“A professional should work where he is better paid.” Chronicle of Veronica Stepanova

At the first race of the Russian Ski Cup among women, the entire podium was occupied by representatives of the Arkhangelsk region. Among men, there were two out of three. And for me this is an indicator of the development of cross-country skiing. More precisely, professional ski racing.

Because the system is becoming more and more professional. Has your club become too big? Go for a bigger one, destined for bigger success.

Does anyone think Ronaldo should have played his entire career for Sporting? And Messi – for Newell’s Old Boys (I searched for him specifically, this club is not familiar to me, but now he will be)? Erling Haaland comes from the small town of Brüne – very close to Sandnes, where the BLINK ski festival takes place. This summer of 2021, all we were talking about was Haaland, who, it seems, was still playing for Borussia. Everyone was terribly proud of him, many knew him personally (or boasted, ha!) and no one complained that “Erling betrayed Norway, was flattered by a lot of money.”

Here is the opposite example: Tove Alexandersson. Is your last name familiar to you? But she seems to have already won everything in orienteering a million times. Running and skiing. But just as she played for her local club, she continues to perform and please the same local fans.

I have absolutely nothing against this wonderful sport of orienteering, but it is an amateur sport. At best, semi-professionals. There are probably 300,000 people doing it all over the world. Partly because we can’t make a living from this sport. Certainly not for the “good life on social networks”.

Why be hypocritical and make mistakes? It’s not just the grace of Alina Zagitova or the beauty of Sasha Trusova’s jumps that will lead a million new girls to figure skating. On the contrary, photos of their new cars on social networks will impress a million mothers and fathers of these girls… We, mere mortals, will never have such cars in our lives. That won’t stop you from admiring their skating. But for many, such a display of material wealth will serve as an incentive. And that’s also okay and normal – much better than dreaming of becoming a “social media trash star.”

I hope my point is clear. An athlete must be grateful to the section, club, district, region that raised him. Never forget them. But a professional should work where he is paid better. This is why he is called a “professional athlete”.

Commenting on our races the other day, the famous ski judge Vyacheslav Vedenin said with some sadness that the Arkhangelsk region offers a number of skiers “very attractive conditions.” I would like to remind you that Vedenin has also been president of the Moscow Ski Racing Federation since this year. Why, Vyacheslav Vyacheslavovich, are you not looking for sponsors to attract the best skiers under your banner? Bolshunov, Terentyeva, Korostylev, Pekletsova and even I, under contract, are paid not by the region, nor by the regional budget, but by a private ski club, the emblem of which you all see on our overalls. And the fact that the rankings are based on regions and not clubs is how the system is built. In my opinion, this is not entirely correct – people are confused, they think that we really withdrew funds from young skiers from Arkhangelsk.

For me, such a system is outdated and does not fully reflect the real situation. But she is who she is. As for the flag of St. Andrew of the Arkhangelsk region next to my surname, it is beautiful, but nevertheless unusual. I still know little about the Arkhangelsk region – apart from the Malinovka ski complex and the regional center of Velsk, I have not been anywhere. A typical professional athlete, invited primarily for his skills. But that’s not all: my contract also clearly states that we will work to increase the popularity of this sport. And I take this clause of the contract seriously.

I think my native Kamchatka should not be upset. I don’t really follow the points system, but my victories bring something to the region that has elevated me. This is called “parallel credit”. In my opinion, this is absolutely correct: they invested money and worked in me until I was about 18, and then supported me in everything. In my real life too, not much has changed – I am registered in Yelizovo and I am not going to change my residence permit (sorry, registration). And mom and dad, and sister, and even the cat Sheba are all in Yelizovo, they haven’t gone anywhere. The life of a skier is 11 months a year of training camps and competitions, but every year I come to Kamchatka and go to my old ski base to see my coaches. I have lived like this for almost five years now and I will always be part of Kamchatka and its ambassador.