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Queen’s Birthday Honours recipient Iryna Dvoskina has achieved everything in Para-athletics since arriving from Ukraine in 2003 but the Paralympic supercoach says her desire remains undimmed when she sees young athletes working hard for success.
Dvoskina knew some of her current and former athletes had nominated her for a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to Paralympic athletics. Nevertheless, she said, it was “a big surprise and a big honour for me to be recognised this way” after she was awarded the OAM on Monday alongside 991 other outstanding achievers across the country.
Among the other recipients were Paralympics Australia board member The Honourable Tim Carmody, for significant service to the law and to the judiciary, and three-time Paralympian Paul Nunnari, who was awarded the Public Service Medal for service to diversity and inclusion.
Dvoskina has coached 12 Paralympic medallists, including gold medallists Heath Francis, Amy Winters, Christine Wolf, Evan O’Hanlon, Scott Reardon, Vanessa Low and James Turner. She and her husband, Para-swimming coach Yuriy Vdovychenko, have been enormous contributors to Australia’s Paralympic success over most of the past 20 years after leaving Ukraine, where they were highly regarded Paralympic coaches.
Dvoskina and Vdovychenko maintain strong ties to their former homeland, where they have many friends and family.
“I feel very happy that I came to Australia. I’m happy I’m here, I feel safe – particularly with what’s happening in Ukraine right now,” Dvoskina said.
“We are talking to our friends and family everyday because it’s very important for them to know that we are with them, we’re thinking of them and we help financially as well.
“We were fundraising to buy tickets for the Ukrainian Paralympic team to go back from the Beijing Winter Games to Warsaw. We try to do our bit. It’s possible to help even though we’re far away.”
Dvoskina had success coaching in Ukraine but went to a new level in Australia, where she was named Paralympics Australia’s Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2016.
“I can’t tell you that I’m proud of any particular medal, but I’m just so proud of what my athletes have achieved,” she said. “To win 67 medals at the Paralympics and World Championships, it’s quite a big number.
“I never counted medals in my life but I started to do it when I wanted to save our athletics program at the AIS, because after London 2012 we had restructure of Australian sport. They wanted to go a different direction but I wanted to save our program, so I started counting medals so I could make a case. I wanted to show how many medals my athletes won when they were based at the AIS.
“I’m very proud that I was able to save our program at the AIS. It’s an Athletics Australia program but it’s based at the AIS, which has played a big role in my athletes’ performance.”
Dvoskina said she still felt motivated by helping committed young athletes develop and grow.
“But my role now is not only working with athletes, it’s to mentor coaches,” she said. “I’m in Mackay now, we just had the Oceania Championships and now I’m at the training camp working with two young coaches to upskill them. It’s not really a new thing for me, but I’m concentrating on it more now.”
Leaving Ukraine for Australia was a leap of faith. But Dvoskina said she couldn’t have had such success without the support of Yuriy and their daughter Anastasia, who is now an Australian trade commissioner, based in London.
“As a coach I spend more time with the athletes than with my own child,” she said. “I would always ask Anastasia if she’s OK and she would say ‘Mum, all fine, all good, great job’.
“It could never have happened without the support of Yuriy and Anastasia. It’s very good to be part of history in Ukraine and now part of history also in Australia.”
By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 14 June 2022
