“Russia is huge, but, unfortunately for us, there is not much here.
President of the Russian Ski Racing Federation (FLGR) Elena Vyalbe, in an interview with RIA Novosti Sport, shared her opinion on the sanctions imposed against the country and Russian sports, spoke about the attitude of foreign colleagues, commented on the interests of the Minister of Sports of Ukraine, as well as the prosecutor, why not be upset if the Cup Stanley won’t even come to Russia for ten years.
– For many years, Russia and Russian sports have been under tremendous pressure: the Rodchenkov case, the McLaren report, suspensions from starts, neutral status, now an assignment associated with promotion in Ukraine. Have you already developed a habit of all this?
– Honestly, it’s a shame that all of the above was mainly associated with false evidence – the same report by McLaren, Grigory Rodchenkov. always, of course, the situation is quite different. It is obvious that we must always find some strength in ourselves in order not only to reconcile, but not to give up, train, move on and think about some appointments that await us ahead. In general, this is the attitude towards the country. Just the situation with the special operation showed a lot: who really treats us how, who loves us and how, who is sincere, and who smiles falsely, gives his hand, and holds a sharpened knife behind his back.
I don’t think you can get used to it. But I am sure that all athletes are gearing up for competitions, for international level competitions. Even if it does not happen next year, then in the future. I do not believe that we will be cut off from the whole world for many years. These sanctions, like any sanctions, no one will benefit from this.
– AT FIS A letter was received from the head of the Ukrainian Ski Federation with a call to participate in the international federation. Did you personally communicate with the authors of this document?
He didn’t come to the convention. Very strange. He wrote that he could not increase at the congress, because he was in Kyiv, the secretary of this organization flew to Milan, there were no problems. Well, that’s his right.
— Is there a strong tension in communication with other countries?
– The most unpleasant thing is that people shake hands with you, say: “Yes, we understand everything, we are for you, we are with you, we can’t get anywhere without Russia.” Voting shows that this is all hypocrisy. I won’t say who and from which country, but there was only one person who came up on the evening before the voting day and said: “Len, I don’t support voting for you, I’m afraid. Moreover, this is an electronic vote, it can be tracked” . I think this is overkill. I understand that everyone who shook hands and said that they were with us – they all voted against.
– Let’s imagine that Russian athletes should be allowed to start the RIAC. The Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine said that athletes from his country will compete in competitions with the participation of Russians and Belarusians. Can this be used to decide on admission?
– I don’t want to comment on the opinions of Ukrainian athletes or external factors, I don’t even consider it necessary. As for cross-country skiing … Did they even participate in cross-country skiing with us? Don’t know. It’s even funny. I probably remember that after the Olympics they also had some doping scandals with skiers. Let them say whatever they want. The International Federation officially informs us about the meeting, I do not think that we will listen to the opinion of some athletes from any other countries. Let them not compete. These are their problems.
— Recently, Maria Lasitskene wrote an open letter to IOC President Thomas Bach. Would these steps help in any way?
I don’t think it will help in any way. In any case, we all perfectly understand that everything will be only in Azerbaijan from the Islamic Olympic Committee. The fact that the IOC has never done anything with its own hands is also clear to everyone. He does everything bad with the hands of international federations. Previous IOC appeals have been cleverly crafted. “We are not forcing you not to allow athletes, we recommend you.” And in the case of a federation, this is perceived as a decree to action. Again, no one will benefit from this. Neither our competitors are athletic, nor we.
People are suitable for their work, they train and they have to perform on the international stage, so that it would be interesting to have fun. Once one of the leaders does not go to the start, the opponent is better, he will stand on the podium who. But sooner or later people get tired of watching when the same country, the same three or four people hang out with each other and take the first four places. It doesn’t matter if it’s Russia, or Sweden, or England – in any sport there must be a republic in order to attract participation. We depend on them. When there are spectators, then sponsors come, and the TV picture is good. All this is interconnected. Therefore, the removal of Russian athletes from international competitions, all, not only from the Association of Ski Sports, does not bring dividends to anyone.
– The same situation with professional sanctions, not only sports ones.
– Of course. Everyone is now trying to find some way out. And they are busy looking for a way out, not only ours, but also foreign ones who do not want to leave our market. Looking for an opportunity to bypass the call. Who gets better from this? Nobody really. Everything in the world becomes more expensive, life becomes more and more difficult. In different countries there are already people with the requirements of a decent life in their country.
And do not say that Russia is to blame for everything. This is not true. People, although they are growing in the slightest degree in the economy, are perfectly aware that the world cannot collapse in a month, all this has been accumulating for years. Unfortunately, we live in some very interesting times. I thought that now, we survived perestroika, the collapse of the USSR, there was a shock for the country, and that that was all. We have been living under sanctions for a long time, since Soviet times, we have not particularly noticed them. But now they are unprecedented. No other country in the world lived like this.
