In addition to her six world titles, Marchuk - who was abandoned in an ill-equipped orphanage in Kyiv after being born with Holt-Oram syndrome and only one arm - has won five European titles and many other international honours.

Ranked number one in the women's under-49 kilograms K43 division, Marchuk has not lost a fight since the introduction of the standings in 2016.

In 2019, she won all seven of her events, including adding a record-setting sixth world title and fifth European title.

She also set the record for most points scored and the biggest margin of victory, thanks to a 72-2 semi-final win at the 2019 European Championships.

Marchuk became the first athlete to receive the prestigious Merited Master of Sport in Para Taekwondo.

As a world champion, she was already a recipient of the Master of Sport designation, the system's second-highest award.

The Merited Master of Sport - the system's most prestigious award - is rarely bestowed and only on international champions that have also made valuable contributions to the sport. 

Marchuk is the first athlete in any post-Soviet country to receive the prize in Para-taekwondo.

Such commendation is a far cry from the reaction of the Ukrainian authorities after she had won her first world title in Aruba after her coach, Yuliya Volkova, raised the money for her to take part just nine months after she had taken up the sport.

Two months before the Championships Marchuk, who had already required a heart operation, needed surgery on her shoulder.

But when she got to Aruba she was an unstoppable force, whispering to herself during the Opening Ceremony: "I must win, I must win…"

She did so. "I had never seen Vika looking joyful," Volkova said. "Now, at last, I did. Sport - in this case, taekwondo - truly has the power to realise dreams and to change lives."

But when they returned home they were told that it was "a random gold medal" and no financial support was offered by the Sports Ministry. In the meantime, Marchuk required more treatment for her shoulder.

Eight years on, Marchuk is in a far happier place.

News of her award was followed by a promise from her local City Government to provide her with her own apartment.

But for all her successes, victory in Tokyo is far from being guaranteed.

Marchuk will be seeded third at the Paralympic Games, where K43 and K44 athletes are competing in the same class.

To earn that career-topping gold she will need to get by Mongolia's K44 world champion Enkhtuya Khurelbaatar and Turkey's second-seeded Meryem Betul Cavdar.