Olympic Pistol athlete Elena Galiabovitch has been named as one of 14 Victoria Institute of Sport (VIS) athletes to win 2XU Coach Awards. The awards were announced as part of the 2020 Victorian Institute of Sport Awards presented last night.
The 2XU Coach Awards were presented to an athlete in each VIS sport program who is the most deserving within this calendar year.
This year was also the first time that athletes from the Individual Scholarship Program and the Future Talent Program received a Coach Awards.
“Elena is living the VIS’ motto of “Success in Sport and Life,” said VIS Nicky Frey, Shooting Program Manager.
“She has managed to juggle night shifts as a doctor with training and staying in touch with the performance support team. She is highly self-aware and when she has her mind set on something, she will do It.
“2020 was always going to be a challenging year for Elena. A second Olympics and a chance to be competitive amongst the world’s best was one thing, delaying her medical ambitions to enter a surgical program another,” added Frey.
“Already committing to six months away from her medical career, the postponement of Tokyo threw up another huge hurdle of blowing out that professional hiatus to 18 months.
“With a couple of weeks to process what this meant, Elena embarked on ways to continue training for Tokyo while taking on work that would not only provide income, but keep her learning and progressing in her professional capacity.
“2020 therefore had become a year to continue training and technical development, physical and mental skills training while taking on night duty locums including COVID isolation wards, working in the telehealth area in urology clinics and embarking on a Masters of Surgery.
“Elena has successfully gained a place on a surgical program next year after performing well through the interview process. She has deferred entry until post Tokyo,” said Frey.
Galiabovitch said; “I would like to thank my family, my parents and all of the support staff at the Victorian Institute of Sport. Everyone around me has been really supporting and encouraging and has helped me get to where I want to be especially during this challenging time.
“There is a real feeling of community at the VIS, which I’m really grateful for. Also thank you to 2XU for sponsoring this award.”
Further information; Greg Campbell, PRISM Strategic Communications, Ph: 0418 239 139.
