Running was not the only event that caught me. I watched a wide variety of sports during the 2004 Olympic Games. I discovered the beauty of track and field, swimming races, basketball, volleyball, and other team sports. I even asked my parents to buy a small basketball hoop, which we set up outside my house so I could play.

Driven by this, I started looking for sports opportunities in my area, whether it was football clubs, swimming pools or anything similar. I asked my family for permission to start taking swimming lessons at a nearby club, they agreed. I was absolutely thrilled. I was super excited for it.

II was incredibly lucky to have an Olympic swimming pool really close to my house, which allowed me to go there almost every day. But of course, I didn’t stop playing football and other games with my friends. Whenever I was playing sports, I was daydreaming.

I still had the flash of an imaginary crowd and a whole stadium making noise in the background.

We all have that one defining moment where the world suddenly gets bigger, and you realize you want to leave your mark on it. For me that was the moment for me. One day I even looked up at the sky and I thought: “My wish actually came true”.