The Breakdancer Who Woke Up Paralysed, Competed 7 Months Pregnant and Still Made It to the Olympics

What the Health

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Wednesday, 22 April 2026 - 55 minutes

Some stories are so extraordinary you have to hear them twice to believe them. This is one of those stories.Anna Ponomarenko, known in the breaking world as B-Girl Stefani, is a Ukrainian Olympic breakdancer who in 2017 woke up in a hotel room in Turkey completely unable to move. Paralysed from the neck down, she was told surgery was her only option. The catch? She would never dance again. She refused. What followed is one of the most remarkable stories of resilience, physical courage and sheer refusal to accept the impossible that you will ever hear.This week on What the Health?! with Claira Hermet, Anna joins us to talk through every chapter of a journey that has taken in paralysis and recovery, competing at four months pregnant, returning to training just four days after giving birth, flying to Japan to compete two months after labour, and representing war-torn Ukraine on the world stage while her family remain in Kharkiv. She opens up about what it means to carry the weight of a nation while competing, how she looks after her mental health under unimaginable pressure, and what she's learned about her body after putting it through things most people couldn't even imagine.She also just won the Red Bull BC One Cypher UK for the third time and will be representing the UK at the World Final in Toronto in November. https://www.instagram.com/missclairahermet/https://www.instagram.com/bgirlstefani/

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