Moreover, she was named Sportswoman of the Year in 2014. She has been wheelchair-bound since 31 August, 1983, when her ex-boyfriend shot and nearly killed her. She was 18 at that time. 33 years later to the day, she jetted off to Rio for the 2016 Paralympics.

"Only God knows whether this was coincidence or fate," said our interviewee. She still vividly remembers the day when her life changed forever.

Veselka, you are a Knin native, and you were also shot by your ex-boyfriend in Knin. Please tell us what happened.
I was 18 at that time. Just like many of my peers, I had a boyfriend. We had been together for 18 months. One day, I found out that he was a kleptomaniac and that he was suspended from work because of that. He was a police officer. Of course he hid that fact from me. He would tell me every day that he was off to work, but that was a lie. When I found out the truth, it caused a rift between us. I no longer trusted him because he lied to me, but I also couldn't come to terms with the fact that he was a kleptomaniac. I was ashamed, plain and simple. There were plenty of other good reasons why I couldn't stay with him, so I decided to leave him. I explained everything to him because I wanted to part on good terms. He did not accept my decision, he insisted that we stay together. So I decided to leave Knin and continue high school in Belgrade where my relatives lived. I wanted to get away from him, I wanted to live in peace. Obviously, I didn’t tell him about my plans, but my best friend told him I was leaving for Belgrade. He was suspended from work, and they seized his weapon. So he decided to break into a weapons locker at the police station to steal a gun. He came down to the railway station and then he shot me. He shot me in the back and injured my spine. He was going to leave but he noticed that I was still alive, so he came back to finish the job. He fired five more shots at me from a distance of about 1.5 metres.

You had to fight to survive.
I had been in intensive care for eight months, and I was fighting to survive. I lost a lot of blood, my intestines were punctured. After my intestinal surgery, I was not allowed to eat for a very long time to prevent infection. I was only allowed to drink sterile water. I lost a ton of weight, and it took me a very long time to recover. When I started feeling a little better, I met this couple. They were wheelchair-bound, and they both lived and worked in Slovenia. They told me that I should try my luck at Zavod Prizma Ponikve, a social and health care institution that serves disabled persons. Three months later I received their answer: I got accepted there. I moved to Slovenia and I’ve stayed here ever since. I had been at Zavod Prizma Ponikve for 15 years, but they sent most of us into retirement because they ran out of work.

And you also met your husband there.
Yes, that’s true. We got married and I gave birth to a girl. Saša is now 19 years old. She graduated from the Secondary School for Pharmacy, and she is now studying to become a physical therapist. We’re very good friends and confidants. Well, my husband and I got divorced after 13 years of marriage. We each went our separate ways. I suppose I’m just not very lucky in the love department.

Your divorce from your husband was a defining moment in your athletic career.
I had dedicated part my life to caring for my family. After my divorce, I decided to take up sports. I felt the urge to travel and see more of the world. That is how I became involved with sports, and I loved shooting. I wanted to become good at what I did, so I trained a lot. I still train a lot. Sure, I became the world champion in the Falling Targets event in 2014. However, this discipline is not in the Paralympics. I’ve also had problems with my vision since the beginning of the year. I’ve suffered a lot in training, and my vision was blurry at best. Sometimes, I couldn’t see anything at all, and my results have suffered as a consequence. This May, I got a lens in Germany. It’s a bit better now, but it’s not the same as it used to be. But I’m a strong person, I don’t give up just like that. I know that anything is possible, you just have to work hard – be it in sports or life in general. But only God knows what will happen in Rio.

How did your last days of training go?
We’ve been getting ready for Rio for the past four years. Sure, there were other competitions in between, too. First you need to earn a quota place for the Paralympics. Once that is achieved and you’ve qualified for the Paralympics, you want even more. You want to achieve as much as possible. We’ve been training twice per day, we all train with our female coach. Now it’s off to Rio.

Vesna Pfeiffer; translated by D.V.