Olha Saladuha: Be active every day!

A former world champion triple jumper, Saladuha produced the best form of her career following a year out in 2009 to have her daughter, Diana. And after a series of injuries, the 36-year-old is still knocking out remarkable performances on the competition circuit: in March she won her first medal since the 2014 European Championships in Zurich, taking bronze in the triple jump with a season's best of 14.47m. “Be active every day and do regular physical activity,” Saladuha says.

Formidable record

Her records are formidable, including the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London; the gold medal at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea; and European Championship golds in 2010 in Barcelona, 2012 in Helsinki and 2014 in Zurich.

Saladuha is following in the footsteps of other Ukrainian triple jumpers, like world record holder Inessa Kravets and Sydney Olympic silver medallist Olena Govorova. But she says her biggest inspiration was Ukrainian pole vault legend Sergey Bubka, who she describes as the greatest athlete of all time.

Indeed, Saladuha started out at the age of nine in Bubka’s athletics club in Donetsk, switching from sprint hurdling to triple jumping. She proved her talent early: in 1998 she leapt 13.32m to set a European under-14 best. It would be another three years before she improved on that, and she went on to finish fifth at the 2002 IAAF World Junior Championships,

At one point in 2004, after two years of injuries, Saladuha grew disillusioned with the sport and decided to retire. However, the decision was shortlived and she returned to triple jumping. She then broke 14 metres for the first time and later took silver at the World University Games.

Athletes' advocate

Today Saladuha advocates for her fellow athletes and is the chair of the Ukraine National Olympic Committee (NOC) – working closely with her childhood idol, Bubka, who is President of the Ukraine NOC. She has even dabbled in politics, running in the July 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election with the Servant of the People party.

The best thing about triple jumping, Saladuha says, is that moment of floating in the air. “I like to fly. I enjoy the sense of flying, zero gravity,” she says. But she does other sports to keep fit like running and cycling. Indeed, she is married to Ukrainian racing cyclist Denys Kostyuk, and they like to cycle together.

For people wondering about what it takes to stay fit and be active, Saladuha has some advice. “Do simple things, easy things,” she says. “Do morning exercises. Go running or cycling. Go to the gym. It doesn’t have to be difficult. But the key is to just do it. Start. Go out and do something that keeps you active.”