Nadiya Bychkova (Nadja Bičkova), born on 24 August 1989 in Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, won her latest prestigious title at the dance world championship in China, which took place this September. Together with her dance partner, Miha Vodičar, she celebrated defending the title of world champions in the combination of ten dance categories, renowned as the most challenging discipline of sports dance. It is composed of five standard and five Latin American dances, i.e., waltz, tango, Viennese waltz, slow foxtrot, quickstep, samba, cha cha, rumba, paso doble and jive.

"You devote all your life to such victory. We had practiced for 10 years to win this. You can’t just show up and win, that is impossible. To succeed, a lot of things need to come together in the right way. The win means a lot to us. It means fulfilling a goal. The memories of this championship are special; I felt very calm, unlike last year. I enjoyed every second, every move, and every dance. Winning was just the icing on the cake," explains Nadiya, reliving her latest success.

Nadiya practices every day. Before important competitions and championships, such as the recent world championship, even twice a day. "Dancing is a way of life; it will always be a special challenge, definitely. If you compete with yourself and not against others, this always uncovers dimensions of dance that you still want to improve and perfect. But first and foremost, dancing is pleasure."

Dolores Subotić; translated by K. Z.