Irina Dishovska Kamiloska: The mountain is my second home, motherhood my greatest victory

Irina Dishovska Kamiloska is one of North Macedonia's most recognizable mountaineers: a woman who measures achievement not only by summits but by the personal balance she has forged between high-altitude ambitions and family life. A mother of two, she returned to intensive training after childbirth and has focused recent climbs inside Macedonia while rebuilding the form she had before pregnancy.

"The mountain is my second home"

Dishovska Kamiloska says that motherhood changed her life in every dimension. "My first thought was that I would have to take a more serious break from my sport. The decision is difficult but necessary. Still, this is a sport that demands big sacrifices, long absences from home during expeditions and I simply did not want to miss a single moment of my child's growth, and now already of my two children," she told the interviewer.

Her career includes high-risk achievements: she is the first Macedonian woman to reach the summit of the Matterhorn and did so without a guide — a feat she describes as an extraordinary accomplishment. She also performed a widely noticed 2020 climb at Matka Canyon, when she ascended barefoot in a red dress — a stunt she says she would not repeat now as a mother.

On the challenge of returning after childbirth she is candid: "For me personally, the hardest part was the psychological moment — leaving the child at home to go back to training. That was a struggle with myself and my thoughts. On the other hand, with the second child I accepted the decision much more easily that for my own good I need to return to training sooner." She stresses the need to listen to the body's signals: "The body always gives us signs, and it is very important to learn to understand them."

Dishovska Kamiloska is outspoken about structural problems in Macedonian sport. She points to unequal support and faulty funding schemes as barriers: "A serious body must deal with the distribution of financial resources, which are the real basis for sporting progress. Those who lacked finances most often gave up sport." She also highlights gender discrimination as an under-discussed obstacle for female athletes.

Her advice to young sportswomen is practical and concise: "Consistency. Persistence. Discipline." She frames motherhood as a reordering of priorities rather than an end to ambition, and says: "I would recommend they do not allow fear to determine their future. Motherhood does not take away dreams; it changes priorities."

Photo: press material from the event