Elena - You have to dare to pursue your goals

You have to dare to pursue your goals!

My name is Elena Kratter, I am 25 years old and come from Switzerland. My identical twin sister and I were born prematurely and my cardiovascular system was too weak. Therefore I was amputated shortly after birth and thus grew up with prosthesis. I was fitted with a lower leg prosthesis until I was 19 and then changed to knee-ex because of my rather short residual limb. I am a prosthetist myself but most of my time is dedicated to sports. For eight years I was in the Swiss Paralympic Ski Team and on the slopes of this world. I then stopped skiing due to a knee injury at the 2019 World Championships. So I then slipped into athletics in the spring of 2019. And after the first competition it grabbed me, I pursued it more intensively and got better and better. Now I was able to win the bronze medal in the long jump at the Paralympics in Tokyo.

I came to winter sports in a very classic way. In Switzerland, you ski with your family, so I was on skis from an early age. At some point, my three siblings started skiing around my ears. My parents then enrolled me in a special sports group. There, physiotherapists taught me how to ski better. I just enjoyed it so much that I got stuck in, did my first little competitions and at some point it became more and more. In the beginning I skied with a prosthesis, but when I changed to knee-ex, I couldn't ski with a lower leg prosthesis anymore and then I changed from two-legged to one-legged skiing.

If not now, when?!

After the accident I knew that I could not continue skiing. But it was always important for me to have a goal to work towards. For the rehab and also the build-up afterwards, I needed a new goal and a challenge for myself. I had been in the Running Clinic with Heinrich Popow for years and - I think for 9 years - I just always ran that one weekend. I had also gotten a sports prosthesis for the last years from skiing already for the summer training. I used it a lot for myself during this rehab time and just went running - also to clear my head. And that was so much fun and I always had it in the back of my mind that Heinrich always told me that I had to get into athletics. And then I just thought to myself, "Okay, if not now, when?".

I then asked the Swiss coach if I could have a look at the training. In training and he then told me, "So, there's a competition in two weeks, I'll just sign you up there." Then I started for the first time over the 100 meters from the starting block and everything was completely new to me. I ran a B-limit for the World Championships right away. That gave me a bit of a push and I realized that there was still something I could do. I need something where I have to fight my way to the front, and that was just fun.

I know what I want and how to get it

I am part of the top sport recruit school, which is the top sport promotion of the Swiss army. This is now the first recruit school in which disabled sports are included. My colleague, who is in a wheelchair and rides a handbike, and I are the pilot project with athletics. We're the guinea pigs, so to speak, to see if it all works out, but it's a lot of fun, it's really cool. You spend four months at the base and the first three weeks are purely military training. After that, you can focus completely on training. The good thing about it is that in the military you get paid time off and the training days are military time, so you get a little bit of pay for your sport. Then from April I'll be working again as an orthopedic technician.

Besides all the sports and work, I'm currently doing the Matura school for adults. This is part-time self-study: attendance twice a week and the rest self-study. That's the goal right now, that's now 1.5 more years and then I want to study something in the direction of biomechanics. The day often has too few hours for all that, but I know what I like to do and I know what my goal is, and that's the only way.

You have to dare to fight

I used to be a bit shy and reserved and let myself be intimidated by outside opinions. I would advise everyone - including all recent amputees - to dare to pursue their goals and realize their dreams. You should not be told what is possible and what is not, just because someone has had other experiences. You have to see for yourself what is possible and what you can and want to achieve. Only you know what works and what doesn't, so you shouldn't let yourself be limited by outside influences.

My next big goal would have been the World Championships in the fall, but that has been postponed or canceled - it's still up in the air. My goal there would be to defend my bronze medal or even improve on it. Otherwise, of course, the preparation for Paris 2024 and then to stand on the podium in the 100m. It is always important to believe in your own dreams and goals and to go your own way. To try things that might seem too difficult or too far away at first. That you dare to dare things and to fight. I personally wish to stay healthy, that everything goes as I planned it without major incidents and that I can and may continue to practice my passion. And just to be happy!

You can find out more about Elena on her Instagram channel @elenakratter.