“Let the media footballers play half-time with the skiers, then get on the roller skis. And all this is happening in the Kyrgyz Republic! Chronicle of Veronika Stepanova

The match of the Russian Cup in the drydock was impressive. I offer an option: let the media players play in the Arkhangelsk region against a team of skiers!

Olympic champion in cross-country skiing Veronika Stepanova in her column on assesses the central events of early autumn: she talks about the match of the Russian Football Cup in Belokamenka, the strange criteria for the admission of swimmers and the importance of going private. financing of Russian skiing.

For me, the event of the sports week is the Belokamenka match. That of the football field deployed in dry dock. With a view of the polar bay and the stern shipbuilders as spectators. Yes, you know it yourself, you have seen what I am talking about! And that’s what impresses me what they saw. Nowadays, everyone is so fed up with various sporting events that you really have to invent something original to stand out. Here, RFU, and Novatek produced the show, and 2Drots and Dynamo Kirov played the lead roles. The original image, interesting football, and the general public saw in detail how powerful the construction sites are. Where does the money for the country’s budget come from? A million people watched.

I think my idea of ​​having ski races in the desert (in the “fridge” where people learn to ski) is somewhere nearby, in the same sphere. But I have more relevant and better ones.

To be honest, I don’t care if 2Drots won or lost, I don’t really follow their tournament success. But since we won, I am in favor of us playing Kononovskaya (Arkhangelsk region) in the next round of the Cup. There are beautiful places, good weather and – by pure coincidence of course – the national summer ski championship will take place in mid-September. I offer this option: in the first half the media plays against the team of skiers with a ball on the field, and in the second we are all standing on roller skis. Kononovskaya’s slides are such that directors will purr with delight at the image. I think this is our only chance to get on federal television.

The only good thing is that two-thirds of swimmers want us back on the world stage.

…World Aquatics has raised the level of stupidity in terms of admitting Russian athletes to their championships. To the IOC’s already impossible criteria, they added a total ban on communicating with the press during competitions and “no more than one athlete in each discipline”. The meaning of the latter is not at all clear. As well as a ban on any team performance. I imagine how International Swimming Federation officials sit and argue, “Well, one Russian in a neutral white suit ‘in the picture’ is always fine, but two or more is just awful and contrary to all our principles!

When you are invited to a party, but you are the only one to come with a mask, gloves, and in addition not to speak to anyone, it is a mockery, not an invitation. There is certainly a fundamental difference between a private party and an international organization where all are equal. But they are equal only in theory, alas.

The only thing that impressed me positively about the World Aquatics post was that they conducted a survey of the athletes themselves and two-thirds were in favor of our return. The athletes’ opinion means nothing in a practical sense – the actors don’t decide how to move and what dialogue to deliver, that’s the director’s business. But it’s still nice to know that most of the “actors” have kept their reason. I think that in international cross-country skiing, the percentage of athletes who want us back will be even higher. And among those who somehow did business in the Russian sporting goods market, this figure is usually close to 100%. Believe me.

Russian skiers will likely return to international competitions via private club competitions. Without public money

… Cross-country skiing, to put it mildly, is not football, but we have our own novelties in transitions: Yulia Stupak and three other strong skiers will compete for Moscow.

The cross season is over and this year almost all the best skiers have changed their sport registration. Besides our leader, Natalya Terentyeva, she was a few years ahead of us in this regard. This year, I myself moved to the Arkhangelsk region (“with one foot” remaining in Kamchatka!). I think that is completely logical and correct. As far as I know, all transitions are linked to firm promises to provide the best conditions for the main competitions of the coming season – the Spartakiad and the Russian Championship, first of all. The best conditions are above all the ski service, doctors, masseurs. Without their help, it is extremely difficult to win. When I won two bronze medals in the relay races at CR-2021, the specialists were struck not so much by this fact in itself, but by the fact that our entire Kamchatka team there consisted of two people: Coach Borodin and me. Dmitry Vladimirovich, of course, is an excellent specialist in everything, but beating the leaders who have several experienced specialists in their field in their team was a leap over their heads.

But back to the transitions: our regions behave more and more like sports clubs. With their sponsors in the form of local businesses. Not a single ruble will be taken from children in Moscow (Arkhangelsk, Tatarstan, etc.) learning to ski – all additional expenses of champions will be covered by ambitious local business sponsors. What drives them, I can’t say for sure. I think it’s best to ask them yourself. But I am happy that we are moving more and more towards a club system, where most/all the money from professional competitions is private and not public. And we will return to the international stage, most likely, like this – through private club competition.