The event of the year in winter sports is the wedding of Anastasia Goreeva and Karim Khalili. They discussed the beauty, youth and sporting successes of the newlyweds. But they also discussed the cost of their wedding. Since Nastya herself decided to raise this topic publicly, I will also participate in it.
I work with both Khalilis in the same organization. Yes, yes, dear colleagues, we work under contract at the Sports Training Center of the Russian National Teams. Since we work “in neighboring departments”, but at a single rate, I can tell you with absolute certainty: you cannot organize such a wedding with a salary at the central service center! And that’s exactly right: the state pays a reasonable amount so that an athlete can eat, drink and rent a modest apartment. And for everything else, go ahead and win cash prizes. Those who can.
Biathletes have every chance of saving for the wedding of their dreams! Please note, I will now count my own income and that of others. For those who are impressionable and nervous, as well as convinced that money is something indecent, I suggest turning off the screens of their smartphones and laptops.
And my calculations, very approximate, are as follows. Theoretically, a Russian biathlete can earn more than 10 million rubles in the upcoming season just from the announced prize money. The “declared” are those who carry the winning signs and stand modestly on the podium after the race. Or immodestly – it depends on the number on the sign. In the coming season, biathletes will have not a wide choice, but a very wide choice of what to race and where to make money. Fingers crossed: the Russian Cup, the Commonwealth Cup, the national championship and the Spartakiad 2025, which is not a Spartakiad in name, but is very similar in status. For any stage of the Commonwealth Cup, a biathlete can earn more than a skier if he wins all individual races of the Russian Championship! Despite the fact that there are six stages of the Commonwealth Cup (including summer), the championship is one of them.
Last on this list of biathlon triumphs is a new tournament, the MLKB Cup. Last in age – and first in prize money. A million rubles for a victory is the level of the World Cup minus taxes! If anyone wants to think that the arrival of the strongest biathletes from Russia and Belarus in Khanty-Mansiysk in November is an accident, let them think so. And I guess when the girls saw last year that the first competition had gone off with a bang and the winners (Mr. and Mrs. Khalili, by the way) had actually won a million each, then everyone world couldn’t wait to come in 2024. . Do you judge? I don’t know. I’m jealous.
Because in our ski racing, everything is much more modest. In the coming season, if a skier wins literally all starts: all races of the Cup and the Russian Championship, the final of the Cup of Russia in Kirovsk (thanks to the efforts of a major sponsor, it looks more in addition to separate competitions, the Russian Ski Tour), he will then receive a little more than five million rubles, according to my calculations. We don’t have a Spartakiad this season, nor a Commonwealth Cup. And we can only dream of the MLKB Cup.
Do not be surprised that all the best skiers will definitely come to the Legkov Race, which will be held in a new location in 2025. We all really like the show that Alexander and his team prepare every year. It’s a big event, the best opportunity to meet sponsors, and for some, to wear an evening dress. But everyone loves Legkov’s prize races just as much: in one morning you can win as much as in six or seven Russian Cup races.
I absolutely do not understand or accept why a professional athlete should be modest and embarrassed when talking about money. Like any professional, no matter what they do. Our word of the year is “contract”. Of all the posters and TV commercials. “You can be a smart person and think about how beautiful your nails are.” Let me rephrase: you can be a patriot of your country, your city and your profession – and strive to make lots of money.
Especially when the vast majority of my winnings come from prize money. And the prize money comes from sponsors and private companies. “Why argue in vain with the century? What should I be ashamed of?
On the contrary, I am convinced that the younger generation clearly sees the benefits of this or that activity in life, thanks to social networks. And he takes this into account when choosing his life path. Today they see that biathletes can earn money for a “fancy wedding” in one day. Or they will notice that I could have, but I decided not to organize big celebrations and invest my prize money in better pregnancy management in our country. Just as they will notice that in other sports, “collectors” work as couriers after training.
If after that the young athlete still decides to take up a modest and no-money sport, then honor and congratulate her, people with the mentality of amateur athletes are also needed and are wonderful in their own way. But for some reason it seems to me that at this moment a 15-year-old speed skater, who has just finished her first category, is watching biathletes running magnificently on the federal TV channel, and on the second screen, she looks at their weddings, exotic vacations and other photos of a beautiful life. And he asks himself: shouldn’t I turn to biathlon before it’s too late? I probably would have done that.
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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.
