Last Monday, 142 girls took part in the Spartakiade race in Tyumen. I had the chance to bring up the rear in this parade of the strong and resilient.
12 hours earlier, in Canmore, Canada,… 44 athletes took part in the World Cup race. Last Sunday, however, was a little better – 62 participants, but far from the numbers in Tyumen.
Quantity is not an indicator, skeptics will say. Let’s say. So what is the indicator of where our sport is going in the right direction and where it is going in the other?
I do not want to be misunderstood, so I will express myself with caution: the average age of the leaders and winners of the current Ski World Cup is much higher than the average age of the medalists of the Spartakiad. Of those I raced with at the junior world championships, only Frida Carlsson, Lynn Swan and Kristin Skistad are visible. In the “up to 25 is all” category, the others are far behind. Compare now: Faleeva and I are 23 years old, Baranova 22 years old, Krupitskaya, Nepryaeva, Pantrina 21 years old. And the very young Pekletsova and Nikitina are already starting to follow on our heels.
Once again: in cross-country skiing, a talented skier can run well and win before the age of 35. But if the top 10 overall in the World Cup is entirely “Club Under/Over 30,” that raises questions about the future. of this sport. If there are not very young people who win at least sometimes, it is a crisis. And this crisis is definitely not ours.
Next: At this year’s World Junior Championships, the main star is an Andorran athlete. I saw Gina a little bit on the ski slope, although it was a relatively long time ago. She gives the impression of a very serious and talented girl. But… Andorra?! Sorry, but in skiing it’s not so much talent that counts, but good support – ski service, doctors, physiotherapists, training camps in the right places. The juniors from Andorra or, let’s say, Canada had a certain level of support, I think it stayed that way. But Norwegian and Swedish have clearly declined, not to mention Finnish. There is no money, young people don’t go ski racing, there are no incentives. A Norwegian talent showed himself at the Junior World Championships and he immediately declared that he would definitely not stay in cross-country skiing, but would make a career in a private cycling team. That seems to be all there is to know about the current popularity of cross-country skiing among young Norwegians.
In the West, in general, there are practically no new names in skiing or biathlon that can supplant experienced champions. With all my sincere respect for Gus Schumacher, with whom we participated in more than one junior world championship. This is a crisis, comrades!
There is another aspect. The famous Norwegian journalist Ernst Lersveen recently raised this question. In one of his latest articles he asks directly: “OK, there is a crisis of interest in a ski career among young people – but how do you ‘sell’ ski racing to the TikTok generation in principle?” Because if you don’t sell them, who will look at them in 10 years?
I have known Ernst for several years. And he made up stories about me, and now we correspond. But I’ll ask him a question here: “How do you imagine teenagers being interested in the life and successes of 32-year-old Jessie Diggins or Heidi Weng?” Or Astrid Slind, 36 years old? The Krish or Lewis Hamilton examples don’t fit: they have professional media teams targeting zoomers.
I also have an answer for Ernst: we need to change the image, make skis cool not “in general”, but cool in the understanding of my peers. Build and set up competitions, focusing on scoring techniques and approaches. Not just television, but millionaire bloggers. There is a lot here that will disappoint and anger the older generation. But not for us, we grew up with it.
And yes, soft trash talk in the spirit of “go get me” is an element of the show, as we are used to seeing it. In popular MMA, they can usually say something like “I’ll knock you out in the first minute, you won’t blow your legs out.” And in our skis the journalists are straining: “Well, Vasya, are you going to tear it with a hard blow ?!” “Of course,” Vasya says, and then everyone walks 30 kilometers to the finish line.
An athlete must want to stand out. Preferably in several ways at once. I am convinced that this is our job. Like a comedian on stage, like a clown in a circus arena.
I am most happy when I am the center of attention – for whatever reason. If only the last name wasn’t confused with an online star (trash talk!). My peers understand my desire to be true to my character, they see and understand what I do. And if you don’t like it, then there is always the possibility of expressing yourself on social networks or on the air. At least when most of the leaders in ski racing are 23 or younger, there’s a chance to take something in a modern direction. I am waiting for a video in which Zhenya Krupitskaya shows in close-up how she rubs her feet with Capsicam. And then the cancan dances from the burning sensation – this is what we call “waste and smoke” in our generation. Especially the fumes.
In the meantime, the “February skiers” are of course Nikita Manets and Dmitry Ryzhkov. What, you haven’t heard of it? Go to social networks (or elsewhere) and find a video of their race. 4 million views, that can’t lie!
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.
