headlines no. more countries. hundreds of police. and many other parts of the world as well. that according to opinion polls brewing for years.

to play. with public sector workers joining the march for the first time the number of activists in attendance. we talked to a double paralympic swimming champion who despite losing in a car accident managed to set a new world record. download the official. language stream quality and enjoy your favorite. t.v. it's not required to watch on t.v.

all you need is your mobile device to watch r.t. any time i did it. again and welcome to spotlight. on r.t. i'm. programmed is. russia came second in the unofficial medal count. with hundred. thirty six of them. one of those games was a young lady from moscow she chose not to quit sport after losing her best friend and her left arm in a terrible car accident came up with a world record in swimming at the beijing. four years later in london she managed

to break her own record and one another gold medal she is. taken and she's my guest in the studio. russia has come second in the medal stable at the two thousand and twelve paralympics helped by swimmer. who won a complete set of gold silver and bronze and sat in a new world record five years ago alyssa lost an arm in a traffic accident just a month later she showed up at a swimming pool. atis driven to recover she spent hours practicing to put facts and new swimming technique hard work paid off. is a double paralympics champion an ambassador of sorts to two thousand and fourteen winter olympics out of the pool she promotes paralympic sports so people with disabilities can enjoy an active life.

hello alessio welcome to the show i know you study english i know you're not good enough i know you're a perfectionist so so we speak english or russian you choose right now russian ok ok well first of all congratulations of the medal congratulations on the second record. here's my first question because after you want to. take sinbad. who called it the biggest achievement all your life time the washed over you know four years later you have won another. does this mean this mail is your biggest achievement. from there they're just different just chest like the honduran games are different from beijing. when i won gold in china i was over the moon i think that victory came as a surprise since i got sand where i was not as much emotional and physical stress

involved with i was basically recovering after the accident where i lost a good friend an unarmed person but. very different because i had to train hard and competition was very tough there was so much going on in my head so much doat so it was a lot more difficult in other words what you're saying yes it is easier to make it to the top of them to stay there exactly i've learned from experience if you compare them to london before the show you told me that you like the paralympics in beijing more why was that was that because it was your first paralympics or because of its oriental location or for some other reason that yes that was my first time and i laugh novelty and i couldn't help but marvelling

at how enormous it all was the first server to open in ceremony the far were volunteers and we had a chance to take a tour of the city that felt like a major adventure. in london it felt like i went there with a very specific goal in mind to win a medal and just to compete to do my best it's because it is or was it the mindset within the russian team or the approach you personally had or the british organizers who will fight you and your crew on the c.d.'s or places like tel bridge . well everyone expected a lot from artists i also said. at this kind of a high standard for myself so i guess there was something of an approach i has adopted for myself but let's take a closer look now at the president the success of the russian team at the paralympics here's a story from spotlights to me that are. watching they'll and the games have lately

turned into quite a painful experience for russians who expected to see more than the athletes actually delivered but the london paralympics turned out to be quite a different experience the number of medals won multiplied dramatically with each day the russian paralympians eventually set fourteen world records one thirty six schools took second place in the overall medal count and were treated like national heroes on their return to us you showed us was that i want to congratulate you once again with your amazing performance at the fourteenth paralympic games in london you really shone the highest class we've seen your will your aspirations to become champions you made the russian team one of the world leaders in her olympic sport does abled obviously it's made huge leap to achieve their london success from quite

a modest eighth place in the overall medal count four years ago this time they made their able boarded olympians feel jealous of these spanish in progress they made besides the titles won by the paralympians seem somewhat more precious as they have a bittersweet taste about them the hind their triumphs often stories of simply having to come to terms with life of overcoming fears depression and despair one of the stars of the paralympics alexia chicago has been a professional reliable player before he lost his leg in an accident ten years ago he had enough courage to staines court this term in london he clinched. with one ciggy and seen this. normally a match to human abilities which made at least some of us find even more of the true sporting spirit in the paralympics than in the quest cyclone games.

