We have officially finished the 2022/23 season. And unofficially too – the last mass races of the season were the Russian men’s super marathon championship in Monchegorsk and the Avachinsky marathon in my native Kamchatka last Saturday.
That’s it, you won’t see us competing until the summer national championship, which is actually in September. And that’s a big problem for cross-country skiing and for us skiers.
Goldfish are said to have a three-second memory. The fans, I’m sure, are much better off with it – but not to the point of remembering us for months. The old love (and hate) is quickly forgotten, especially in my generation/age.
Can anything be done about this?
Sometimes in interviews I am asked in one way or another to compare skiers to biathletes. The comparison is necessary, but, frankly, I am much more interested in figure skaters. Because we are more or less at the same level of popularity with biathletes – in some ways they win, in some ways we win. In the first half of the winter season they took the lead thanks to the show, but I think we’ve caught up with them in recent months.
But the skaters are far ahead in all the rankings which really excites me. Their main competitions are broadcast on the two federal channels. The best skaters are much brighter stars than other winter athletes. Each of the top stars – Zagitova, Medvedeva, Shcherbakova or Valieva – has more social media followers than all biathletes and skiers combined! In my generation, the number of followers and likes is the most important indicator of success.
Did you notice that I confidently called Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva among the best stars, despite the fact that their sports careers are officially over? In my opinion, their career is at its zenith! Because in figure skating, there is something that we completely miss: official shows. I’m sure you all know this already, but I’m going to remind you anyway: the sports season for figure skaters is over, like ours – but the ice show season is in full swing. The programs of Navka, Tutberidze, Plushenko, Averbukh travel all over the country, and it’s a great idea.
On the one hand, for athletes, it is an opportunity to win. We are professional athletes, we win through the skills of our bodies, I see no reason to be shy about that. On the other hand, residents of even relatively small towns have the chance to see Olympic and world champions up close, to communicate with “stars of the television screen”. I think everyone is a winner.
Again: I am not at all a star on the level of Shcherbakova or Valieva. But she has had her share of popularity this season. It usually takes me half an hour to an hour for photos with the fans and autographs after the races. Last Saturday at the Avachinsky marathon – all one and a half. Skiers have different attitudes towards this “duty”. Please don’t judge those who get tired or just cold quickly. I consider it my duty not to leave without taking a picture with every child who was queuing in the cold.
The last sentences are written to illustrate a simple thought: there is a certain “demand”, a demand for advanced skiers. But from the middle of May we will go to training camps – and until the fall we do not have competitions or even “shows”, like figure skaters. And that, in my view, is wrong.
In Norway, the only country where skiing is as popular as in Russia (if not more, in fact), there has long been a “roller ski festival tour”. The best known are BLINK, in which I participated, and Toppidrettsveka, which I have heard a lot about. Both are wealthy, with millions in budgets and national TV coverage. There are small ski-roller events, one-day events in Oslo, in Hammar… Just so that the country does not forget its heroes, and at the same time their rivals from other national teams, who are also always invited. I will not reveal a big secret: top athletes are paid the so-called “beginners” to participate. Not very big, but there is also the interest of the personal sponsors of the sportsmen: any appearance in front of an audience, in particular on television, is a plus.
The biggest stars of Norwegian and Swedish skiing (and biathlon) face off in a different kind of competition. The Landskampen program is filmed every year for about ten days, and stars such as Johaug, Nortug, Tarjei Be, Frida Karlsson, Elvira Oeberg or Gunde Swan have taken part and are taking part in it. The result resembles the show Scandinavian Ninja, which airs in prime time in Norway and Sweden. I would like to point out in passing that participating in the filming did not prevent either Yohaug or Frida from “enduring” everyone later in the winter competition season.
I’m sure the time has come for us to make the most of it in terms of promoting the Norwegians and our national skaters in skiing. And continue to carve stars in us – better in us than in all sorts of “tributes from Milokhin”, as reliable as practice has shown.
In the meantime, I’m running my very first half-marathon next Sunday. No, not yet roller skiing, running. Popularity won’t happen by itself, will it?
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.
