Introduction

Vladyslava Kravchenko, a two-time Paralympian and distinguished advocate for Para sports, made history in 2016 by becoming Malta's first female swimmer and the first female athlete since 1980 to represent the country at the Paralympic Games. This achievement was repeated at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. In 2015, Vladyslava was chosen for the European Paralympic Committee’s Youth Ambassadors program, where she actively raised awareness about the Paralympic movement in Europe, visiting schools and promoting the benefits of Para sports on various local and international platforms.

As a member of a Steering Committee appointed by the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Malta, Vladyslava played a pivotal role in establishing the first formal legal structure for the Malta Paralympic Committee and Athletes’ Council. Her leadership, initially as the Chair of the Athletes’ Council and currently as the Treasurer of the Committee, facilitated the implementation of I’mPOSSIBLE in Malta—an official educational program of the Paralympic movement—reaching over 1,500 students. She contributed as a co-author to the National Para Sport Strategy and collaborated with the University of Malta on integrating Para sports into local coach education and development.

Professionally, Vladyslava is a certified public accountant with a decade of experience in one of the Big Four professional services networks. In 2022, she graduated with distinction as a Master of Sport Management, Politics, and International Development from Loughborough University, supported by the Malta Sports Scholarship. Currently, she works as a consultant with Loughborough University, focusing on developing a Paralympic performance basics framework for UK Sport. Vladyslava's remarkable contributions have earned her prestigious awards, including the Queen’s Young Leader Award in 2017 and recognition for Emerging Leadership on International Women’s Day Award 2023 by the International Paralympic Committee.