“I’m not going to be stronger than my husband”: Nepryaeva’s first interview after the wedding

— Yes, I don’t know. In fact, my husband would disagree with you. In everyday life, his character is much stronger than me, in some human qualities, as the head of the family. I do not pretend and do not intend to be stronger.

—Is it possible to be a girly girl?

— Yes. I’m alone on the ski track, but at home I’m completely different. Still, you probably adapt to society, to situations. Somewhere you have to show character, because if I were soft and courteous on the ski track, then there would be nothing to talk about at all.

— How to find your person in your own environment in the conditions of constant training, training camps, competitions, attention?

— It depends on the person himself. It’s a great happiness to find someone with whom you are on the same wavelength, especially for girls in sports who spend three weeks at the training camp, one week at home and then competitions. For example, a man who is far from sports may say: “Where did you go with a team of men for three weeks?”

For the majority who are not involved in sports, disagreements and misunderstandings may arise. It is a great happiness to find a person who will understand how important what you do is to you. This is exactly what happened to Sasha and me. We are generally together 24/7 — both at training camps and at home.

— Isn’t it hard 24/7?

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— No. There is no such feeling that we need to take a break from each other. There is no such thing at the training camp that you should rather go home to your family and friends. It so happens that almost half of my family travels with me, this is a great gift. Both my sister and Sasha are with me. This helps me a lot morally, there is a lot of support.

— I noticed that a lot of families are formed in the ski community. Your husband is a skier, Yulia Stupak is a skier, Alexander Bolshunov also married a skier.

— Common interests always bring us together.

— Is there happiness outside this circle?

— It all depends so much on the person. Some may not be attracted to this at all, and it is interesting to find a person from a different field.

«I thought that Sasha would propose in Dubai. Well, damn it …»
— You published new gorgeous photos from the wedding. How difficult was it to organize such a holiday when you are always at training camps and training?

— Actually, yes, it is quite difficult. Despite the fact that we had a full set of organizers, as they say, just spare the money, it was still very difficult. When I came home during the first inter-gathering, the organizer Yana wrote to me: “You need to go to several salons to try on a dress.” I thought: “This is for the whole day.” I was torn in the summer, I wanted to control everything myself, you, as a girl, will understand me, so that everything would be perfect and calm.

— How long have you been looking for a dress?

— I didn’t search, but chose for a long time, and in the end I returned to the option that I found in the third salon.

— How much time did it take to organize?
— Did the offer come as a surprise to you?

— It was a surprise at that moment that he made a surprise. In general, I had an understanding that I was about to make a decision. To be honest, I was expecting an offer when we flew to Dubai on vacation, for some reason I was sure of it. And when we were already flying back on the plane, I thought: “Well, damn it, okay.”

— It turns out he proposed at home?

— Yes. It turned out that my sister took me out to the restaurant, a conspirator. And he appeared there with a bouquet. It was such a joke that in the evening my sister tried to persuade me to dress nicely and put on heels.

— How was the wedding? Were there bride price, competitions?

— There was nothing like that, but we had a very cool presenter, I really liked the way he interacted with the guests. When guests feel like they are part of the celebration, no competitions are needed. In my opinion, this is already the last century. There were a lot of different features, for example, bars with cocktails, aroma bars, there was an interactive experience.

— Many girls like to dream about a wedding, imagine the perfect holiday for themselves. Was this your dream wedding?

— Yes, I have only the most wonderful memories. You can call my wedding a dream wedding.

«My mother is not shy about asking when there will be grandchildren»
— Today One day you can already say that your career is a success: Olympic gold, World Cup, universal recognition. After the wedding, did you have any thoughts that you wanted to plunge into family life and think about children? Doesn't this family hearth beckon?

— Everything has its time. I don’t want to put on public display the question of when we want children. Of course, there are already such obvious hints from moms and dads from different sides, my mom is no longer shy at all. This is a standard song from parents.

— So, you are continuing your career?

— Of course, you have ambitions. Even if there is a child, I plan to return and work. But it’s too early to talk about this.

— There are many stories when strong skiers went on maternity leave, then returned and continued to perform at a high level.

— I have no experience in this, but in general, yes, this happens. I think it all depends on the person and his motivation. When you are charged and motivated, of course, nothing stops you. Yes, it will be doubly difficult to come back, get in shape, and be with the child at night. Many do not find the willpower to return. It's all individual.

—Have you already gotten used to the name Terentyev? Are you looking for Nepryaeva in the protocols?

— At first it was unusual, and my husband was also a little confused. He recently bought me a ticket from Abakan to Tyumen under the name Nepryaev, mumbled all evening, but changed it. But in terms of documents, everything went quickly, smoothly and without stress. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to go to the start line under a new surname, it’s one thing or another, but in family life this is not the main thing.

— Was it immediately decided to take your husband’s surname?

— Yes, I didn’t even have any doubts. I have had moral principles since childhood that a wife should bear her husband’s surname. A family should have one last name.

