The woman who plows: the legendary skier Elena Vyalba turned 55

“In cross-country skiing, you have to plow, just plow and plow again. And lose a lot. You need to understand where you are going and why you are going there.” So Elena Vyalbe simply once said. Today she is 55!

Behind her shoulders is the same plowing. Multiple, annual. First, she went skiing on her own. Three-time Olympic champion, 14-time world champion, five-time World Cup winner, multiple champion of the USSR and Russia. Then and now – in the answer for those who run. Ski boss, yes. President of the FLGR, head of the Russian Ski Association.

There are enough bright episodes both in a career and in the position of a leader for novels. There are so many of them, because Vyalbe herself is bright. And he can’t control his emotions. Causes fire on himself, causing and responding. And it always seems that he is not looking for words, for motivation – that’s for sure. It just takes it out of the soul.

Yes, someone frowned when they heard her promise to rip out “tonsils along with eggs” if they saw one of their skiers next to the doping virtuoso Rodchenkov, because of whose deeds and accusations Russian sports are still stormy. Maybe it sounded rude then. But – how else?

Not every leader can be said to be cool. About Elena Valerievna – you can. Because he does not consider it necessary to hide what he thinks. He does not consider it shameful to behave as the soul commands. And cry, and stamp your foot, and start dancing …

Remember how it was in Pyeongchang 2018, when the current leaders of the national team, now Olympic champions Alexander Bolshunov, Natalya Nepryaeva, Yulia Stupak (Belorukova), Alexei Chervotkin, Denis Spitsov set foot on the ski track of their first Olympic Games? And won the first awards of the main start?

On the podium at the moment of the finish, which brought medals, Elena Vyalbe beat her neighbor on the podium with her hands. And the chief of Russian skis cried. These were not just awards: in the then decapitated by the deletion of athletes due to suspicions of involvement in doping fraud, exhausted by the courts and desperate emotions, new, young, crazy-motivated skiers appeared. A foreigner approached Yulia Belorukova before the final and asked: “And how do you like the new uniform?”. The new one is not a forgotten old one with sealed logos as decided by the IOC. Yulia answered on the track with a prize-winning place. And then, at a press conference, she nevertheless slashed: “Nothing will break us. We are not afraid of anything. We are strong and will always fight to the end.”

What about Beijing 2022? Happiness of victory, golden dances, tears of pride. Our skiers at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing surpassed even the Norwegians in the total number of awards. Eleven medals, four of which are gold, the same number of silver, three more bronze. Two golden races! The men’s domestic team has won for the first time since 1980, and the women’s team has won since 2006. “Any result of any athlete is the product of the work of the small cogs of such a team,” the president said more than once.

Elena Vyalbe has been the head of the Russian Ski Racing Federation since 2010, and since 2020 she has also been the head of the Russian Ski Association. And after all, she could have gone on a victorious wave to rest. Responsibility for the national team, which is obliged to bring medals, is a burden that you will not envy. But this was not discussed. Yes, running for the fourth term of the presidency in the FLGR, I joked: I gave my word to leave when the women became Olympic champions (in Beijing, Natalya Nepryaeva, Yulia Stupak, Tatyana Sorina and Veronika Stepanova won the relay. – Ed.), But the Olympic champion in the personal race has not happened yet, so we still have to work.

She said – it is impossible to allow Russian skis to be left with nothing. When leaving, you need to prepare someone for your place. Someday Elena Valerievna will find this person. He will snatch out a kindred soul from the applicants: the “trough” did not allow him to root for the cause.

But the main thing today is to pass the most difficult stage for all Russian sports with honor. He moves from one start to another, in touch with everyone and always, a hand on the pulse of athletes, coaches, servicemen. Whining is not her way. But I’m ready to get the most out of the situation. He says: our athletes are now studying Mother Russia, its unlimited possibilities. And rivals from abroad can only envy: it is April outside, and the condition of the ski run at the Russian Cup was excellent, you can safely ski without saltpeter …

The head of the skiers is sure that it is impossible to agree to the proposal of the IOC for Russia: a neutral status. And he will convince his athletes that “we should not be traitors to the motherland, we should not be people in this difficult situation who split our country into those who will continue to love it and who will hate it.”

And again and again he explains: there is a flag of an international organization – one thing, and when there is nothing at all, you are completely impersonal, then “in our situation, this is absolutely unacceptable for me.”

Always love skiers. Scold – too. Especially talented, especially – obstinate. She cannot watch calmly how someone misuses her talent when character, as she says, wins over reason.

“Russia is a great country. She should have just such skiers, ”Elena Vyalbe repeated this after each Olympic victory. Repeats and will repeat.