Ended her career and worked at "Żabka". The story of a Belarusian archer who won all gold medals at the Polish Championship

Belarusian archer Karyna Kazlouskaya became the first athlete in Polish history to win seven out of seven gold medals at the national championship. The news photos show a smiling girl in a bucket hat, laden with medals. Before this resounding victory, Karyna secretly left Belarus, almost ended her sports career, experienced depression, a lawsuit against her coach, and almost two years without training.

Karyna is 26, and she comes from Minsk. She has been involved in archery since she was 12, an international master of sports. In 2019, she won gold at the European Grand Prix. In 2021, she represented Belarus at the Tokyo Olympic Games, where the national team took fourth place. Kazlouskaya signed a letter from athletes against violence. In 2022, she moved from Belarus to Poland. She now trains at a club in the city of Żywiec in southern Poland and competes as a Polish athlete.

Standing up for each other

"When I was shooting, there was a strong thunderstorm, a downpour started. And I heard the whole team standing behind me under umbrellas, all worried, cheering. It was great," Karyna says about the atmosphere at the last competition.

The Polish Archery Championship took place this year in early September in Bialystok. Karyna Kazlouskaya represented the Polish club "Łucznik-Żywiec" and won in all disciplines. This included shooting at distances of 70, 60, 50, and 30 meters (the so-called "small medals," which do not grant the title of Polish champion), as well as shooting in the women's team, mixed team, and individual classification of her age category (these are the three most important medals). Some gold medals were individual, and some were team-based. Another guy from Karyna's club, Mateusz Mędrzak, also took all three "big" gold medals.

"I prepared for this for a very long time. The national team coach, Serhiy Vasilevich Antonov from Ukraine, helped me a lot with preparation and technique. It was also about how I prepared myself, how I worked with specialists in sports psychology," Karyna shares on how she managed to take all the gold.

Such a clear victory was not obvious for the girl, although before this, she had also won the Polish Cup final. At the end of the championship, there was a tough fight for victory among the participants.

"Archery is a sport where you can lose in the first duel — in the 1/16 or 1/32 — and the competition ends there. Sometimes, the weakest opponent gathers themselves and starts shooting better than you. It's unknown how it will go, how we will manage to gather with the girls to shoot well. We had a strong team. But sometimes, one person doesn't gather themselves — and that's it," explains the interlocutor about the nuances of the sport.

The archer notes that it is very important how teammates support each other. She was lucky with good teams both in Belarus and in Poland.

"A group of people went with us who stood up for each other. If someone didn't succeed, the whole team would come and everyone would support them. It was like not an individual sport, but a team sport, like volleyball or basketball," the interlocutor says about the last championship.

At the end of the championship, the traditional "chicken shoot" takes place, the archer continues. All championship winners are allowed to shoot at a picture of a rooster. During this time, they can exchange bows, have fun, and laugh. And it looks more like entertainment than a competition.

Two years without training

Karyna had been preparing for competitions for the last year, but the previous two years were practically out of her sports life. She had even ended her sports career in 2023. However, last year, the girl decided to compete in another Polish championship — indoor archery — and unexpectedly won gold. After that, she returned to active sports.

"At that time, there was a difficult situation related to the club, to the fact that I didn't want to shoot a bow, to train. It wasn't working for me," the interlocutor recalls.

Павялічыць

In 2022, Karyna had a conflict with Jan Lach, the chairman of the "Łucznik" club, where she still trains. The Belarusian calls it a divergence of interests. She says it was difficult for her to shoot because the chairman was usually dissatisfied with the results. He also emphasized Karyna's non-Polish origin, as well as that of other foreign club members. Later, when Kazlouskaya got a sports sponsor, the chairman wanted to charge her higher fees for training at the club than others.

Kazlouskaya then took sick leave and did not return to training on time. She had to get permission from the hospital to continue sports activities, but for this, she needed a letter from the coach, who did not want to provide it, Karyna says. When she finally decided to quit the club, the coach fired her for disciplinary violations, not by mutual agreement. Jan Lach previously said in a comment to "Tribuna" that he fired Kazlouskaya on disciplinary grounds because she did not report to work on time.

"He fired me for absences that actually didn't happen," comments the interlocutor.

Kazlouskaya appealed to the court to challenge the grounds for her dismissal and to reclassify the article. The court considered the case for about a year and eventually sided with her.

Karyna shares a memory that she experienced strong stress during emigration in general, although she hoped that adaptation would be easier. When she decided to end her career, she felt weak, spent a lot of time in bed, and didn't engage in physical activity. It was hard to get out of it. She says that her boyfriend, also an archer who trains children at their club, supported her greatly.

