My life and sport are inseparable.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve played sports, dedicating more and more time to do it, until I became a professional athlete.
As a professional athlete there were several mountains to climb and uphill battles, but I enjoyed every single moment of it. Despite having my focus on professional sports, I always had the desire and curiosity to learn more and be prepared to what comes after a professional sports career. This desire and my dedication to compete in road cycling races and wanting to grow my know-how, I decided to pursue additional studies after high school, balancing the sports and academic world at the same time.
At some point, I have reached my personal mountain top as an athlete. I realised that the athlete’s “bubble” was become too small for me, and I started searching for ways how I can combine my passion for cycling with the academic knowledge I gained through my studies. The first camp on the way to a new mountain top was in the National Cycling Federation. This experience was so diverse, with many different little hills to conquer in very different ways. After several great years, I realised that I had conquered the hills that I had to at the National Cycling Federation and in order to continue the big climb, I decided to move to a different country and city.
I continued my way in Switzerland, specifically in Lausanne at the AISTS, which might be surprising to most people as I left the biggest cycling organisation in my country to grow in a more global context within the sports world. Which is only possible in Lausanne, the Olympic Capital, in my view.
With each mountain that I climb, I always surprise myself with what I am capable of and acquire new tools and experience that will help me in the next challenging climbs. The journey is always in the company with great colleagues and friends standing by my side and supporting each other. Now, I am still climbing the “AISTS” mountain, an amazing experience at multiple levels. Having the chance to engage already with international federations while studying and experiencing nice moments outside the classes, with colleagues from different cultures and backgrounds, but with the same passion for sports is unforgettable. I am sure that these friendships will support each of us in the coming climbs in the sports’ world. I am sure that I will not forget my climb at AISTS, but I am also excited to see how the next one will look like in the landscape of SPORT.
This series is coordinated by Brontë Goodwin and Anna Serova from the MAS Class of 2023.
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