“One should always have a plan “B”: para-athlete Yaroslav Sviatoslavsky – about overcoming and motivation

By learning about the experiences of others and being inspired by their example, you will be able to achieve success in any activity. Yaroslav Sviatoslavsky is a man whose story can motivate many people. A strong character and an irresistible desire to achieve goals, but what is behind them? We talked to the athlete on the eve of the Mriyathlon-2023 triathlon competition to find out.

Yaroslav Svyatoslavsky is a Paralympic athlete, five-time Russian cycling champion and Russian triathlon champion among athletes with musculoskeletal disabilities. The first Russian paratriathlete to pass the IronMan. He has conquered this distance five times. In addition to sports, he is engaged in social entrepreneurship, working on research in the field of spinal cord injuries together with a team of scientists. In 2014, Yaroslav became the first test pilot of the Russian medical exoskeleton ExoAtlet.

Self-confidence played a cruel joke

No one instilled sports in me from childhood. I wanted to get into the sporting environment on my own, and it all started with parkour, acrobatics and gymnastics. I saw how guys were practicing, I was impressed, and that became the starting point for parkour. Training always had music and lifted my spirits. I loved what I was doing, it grew into more – I became one of the best in my city, in Ivanovo. At that moment I felt confident, I thought that I could do everything, it played a cruel joke on me.

At one of the trainings I fell from a height of 12 meters and injured my spine. Youthful maximalism did not allow me to foresee the risks.

As for the family, no one is involved in sports professionally. Only my father was into skiing and running at the amateur level. By the way, in the last five years he ran a marathon and climbed Mount Elbrus. He said that I was an example for him in many ways.

Triathlon came into my life by accident

I never thought I would do triathlon or IronMan distances, it all happened by accident. I started as an amateur triathlete and then gradually moved to professional sport, concentrating on cycling.

It turns out that I do cycling professionally and triathlon as an amateur.

When I first heard about IronMan, I didn’t even think about it. I was just curious about it for general development. Then the sports doctors gave me a video of a paratriathlete, and I thought, “This guy is a beauty! He doesn’t give up, overcomes such great distances”. But I had no desire to do it myself.

When I started to come across posts about the first triathlon in Russia, held in 2015, I thought “Why not?”. I wrote to the organizers and took part in this start.

I had five full distance triathlons, 226 kilometers. It trains willpower, and, of course, it is an interesting experience. Such starts allow you to travel, meet and communicate with a huge number of people. For me triathlon, as well as sport in general, is a tool for self-realization and realization of my projects.

About sports plans

I do not stop at what I have achieved, the nearest start is the Mriyathlon, the distance of which is 113 km, half of the full “iron” distance. I am preparing for it now.

My main goal is to finish with a good time. I also want to set an example for others to realize that it is possible. To give motivation to both athletes without restrictions and para-athletes who will take part in future competitions.

The most difficult thing will be the track itself. There is a big enough height gain, that’s what motivated me to take part.

If you also take part in the competition, enjoy the competition, enjoy your stay at Mriya Resort & SPA, combine it with a useful vacation in Crimea. I wish you to have a bright and colorful weekend to have time not only to go the distance, but also to rest, to be charged with energy, positivity and strength for the future. And then apply this energy in the right direction, in your work, projects and affairs. In general, I wish you to make a cool discharge, using sports activity!

I wanted to give up, but I endured

The most difficult test was probably the preparation for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020.

I trained hard, I didn’t get off the bike for almost 1.5-2 years.

I had a coach who wrote the program, systematically and disciplined we went to our goal. I worked out six days a week for 12 training sessions, during them I traveled 500-600 km on a bicycle. I did strength, speed and volume training. From Tuesday to Sunday I was training, and from Monday to Friday I also had to work.

Every time I went out for a workout, I overcame myself. Sometimes I wanted to give up, but I didn’t.

The movement to the goal, to the result allowed me to become a bronze medalist of the World Cup in Belgium and to be in the top five at the World Championships in Portugal.

Living life to the fullest

Discipline helps you to keep up with everything. I work a lot, sport is a hobby for me, so I train either early in the morning or in the evening after a hard day’s work. Monday is my day off, and from Tuesday to Sunday I train if I am preparing for an important sporting event.

I don’t have any dietary rules, but if, for example, I have very intensive training, I try to follow my diet plus or minus. Mostly I just combine healthy food and sports nutrition. I’m not obsessed with keeping and counting proteins, fats and carbohydrates. If I eat, it means I have energy that I can use in sports, to burn a certain amount of calories.

I try to live life to the fullest, not to deny myself anything. I like to ride jet skis, go skydiving or bungee jumping. All for the sake of adrenaline and emotions.

If we talk about skiing, it’s more like general training and a way to diversify my sporting activities. It’s not like you can spend all your time on a bicycle.

To become the best version of myself

There are no specific people who inspire me. I just focus on myself and my results. I follow my intuition and desire. The experiences, the path I’ve already traveled. I don’t want to waste time, I want to invest it in new projects, goals, results. If I realize that I have already achieved something, I can do even more and increase the efforts I have already made.

My main goal and dream, what motivates me, is to get people back on their feet.

Together with a team of scientists, I am now developing special neuroimplants for people with spinal cord damage. This is probably the project that energizes me to keep going.

When I speak, for example, to Olympic and Paralympic champions, I tell them: “You have a medal around your neck, but what’s next, what initiatives, what do you want to change around you?”.

If you have something other than sporting ambitions, if you realize that you can be more than just a coach, you can inspire by example, then you have found yourself. If not, look for your purpose. This will motivate you further.

On stage as a speaker, I talk about my life experience and current projects. I am sure of exactly those results, those experiences, those deeds that I have already done. Why not tell everyone about it, why should I worry about my achievements? I’m only too happy to share it with others.

Major life lesson

If one door closes in life, you should always have a backup plan. You should do different activities, because you can be an expert in one area, but you have to develop something else, show results in it. Because in any endeavor, both in business and in life, there should be several options.

When the door to international sport closed in front of Olympic athletes, I was getting education and experience in companies where I was developing as a marketing professional. When the road to sport became unavailable, I quietly switched to other activities.

The most important thing is still self-development. You cannot live only by one thing, you need to develop yourself as a person, to be a professional in another industry, which will also lead to results.

Advice to those who do not understand where to go next

First, look at your past self, at the results and successes that have already been made. Then either go back and resume that, or find new areas that will continue to ignite and motivate. The more communication you have with those people, with that environment where you want to get to, the more opportunities and meanings for realization of the projects you are interested in. You need to try things that energize you, focus on those tasks.

If you do things you do not like, there will be no result.

You need to find yourself, find something you will love.