The sportsman told the periodical “Україна молода” (Young Ukraine) about how he got noticed by his coach, how while being a student he was allowed to perform at the legendary actor’s festival, and how his further career developed.
28- year-old Dmytro Zaiets, who was born in Shyshaky district, has been on military service at the parachute regiment of the French Foreign Legion since 2016. Because of the pandemics, his division is dislocated to Corsica in the Mediterranean sea. Dmytro shared details of his way to the sport victories and changes in life with the journalists online.
The national American competition held for 30 years by actor, bodybuilder and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger included around 60 kinds of sports. Approximately 22 thousand participants from all around the world came to Columbus City (Ohio, US). The competition lasted for several days (March 5-8, 2020), was spectacular and worth all the challenges the winner had gone through, as he said.
“I hadn’t done kettlebell lifting for six years, and I missed that a lot. I missed going up to the platform for weight-lifting, getting the adrenaline rush during the contest. Everyone who has ever held kettlebells in their hands knows that it’s not so easy to do it. But it is so exciting!” the sportsman said.
Dmytro Zaiets won over all of his competitors in weight category of up to 95 kg and became the all-round champion of the competition.
“I started doing kettle lifting in the ninth grade, and it was Anatolii Ihnatiev, coach of Shyshaky Children and Youth Sports School, who promoted the love for kettlebells to me. In tenth grade I won at the Poltava Region Championship in Kettlebell Lifting among adults. When I entered the Faculty of Construction of National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” I dropped kettlebell lifting and participated in athletics competitions instead, particularly in shot put. As of that moment, I had already fulfilled the qualification in kettlebell lifting for becoming a Candidate Master of Sports. Eventually, I was noticed by the university coach, a weight-lifter in the past, Pavlo Mandria, and he invited me to his workout sessions,” Dmytro Zaiets said.
According to the sportsmen, the way to the victory was not simple. In 2010, the young man entered the top ten kettlebell lifters of the Championship of Ukraine, performed with the university kettle lifting team at regional and all-Ukrainian levels. In 2011, he became a Master of Sports, ranking second among juveniles at the World Championship.
“2013 was a year especially reach in awards, I won about 20 medals at the Championships of Ukraine and the World Cup in Latvian Ventspils. According to the rating, I became one of the best sportsmen of Ukraine, and my coach Pavlo Mandria got one of the best coaches of non-Olympic sports. Then there were performances at the Europe Championship in Saint-Petersburg, World Championship in German Hamburg, where I confirmed the title of Master of Sports. I set the new record of Ukraine - 72 lifts of two kettlebells 32 kg each, which remained unbroken for five or six years. My personal record among students - 71 lifts of kettlebells in the weight category of 78 kg - is still unbroken now,” said Dmytro.
After receiving Master’s degree at Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic, Dmytro Zaiets stopped participating in kettlebell lifting; he worked at Poltava Regional State Administration, then at an Italian construction company, which constructed bridges on the Kyiv-Kharkiv highway. Then he decided to become a soldier of the French Foreign Legion.
Dmytro passed the strict selection process, the candidates are chosen depending on such criteria as great physical fit, sport skills, intellectual tests. It is very prestigious to be a legion member in France, where, beside Ukrainians, the representatives of 150 nationalities are on duty.
“To always be ready for action, we have everyday workouts, considerable exercise load. But I am a very active person, so when I have free time I like swimming, hiking or lifting kettlebells. As I am a military soldier, I cannot do the sports I would like to do. I had dreamed to tape part in the Arnold Sports Festival for a very long time. Back in 2013 at the Championship of Ukraine in Donetsk I obtained the right to go there, but due to the reasons that I couldn’t influence it was impossible then to go and make my dream come true. This year, I had a vacation on the dates when the festival was held. So, having the support of the regiment senior officer, I started preparing for the festival. I had 2.5 months for preparation, so I got back to fit quickly. After visiting my relatives in Ukraine, I flew to the USA,” the sportsman added.
According to Dmytro, kettlebell lifting is a kind of challenge for durability and psychological endurance, which you have to pass. The military life is not monotonous, it is active, they always discover something new for themselves being in different place on the Earth with peace-making missions.
As to the question of whether her was going to come back to Ukraine, the sportsman answered, “France is a very developed country, which cares for its citizens and the working foreigners. But my heart will forever be in Ukraine.”
Congratulations to the graduate from the team of National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”! We are proud of him and wish him further success!
Source of the interview: https://umoloda.kyiv.ua/number/3582/118/145335/.