"Everything had to be done very gradually. I went for walks. Today I'll walk 5 kilometers, then more. I played a lot with my dog. Then I went to a regular job. This helped me 'reboot.' You need to talk to yourself at such moments – that everything will be fine," Karyna says.

Last year's championship victory was a step for Kazlouskaya towards returning to sports. She didn't set high bars for herself immediately and prepared for diligent work. And a year later, she showed results that Polish athletes had not yet achieved.

"There was such enthusiasm that I can do it, that I'm returning to how I used to shoot. It's self-confidence. Until now, I had difficult years when good results were rare in competitions. After a long break, I was able to feel the victory, to feel that I did well, that I succeeded, that I did a great job," she admits.

Sports family

Karyna believes that she has a natural talent for shooting. When she started in the sport, her results quickly improved. She considers the work of her coach, who noticed her talent, to be important. In addition, she believes that the level of training in this sport in Belarus is slightly higher than in Poland. At 16, Karyna became a master of sports in shooting, and at 19, an international master of sports.

"I didn't reach the title of Honored Master, but that's okay," the athlete smiles.

Karyna recalls that she got into archery almost by chance. Since childhood, her mother took her to various sports clubs: gymnastics, swimming, taekwondo. There were many athletes in their family: her grandfather was involved in athletics, her great-grandmother ran, her great-grandfather played football, her mother played handball and volleyball.

"My grandfather believed that I had great talent in sports and character, and that I needed to use it, that I needed to be put into some sport that I would like — and '100%, she'll succeed'," the girl recalls.

But little Karyna didn't like anything; she didn't stay anywhere for long. Eventually, her mother told the girl to find some activity for herself. So Karyna decided to go to a training session with a classmate who was involved in shooting.

"Can I try shooting? Because it sounds cool," she recalls the beginning of her lessons. — My coach was a very strict, serious woman; children were afraid of her. I remember the first competitions: somehow it wasn't going well for me. It wasn't like I picked up the bow and immediately hit tens. Very gradually. I shot and shot and thought: interesting, I need to stay."

Now, archery helps the girl in other areas of life too. This sport teaches her to concentrate, to disconnect from the surrounding world. This helps Karyna in her studies. Training also develops her endurance; she feels better after them.

"I want to fight for this country"

Karyna will now study for a master's degree in "management" in the city of Bielsko-Biała. This is 20 kilometers from the town of Żywiec, where the girl lives and trains. She has several days a week free from studies. Then the archer has two training sessions in shooting and additionally goes to the pool or gym. In her free time, she likes to go hiking in the mountains with her family, as they are nearby. She says she loves collecting Lego sets, but there is no longer room for them on the shelves.

Before this, Karyna completed her university degree in Poland in "English Philology," specializing in translation into Polish, although when she moved to Poland, she only knew "hello," "goodbye," and "how are you?" in Polish. In her homeland, she studied at a construction and architectural college but did not manage to finish the university of physical culture.

Павялічыць

Karyna notes that earning a living from archery in Poland is difficult. Members of the Polish national team do not have fixed payments. Their club, where they train, might pay them a salary. They can earn money as coaches. Many athletes are employed in other jobs and travel to competitions during their vacation.

This year at the Polish Championship, Kazlouskaya received about 1100 euros for her victories. But 10% of this amount had to be paid in taxes. For the Polish Cup final, the athlete received about 550 euros, from which taxes were also deducted.

Initially, Karyna's club paid her a salary. It also covered her rented apartment. However, after the conflict with the coach, she no longer receives either a salary or money for rent. To support herself, Karyna previously worked as a barista in cafes, in a restaurant, and in the "Żabka" chain of small convenience stores/cafes.

After last year's championship victory, Kazlouskaya was offered cooperation by a large Polish company, Inpost, which deals with parcel deliveries. Karyna says she cannot disclose the details of this cooperation. But thanks to it, the girl has enough money to live on and can focus more on sports. During our conversation, she is wearing a t-shirt with the company's logo.

Павялічыць

Karyna plans her future in Poland. She would like to move to a larger Polish city. She says she likes this country; for her, it is a second home. She has already received Polish citizenship. Karyna knew since childhood that she was half Polish because some of her ancestors were Poles. Now she considers herself more of a Polish athlete.

"I understand that the road to Belarus has long been closed to me. I really like it here (in Poland. — RS). I understand that this is my place in the world. I want to try to fight for this country, both in international and Polish competitions. On my mother's side, all my relatives were Poles, except for my grandmother. So I believe that the family simply returned to its place," Karyna says about their emigration.

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