TASS: JUDOKA POTAPOVA WON THE 2021 PARALYMPIC SPORTS AWARD
MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Four-time bronze medalist of the Games judoka Victoria Potapova has become the laureate of the 2021 sports prize awarded by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It was reported to TASS by Acting President of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) Pavel Rozhkov.
At the age of two, Potapova was diagnosed with a malignant eye tumor, and by the age of ten she had lost her vision. In 2017, the judoka was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer and underwent two surgeries in which she had her upper jaw, part of her nose bone, part of her eye socket and all affected soft tissue removed. In 2021, Potapova won a bronze medal at the Paralympics in Tokyo.
"Traditionally, after the Paralympic Games, the International Paralympic Committee determines the winners of the Paralympic Sports Award," Rozhkov said. - This year a special award for courage was given to our judoka Victoria Potapova. She performed at her best at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, where she won her fourth Paralympic bronze medal."
"When I talked to the doctors, they advised me to lead a normal lifestyle. When I heard that, I thought, why should I quit sports? Sports are good for me, so I will keep doing them. I don't need to think about my disease, I just need to live," the IPC press service quotes the judoka as saying.
Potapova is also a bronze medalist at the Paralympic Games in 2004, 2008 and 2012.
At the age of two, Potapova was diagnosed with a malignant eye tumor, and by the age of ten she had lost her vision. In 2017, the judoka was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer and underwent two surgeries in which she had her upper jaw, part of her nose bone, part of her eye socket and all affected soft tissue removed. In 2021, Potapova won a bronze medal at the Paralympics in Tokyo.
"Traditionally, after the Paralympic Games, the International Paralympic Committee determines the winners of the Paralympic Sports Award," Rozhkov said. - This year a special award for courage was given to our judoka Victoria Potapova. She performed at her best at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, where she won her fourth Paralympic bronze medal."
"When I talked to the doctors, they advised me to lead a normal lifestyle. When I heard that, I thought, why should I quit sports? Sports are good for me, so I will keep doing them. I don't need to think about my disease, I just need to live," the IPC press service quotes the judoka as saying.
Potapova is also a bronze medalist at the Paralympic Games in 2004, 2008 and 2012.