The swimmer swam her second event earlier this morning, hitting a 1.05.98s in the 50m backstroke S5 class heats event, recording one of her fastest times she has swum in this event whilst falling shy of her own personal best recorded earlier this season.

Vladyslava Kravchenko is officially Malta’s first ever two-time female Paralympian in para swimming, representing Malta in two consecutive Paralympic Games in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

The athlete is the current Chairperson of Malta Paralympic Athletes’ Council and the first female swimmer to represent Malta at the Paralympic Games since 1980. 

She represented the island at Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games in 2016 and was chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. In 2013 Vladyslava was named Malta’s para-athlete of the year and in 2017 she was awarded the Queen’s Young Leaders Award in recognition of her work to promote disability sports.

Malta is officially the smallest nation participating in the games.