Cancer of athlete

This photo was taken by Peter Holgersson. He is a swede photographer. The image shows the athlete Nadja Casadei. She participated in both World and European Championships in athletics, before being diagnosed with lymphatic cancer, in the summer of 2013. For this reason, the photo was taken in this time with a camera Canon EOS-1D X. Casadei was determined to continue her athletic career, and kept up a training regime throughout her treatment.

The heptathlon is hard competition because the event that includes hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put, javelin and both 200m and 800m running. The athlete kept up her regime and her spirits during her period of chemotherapy and declared her intention to try for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. She is a strong woman.

This photo won the 1^st prize in the category “Sports” in the most important competition of photo journalism, Word Press Photo. The photographer wanted to represent the process of disease.

I like the image because Holgerson uses black and white colors. These tones are special in the photo. Nadja Casadei looks with pain to one side, but it seems very interesting. She wants to say something. But, in my opinion it’s not bad. You can empathize with the athlete and feel comfortable. The photographer can show the sensitive side of the great sports figures.