Name Surname: Annija Krūmiņa

Country: Latvia

City: Talsi

Nationality: Latvian

Sector: Sport and Culture

Position: Para Bobsleigh Pilot

My name is Annija Krūmiņa. I’m 22 years young and I am from Talsi. The accident changed my life radically. It happened when I was 18 years old, and at that time it seemed that my whole life and youth is about to begin, but everything happened a little bit differently. Actually it was quite hard, but all of this has made me grow as a person and also grow up, that’s why sometimes I feel as if I am much older than I actually am, because I have gone through so much and it of course have only made me stronger.

Because of the serious injuries obtained in a car crash, Annija has to move around in a wheelchair but despite that she is a positive, purposeful, inspirational young woman full with power and enterprise! She is the newest female para-bobsleigh pilot from Latvia, succesfully participating in sport which is usually dominated by men. One of Annija's goal is to participate in the next Paralympics which will be held in Tokyo, in 2020.

My family have helped me the most, of course, they have done so much for me. Actually, there are a lot of obstacles, which maybe doesn't allow to achieve my goals immediately but in my opinion, I do not differ from ordinary people. Not each of us in life has at first achieved what he wants. There are so many obstacles that you can never count them all. Firstly, you can't overcome anything if you don't have support, and for me this support is really huge. In character, I'm quite persistent and stubborn and that probably is one of the reasons that makes me overcome these obstacles.

I would say that my best qualities are goodness, positivity and love and of course perseverance and stubbornness, because these are the things that drive me forward. One of the most striking examples here is para bobsleigh.

Of course, I had to work both physically and mentally, and I had to deal very directly with the fears that I had. I try to improve myself everyday, and everyday I also try to do something new apart from the things I'm good at. On my free time I also like to sing, another activity that fascinates me and helps me collect my thoughts and calms me down is doing handcrafts.

The greatest advice I could possibly give is to have faith, because nothing happens without faith. If you believe in yourself, if you feel confident about what you do and you are doing well. The main advice is definitely to believe yourself, because, we, women, can do great things and I prove it to myself everyday.