From the orphanage to the Paralympics - Fulfill Vikas dream of Tokyo 2020!
Nürnberg, Germany
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From the orphanage to the Paralympics - Fulfill Vikas dream of Tokyo 2020!
Nürnberg, Germany
Viktoriia Marchuk was born with incompletely developed arms. Abandoned by her parents, little Vika had to grow up in a Ukrainian orphanage. Today she is a four-time Taekwondo World Champion and dreams of the Paralympics.
A. Castano from Taekwondo Özer e. V. |
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About this project
Viktoriia "Vika" Marchuk didn’t have an easy life. The now 26-year-old was born with incompletely developed arms and hands. Abandoned by her parents because of this handicap, little Vika had to grow up in a Ukrainian orphanage.
Nevertheless, Vika didn’t despair of her destiny, she become a self-confident young woman and has set high goals for herself. She wants to prove to herself and to others that she can achieve extraordinary things despite her handicap. Today she lives and studies in Kiev and practices the Korean martial arts Taekwondo. She has quickly gone far in this dynamic, powerful, physically very demanding sport. Her series of victories began with the Ukrainian Championship - for the non-disabled!
But Vika was not content with this great success. Instead of resting on her laurels, she set the next goal for herself and that was really high: Her big dream was to participate in the 2012 Para-Taekwondo World Championships on the Caribbean island of Aruba. The Ukrainian Taekwondo Association agreed to nominate her, but she had to finance the participation herself.
In this situation, her coach, who had supported Taekwondo Özers Olympian Sümeyye Manz in the preparations for the Olympic Games in London as a sparring partner, contacted us. With private donations, we made Vikas participation at the World Championships possible and she took advantage of the opportunity she had gained through her faith in herself, her determination and tenacity, and won the World Championship title! Since Taekwondo was not yet part of the Paralympics program, by winning the World Championships Vika had reached the highest possible pinnacle of success for Taekwondo competitors in disability sports.
In the meantime she has been able to repeat this success with our help and is now a four-time World Champion! Thus she has gained some popularity in her sport, has been honored by the World Federation and her story has been published several times. Nevertheless she doesn’t receive any financial support and is still dependent on donations to participate at European and World Championships.
Since she has only been able to live in state facilities for handicapped persons, she also desires her own little home to live an independent and self-determined life.
Since at the beginning of 2015 Taekwondo has been included in the program of the Paralympics 2020 in Tokyo, Vika has a new, all-outshining goal in her sport: Gold at the Paralympics!
She has already proved that "she’s got what it takes" to do so. But to qualify, she needs the points for the world rankings, which are distributed at tournaments all over the world. In order to be able to participate, she needs our financial and organizational assistance. We want to do everything to make her dream come true and hope for many supporters!
Nevertheless, Vika didn’t despair of her destiny, she become a self-confident young woman and has set high goals for herself. She wants to prove to herself and to others that she can achieve extraordinary things despite her handicap. Today she lives and studies in Kiev and practices the Korean martial arts Taekwondo. She has quickly gone far in this dynamic, powerful, physically very demanding sport. Her series of victories began with the Ukrainian Championship - for the non-disabled!
But Vika was not content with this great success. Instead of resting on her laurels, she set the next goal for herself and that was really high: Her big dream was to participate in the 2012 Para-Taekwondo World Championships on the Caribbean island of Aruba. The Ukrainian Taekwondo Association agreed to nominate her, but she had to finance the participation herself.
In this situation, her coach, who had supported Taekwondo Özers Olympian Sümeyye Manz in the preparations for the Olympic Games in London as a sparring partner, contacted us. With private donations, we made Vikas participation at the World Championships possible and she took advantage of the opportunity she had gained through her faith in herself, her determination and tenacity, and won the World Championship title! Since Taekwondo was not yet part of the Paralympics program, by winning the World Championships Vika had reached the highest possible pinnacle of success for Taekwondo competitors in disability sports.
In the meantime she has been able to repeat this success with our help and is now a four-time World Champion! Thus she has gained some popularity in her sport, has been honored by the World Federation and her story has been published several times. Nevertheless she doesn’t receive any financial support and is still dependent on donations to participate at European and World Championships.
Since she has only been able to live in state facilities for handicapped persons, she also desires her own little home to live an independent and self-determined life.
Since at the beginning of 2015 Taekwondo has been included in the program of the Paralympics 2020 in Tokyo, Vika has a new, all-outshining goal in her sport: Gold at the Paralympics!
She has already proved that "she’s got what it takes" to do so. But to qualify, she needs the points for the world rankings, which are distributed at tournaments all over the world. In order to be able to participate, she needs our financial and organizational assistance. We want to do everything to make her dream come true and hope for many supporters!
