the film?

Mom looked and said: “I’ve never worn such skirts around the house.” Because she always walks in pants, leggings, in a sports uniform, her father usually walks like that too. Mom also said that our dad doesn’t have the same sense of humor as the actor who played him (laughs). And the actress who played my mother took care of me in the film as much as my mother took care of me in life. So, Natalie Doli managed to play the role of a mother. They even asked me what my mother’s signature dish was, they had duck baked with apples in the frame, which my mother often prepared for us. Serhiy filmed in such detail that everything was as it really was.

— Have you seen similar sports dramas?

I haven’t seen much of it, but Little One for a Million is a cool movie, it doesn’t have a happy ending, so when I advise someone to watch a movie about themselves, I always say: “Don’t worry, there will be a happy ending.” Although Serhiy Chebotarenko was very inspired by the Million Dollar Baby, he wanted to make a film about a real sportsman. I also watched a film about a cyclist, he talked about doping, how he took it, etc. This is a very interesting movie, because they couldn’t catch him red-handed. And yes, I don’t have much time for this, but I really want to watch a movie about Usain Bolt. Also, my friends said that there is an American tape about a completely blind athlete, it showed how he trains with a guide, it is a feature film. I don’t know the plot, friends watched and said that there are similarities in our stories, – said Boturchuk.

Earlier we wrote that the participant of the 2024 Paralympics Yevgeny Korynets recalled the beginning of the full-scale war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.