might as we'll be watching this reportedly so we started talking about how much silver and bronze medals mean. i totally understand that even to participate in the games especially in the paralympic games this means last year. there are so many women like you who suffer the terrible accident life so to stay in school to go to the paralympics out of the national team this makes you a real hero for at least as far as your are there in the border there is also another when you look at it for example i have a son who does sports and i always tell him that being first is all that matters and that he should never settle for less agreement. they. may have a point to say i disagree. with that was that the accident has changed the way. this thing. so. that you know being first is not what life is about. you have to live in the

moment shouldn't fixate on the winning. otherwise you just miss out on life. what makes you happy person is not when you achieve a real york of what it is rather the process of pursuing that. the little things you do every day. or what you feel. and what you think of this is the second time i learn from experience what it feels like to pursue you and what it feels like to get there and maybe it's just me but after i win a medal or achieve a milestone i know. kind of. just. seems. as if there is nothing good about feeling empty right to be frank sometimes even the fans get that feeling once the olympics and the paralympics are over and wake

up in the morning and you're going to need to switch on the t.v. and you don't know what to do next or it's similar to what you're talking about. you just get stomped to mean anyway you come back to moscow with a present means you. get some presents in fact quite a decent financial markets do you feel happy. overall you're a happy woman yes i'm happy absolutely. let me ask you something you sleep with let's say there is no accident that you get married and become a housewife you have a good husband and a nice house. you'd be happier than you are now. where they're going to you know you know with me you. know if. i never get back to that situation i'll live with what i have now as a t. i thought and i really appreciate what i have. participating in the paralympics

twice. a year lots that i really have a lot of. russian paralympian sometimes show even better results than the olympic athletes. do explain that the government does this mainly something's wrong with our professionals. and i was glad. i don't think if something's wrong with our present i think what our olympic athletes did well. we saw them here it was a game and i can say they trained very well. first though it's just that the olympic and paralympic games are very good but in the paralympic games are a relatively recent development of that original and it is easier to make progress

when you start something new with us compared to situations where you have already achieved so thank you and that i would agree example when i said you know world record in beijing proved over the old one by three second quarter but when i broke my own record in laundry i only managed to improve it by half a second later that i mean once you've reached a certain level of it gets harder. now for years older and yet you were able to improve with the second one child bat of course that's great what i mean is i mean it is harder for olympians to achieve good results than for paralympians that because the olympic games have been there for a while and everything we set out the crews everything all the countries all the absolutes they all participate they all prepare for it but with paralympics some people in russia hardly even know by then it's so new saying you have the president to meet with the team before the game and off to the games and i have this

perception in the kremlin with all these a words and with paralympic and getting the same bonuses as olympians we i mean we're still a to early stage and that's why we make great strides later i think we'll come to a point where things will get difficult for us but that's not to say we have a teaser as a tease of course so as i left the rugby can the rush of the paralympic gold medal winner spotlight will be back shortly after a break so stay with us. blinds . would be soon which brightened if you knew about songs from phones to

christians. who screens totty dot com. wealthy british style sign. on. the. market why not. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cons or for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report on our. course be gentle monstrance spread worldwide. by. the ninety nine percent versus the one percent with all the money. are they getting a quality into the economy. much more recession ahead can we afford not

to miss. the occupy movement more on our take. welcome back to spotlight i'm not even just a reminder that my guest on the show today is. glad they can that she's at three time medal winner at the london olympics she has the gold medal and browns. now after such a successful performance in law. and what about you and the russian team general many people including some prominent journalists rode that this was actually a real surprise and the paralympic games should even come first the regular olympics the millionaire games as they call it should be held afterwords.

yes. i mean you've been on both sides you used to be a pro athlete and now you're a paralympian i think there is a point in that. and you really get inspired when you see a disabled people kind and compilation. a lot of that you can too that. you get important work. those are words that they turn to thought why can't you. inspire us in some way that they're doing this that at. first so do you agree that what you have at the paralympic games jan you know emotions on the atmosphere out there competition do you think much of that has been lost to the regular olympic games but remember how in the past pro athletes were

not even allowed to compete. in the amateurs were but now with professional athletes and commercial advertising it's sort of being transformed into a big showbiz event during green i do but don't you think that with the paralympic games gaining popularity like you said with full stands and have to be bonuses the same thing will happen with the paralympics as well i think a twelve and in fact it is already happening is it good or bad yes there's a lot of my i think there is nothing wrong with that i think it is only natural. that we have things we need to do and we have to try this policy. or the price we pay is that we have a commercial advertisement where sport is reasonable it's common knowledge that professional sport is bad for your health i mean if we talk about the pros i have a friend who likes to say if sports were good for the health. my family will

definitely have a barrel in the house. there to show you that you can overcome your disability you can conquer your illness. but once you make it into something professional once it gets. used to. seeing that you are further damaging your body. and only this just for the sake of sponsors and revenge. that's. truly people. that are olympic games have already been through the toughest experience in their lives. and. there is no further risk for their health. so when you mention something interesting you know the paralympians compete of their own risk they're not required to have a paper from the doctor saying that they can't compete and to put it bluntly they are not going to have a heart failure in the risk is real and these people are going for it in order to

