Olympic cross-country skiing champion Veronika Stepanova in a column on , she expressed the opinion that in the context of the withdrawal of the Russian national team from international competitions, members of the national team should spend more time with young athletes. According to Stepanova, open trainings and seminars can become unifying events.
Russian athletes can no longer participate in tournaments under the auspices of the International Ski Federation (FIS) due to suspension. On Friday, October 7, it became known that the FIS had withheld quotas for athletes from the Russian Federation to participate in the Cross-Country World Cup in the 2022/23 season.
– I must honestly say that those in the West who came up with the idea of removing Russian athletes from competitions are far from stupid and know what they are doing. They have two goals: first, to ensure that there is as little positive as possible about Russia and Russians in their own media. In all senses, in all contexts. They have decided that we are enemies and they want their own population to believe it. And about the enemies you can either hurt or nothing. And that includes sports. At the same time, we Russian athletes cannot do anything. It doesn’t matter how many Norwegian fans write to me “we are waiting for you back on the ski slope”. Don’t write to me – write to your politicians, they decided everything for the athletes!
But there is a second reason why they want to “cancel” all Russian sports. So that the Russians themselves have as few grounds for pride and positive emotions as possible. As you understand, I do not agree with this at all, and together with much more experienced athletes, officials, businessmen, I am looking for an answer to the question: “That in exchange for victories in Olympic Games?”
Of course, I don’t have ready-made solutions, but I do have ideas.
One is that we national team athletes should spend more time with young skiers. Open training sessions, seminars on specific subjects… it must not be spontaneous and not at the last moment. Last week in Kemerovo, I had to refuse such an invitation (which I sincerely regret!) – it appeared when all the plans for the trip had already been made. If I had accepted in advance, I would definitely come!
I think sponsors, manufacturers or sellers of certain sports-related services could fit in there. In the end, their business also needs teenagers to choose sports, and not beer in classes, they blew, – wrote Stepanova.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