– But no one canceled the boomerang effect?
Yes, as I said, any sanction is also a shot in the foot. What is the benefit of this – I do not understand. If I were the leader of the country, then first of all I would think about the welfare of my state, and how profitable it is to get it from among those specific for my country. This is complete madness.
– How long do you think this suspension of Russian athletes can last? Someone assumes that everything depends on the duration of the NWO in Ukraine, others believe that this is not connected with another, but just another case has been found.
– At least in sports, everything will depend on how the IOC behaves. If Bach says that “all of us have no right to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions”, then we will perform on the international arena. Do not know when. In the same way, I don’t know when the special operation might end. Nobody knows. We are far from hostilities, I don’t even look at these maps, where the transport is, where we are going. But all this is interconnected, and we can’t get away from it anywhere.
– At the same time, the WTA and ATP “stand up” for Russian tennis players, did not follow the lead of politicians.
– Here, probably, less about sports, and more about money. In the same way, we see that the NHL did not go home either, and there are a huge number of Russian hockey players playing there, and there was never any talk of them being sent just because they had a regional passport. It’s money, it’s business. Sport is also a business. There, professional sports and organizational meetings do not really reduce food losses. And this is logical. We are still less professional sports – the same athletics, skiing sports. NHL, tennis is a real business.
– But even with such scenarios, the NHL announced that the Stanley Cup in Russia this year is not sent.
– I remember this first case, when the Stanley Cup was brought to Russia, and I said in an interview: “Guys, this is probably good.” And hockey players should strive and be proud that our compatriots are also involved in such a trophy. But we should have our own cups, our country should be proud. It is they who need to be transported to children’s sports schools so that the guys who organize hockey are proud of the many cups.
– How is the Gagarin Cup?
– Well, let the Gagarin Cup. He’s cool too. As for the Stanley Cup, I won’t be very upset, I won’t be upset at all that it won’t come this year or another ten years.
— Sport is directly dependent on sponsors, and many companies are now going through hard times. Sponsorships are being cut. How are things with the FLGR?
— I am grateful and can proudly say that our sponsors are long-term projects, as we are for them, and they are for us. I am pleased that these companies did not even talk about saying goodbye to us. It’s the title sponsors. Moreover, another Russian sponsor came this year, which we are immensely happy about. We have been working with Lukoil almost since the founding of the federation, for many years we worked with En +, then with RUSAL, and now PhosAgro has come, which were provided to us, but were not excluded by the sponsors. The federations that were used the most were those that worked with outside sponsors. I know that sponsors have left in ski jumping. We are very lucky.
– It turns out that your outfitter was also replaced in time. Four years ago, not now.
— Yes, now it would be a bigger shock. We smoothly moved on to a new outfitter.
— In situations with sanctions, there are pluses, I guess? Preparing to move to Russia, does it help confidential development?
– We are going to Europe not because there is something bad in Russia, there is a 100% alternative, but we don’t like something. There are simply no such conditions as there are. We won’t be able to ski in the summer, we won’t be able to train at the height we need in the summer. Russia is huge, but, unfortunately for us, there is not much here. There are wonderful places, but we cannot sit here for four months, the exhaust will not be very good from this. I hope that it is quite possible to go on a glacier and go skiing.
— In Ramsau?
– Yes, Ramsau’s priority. But it’s hard to say so far, all foreign training camps are closed by the Ministry of Sports until autumn. If we had at least 1700 m a good center, then why go outside of Russia? But we don’t have it. There is no glacier, no good high-altitude bases. They looked after Arkhyz, in May you can still more or less ride on the road there, but when tourists come in the summer, everyone rushes there in cars. Our driving culture does not allow an athlete to ride rollerskis and cars at the same time. The third minister, and we only said that a high base for winter species is required.
– In connection with the possible non-admission to the launches of the RIAC, do the athletes have any loss of motivation?
“What the hell, loss of motivation?! There can be no loss of motivation, this should never have been discussed at all. We are preparing, first of all, for the reverse Olympic Games. Now we need to think about how to build this preparation plan, how to achieve results. And do not think that we are under sanctions. You need to plow, plow from morning to night. If everyone does their job well, then everywhere there will be a good result.
– Markus Kramer had to leave the Russian team. It is unlikely that this is happening on the mood of the athletes from his group?
– I would still transfer Yulia Stupak to another group from Markus, because she does not have sparring partners there. She needs to grow – she started not just standing still, but already regressing football. And she is no lower than Natalia Nepryaeva. Yes, I’m sorry, I have a hard time parting with people, I work well with supervision and have no complaints about objects. The most important thing is that we found new coaches from Marcus, he knows how to develop his methodology, to explain to all young coaches. We already have three independent coaches who came from Marcus. But such is life. We’re in touch, we’re in touch. But I still don’t see any serious problems in connection with his departure.