prove that they can make it right but when they want to prove this primarily to themselves and this is another thing that makes the paralympic games different from the olympics because it's good but why would you need to go to london in order to prove something to yourself. i didn't know. how things dream this go. here may have some hesitation. and you need this to boost your confidence. for the sake of self-fulfillment the need to get to prove to yourself and others that can do it. you know many people say that moscow and russia in general are not really suitable for people with disabilities and this is partially because after world war two stalin. was a country of victorious and not in balance. so the authorities did their best to

get the invalid's out and there was naturally a large number of them after work to get them out of sight because the country was recovering after the war people did not want to be reminded about the war i just wanted to put their lives back on track i think this attitude deeply one hundred in russian people for example in france you have left in the very heart of paris where a new poll installers. in russia it's very different occurrences my father who was born and raised during the stalin era he doesn't want to watch the paralympics he says is depressing when you. say to that can you understand. i know what you're talking about. and i can even tell you that used to be. i never watched the paralympics and you know none of my friends in general i would just people with disabilities that say his we tend to forget that this can happen

to anybody this can happen to us just so when our friends and i never cared about it as a member. people. you know they are into this for that and they are in every event and they support me. they are all about athletes they know about each of the office was went to sabella to their house they don't turn that way from the pool on the contrary they are now keen to know more about this sport and both the athlete to as a person chose to bow to his disability might. that paralympics on t.v. people will never get used to it they will never learn to see beyond his abilities because. it is not a disability that defines who you. just saw the video of the reception your fellow athletes had in the crowd. there are different ways people come to

paralympics of course some are like new they were professional athletes and then they had an accident or something and then continue as paralympians. others were born with disabilities or they take up sports as a part of their recovery program after an accident and they turn out to be good at it. since relations is more common. i don't know. and i really don't think it matters that much. was it a difficult decision for you to stay in support after your accident or was it a natural thing to do how did you make that decision and. it was not a difficult decision to make especially after my first coach called me at the house patel in bangkok. and then i talked to mom about it let's just have this realisation that i need to go on with swimming let's just have a try but i didn't think about it causing much of the paralympic. anything of

a sore to think about i just knew i had to go to the pool i had to swim and all of these other things they came into the room so you stayed with the same coach when i stood with the same coach i had for the two years prior to the accident. did you train together with others in the same pool worse separately. the same with the same guy who used to train with us. and factoids that all the paralympics but paralympics boards are quite special swimming perhaps is not that different. so are there special coaches special training programs special facilities or for maryland patients what it's really. special. here is special equipment and training facilities and special game. we have everything you look at by the way i was watching the paralympic track and

field events the other day right with athletes in wheelchairs and i thought to myself that actually this is no longer a track and field because they're not actually running this is more like cycling we have paralympic cycling is. here i remember the first time i was impressed by paralympians i worked in a long time. three mountain climbers in wheelchairs we went to westminster abbey and i asked them how they managed to climb mountains in wheelchairs. they said climbing wasn't hard at all climbing down was the difficult part. so they said we're going to show you how we do it we were standing on the top of a stairway of about forty steps and it was pretty steep and they were right down the stairway new cars who were it was almost as if they slid down the slope with all the journalists there they said we didn't get any pictures of that what we can

you show it again it was amazing so you're right it's different so would you say we're going to vision is higher with paralympians as compared to regular athletes. i think. this is part of the reason why the paralympic train was so good both in the winter and summer games. because this is something unbelievable. she was when you plan to do after you retire from competitive sports. probably works for some and something related. or a thought that may be something on television in other words you haven't seriously considered yet or bonaire i think. you're probably just too these are getting prepared for the next paralympics suggest that there is a male intentionally not getting prepared for its cames because i just got back

from this games a couple of days ago and right now i want to focus on the primera teen paralympic movement as much as possible. so also it is very important to prepare everything for the paralympic games in sochi we have less than two years left it will soon be five hundred days before the opening i would still need to do a lot of threats i think russia can and should host the best games in the history of the paralympics and i would love to participate in this work porchester there was a pariah you are an ambassador of the subject game so i wish you the best of luck will soon so she had two years thank you thank you for being with us learn what you learn your english and when you come back start will speak english i did know how to write thank you just a reminder that was ideas that were big in the russian paralympic that that without the ball spotlight would be the word they are called to take.