“Vyalbe is like a second mother to me”
— Is Elena Vyalbe’s opinion important in family matters? ? Can she come up and say: “Listen, gorgeous groom, you have to take him” or “he’s not a match for you”?

— I didn’t have this. She never interfered in my personal life; on the contrary, she always supported me. But there is no such thing that she only praises. If she sees that something is going wrong, she can give a kick. Her carrot may be replaced by a stick. I understand that she wants only the best.

— How does Elena Valeryevna support the national team? Does she communicate with you a lot?

— I have a very warm relationship with Elena Valerievna, you can say that she is like a second mother to me. Just a little, you can always turn to her for help, even if not on work issues. When you come to her home, she is a wonderful hostess, so hospitable that words cannot describe it. It’s rare to meet a unique personality who is both a big boss and such a housewife.

— How are the relations in the team in general? Do you celebrate holidays together?

— Let's communicate. I can’t say that we have any conflicts, everything is fine. It is clear that we communicate very well with some people, and not so closely with others.

— How is your training camp going now, is everything going according to plan?
—Does this bother you?
— I talked with Yuri Viktorovich Borodavko, he told me that you had a shoulder injury. How serious is it?

— This is one of my last injuries; here during training I fell and strained my shoulder. Now I’m healing, everything is much better, I have the opportunity to train. For a couple of days I couldn’t push off with my hand at all. We even went to get an x-ray and found out it was just a sprain, nothing serious that could put me out for a long time.

— How long will you work in a gentle mode?

— It all depends on how long it takes me to recover. I hope that soon. I myself already miss the excitement, I want to work already.

“I won’t go in a neutral status”
-Where do you get your motivation to train? Isn't it getting boring without international competitions?

— Complex issue. I observe that many girls are motivated, especially young ones who do not yet know what high positions at the World Cup stages are. Their eyes are burning, they have a desire to defeat the leaders who have already stood on the podium at international competitions. And among leaders, pride probably plays a very important role, the desire to prove that they bear the title of leaders for a reason. And I have this, without pride there is nowhere in sports.

— Were you upset that the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) extended the suspension of Russians?

— Everyone was ready for this already in the summer. Everything was just confirmed, so there was no reaction. Of course, I would like to perform on the international stage, but it no longer depends on me.

—While the suspension applies to skiers, other federations have begun to carefully admit athletes, but with more conditions. Would you agree to perform without a flag and anthem?

— No, I would definitely refuse, I’m not ready to go without a flag. At the 2018 Olympics there was something else, also, of course, not very pleasant, but this was a different situation, it’s not even discussed.

—Do you support Vyalbe’s position on this issue?— Yes, completely.

— Do you think that the head of the federation can persuade an athlete to refuse to participate in international competitions without a flag and influence his fate?

— Everyone chooses for themselves. Perhaps, for me, as an athlete who has achieved a lot, it is much easier to say: “I won’t go anywhere without a flag,” than for those who have just emerged from the juniors, who are ready to tear and throw. Maybe they have their own thoughts and their own vision of this situation, but this is my opinion. I am categorically against neutral status.

— But when you yourself began to show good results at international competitions, won Olympic gold, the World Cup, didn’t you really want more?

— Of course, you do, appetite comes with eating .

— Elena Valerievna, when summing up the results of the 2022 Olympics, said that everything is good, but there is no gold in the women’s individual race. Is individual Olympic gold your main goal?

— Yes, of course, I would very much like to. Probably, the main goal of any skier is personal gold. Even when I won second place in the skiathlon, I had much more emotions than after the gold medal in the relay. It was I who was able to win silver. Yes, Olympic champion, wow! But you understand that it was a team effort and the four of you are great, but when you stand alone on the podium, these emotions cannot be compared with anything.

«Can I be a deputy for a couple of hours in the evening?»
— Do you believe that we will be able to go to the 2026 Winter Olympics?

— Honestly, I don’t know. I try not to think about it. I train with the thought that there will still be an opportunity to show myself. For the last two years I have been living here and now. Yes, I understand at what period of the season I should be in shape, I focus on important starts, but this is not the same as before.

—Have you thought about plans for the future? , what would you like to do after your sports career?

— My husband and I discuss a lot, many different ideas, but we understand that we need to think about it seriously when we understand that our career is coming to an end. Business and your own clothing lines take a lot of effort.

—Have you thought about the direction of your activity? Business, politics, journalism?

— Business, politics and journalism cannot be dealt with superficially. It doesn’t work like that, that in the evening after dinner I have free time and I’ll get involved in politics, I’ll be a deputy for a couple of hours. For example, Alexander Legkov. He ended his career and became a deputy, this is the right position. Because combining professional sports and other serious activities is simply unrealistic. As a hobby, for example, Veronika Stepanova writes articles in her free time — this is possible.

— How do Olympic champions relax?

— Honestly, over the years I notice that I already need a more relaxing holiday. I used to be more reckless — skiing, partying. Now I want to lie quietly on the sea.