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At the Commonwealth Cup in Murmansk, 39-year-old Ekaterina Yurlova-Perkht announced her retirement, although I was going to do this almost ten years ago. Ekaterina spoke about dramatic turns in her sporting destiny, a romance without a candy-bouquet period that ended with a wedding, about raising daughters and living in two countries.
– You received your last medal in your career from Anastasia Batmanova and Vasily Tomshin, who gave away medals in Murmansk for winning the mixed singles. How did you perceive this gesture?
– At the first moment I was simply confused. I witnessed this when, at the Russian Championship, Victoria Slivko gave her cup to Kristina Reztsova. I even thought then, how would I feel about this? And now I found myself in this situation. I won’t hide: it was nice, thank you guys! career, and the father who trained you simply persuaded you to go to the Izhevsk Rifle to resolve the issue of surrendering weapons…
– In fact, I was going to finish several times. When I didn’t make it to the Olympics, I told myself: “Enough!” The story you mentioned was truly extraordinary. I went to pick up the rifle (I had to do it myself), my father persuaded me to compete, gained the required number of rating points to compete for the national team at the IBU Cup, then went to the World Cup and World Championships – and stayed in biathlon for another nine years. We can say that my reluctance at that time to continue my career helped prolong it.
– You said that at the 2015 World Championships in Kontiolahti, where you won the individual race, you went to the start in the last group with one task – to get on the television broadcast…
– This is in many ways and helped us win. At all subsequent important starts I tried to achieve the same state, but it never worked out.
– In Kontiolahti, you became the 50th member of the “Club Zero”, which includes biathletes and biathletes who did not make a single mistake at the four shooting ranges in the individual race at the World Championships. Keep track of who got into it after you?
– I know that it has replenished. Even at the last World Championships, Italian Lisa Vitozzi won the individual race with clean shooting. I can’t say how many people there are in “Club Zero”. Although, you probably need to monitor biathlon statistics more closely.
– In your most successful season, where you won the World Championship, you trained not as part of the Russian national team, but under the leadership of Anatoly Khovantsev in the same Kontiolahti. Was this the optimal training system for you?
– Any training system has a right to life, and in biathlon everything is very individual. In a team of 10-12 people, not everything suits everyone. A competent coach always tries to find an individual approach. I was very lucky that season. Khovantsev’s joint training with one of the strongest biathletes in the world at that time, Kaisa Mäkäräinen, gave a lot. I learned a lot from Kaisa.
– Khovantseva was most amazed that Kaisa even invited you to dinner, forcing her boyfriend to cook it . This is not accepted among the Finns. Do you currently maintain a relationship with Mäkäräinen?
– Unfortunately, not now. I myself am very interested in why Kaisa stopped responding to my messages.
– After graduating from the Faculty of Psychology of St. Petersburg State University, you received two more higher educations – coaching and economics. Where do you see yourself in life after biathlon?
– First of all, I would like to say warm words to Gennady Dmitrievich Gorbunov, from whose books I studied at the university. Later we met in person, and thanks to working with Gorbunov, I was able to overcome the most difficult moments of my sports career. If there had not been that significant meeting, if the acquaintance had not taken place, I would have finished biathlon 12 years ago. If we talk about future plans, I don’t yet know what exactly I’ll do, but I’m sure that both coaching and economic education should be useful to me in life.
– Could you use something from your own sports experience in your work as a psychologist?
– A lot of things. Knowing sports life from the inside, you understand how to find an approach to athletes. Perhaps, having both knowledge and experience, I would have acted differently in many situations.
– Can you reveal a little secret: how in an era when biathlon fans were informed weekly on television about all the romances of not only Russian but also foreign athletes, did you manage to keep yours with Josef Percht a secret?
– From the very beginning, you lived in two countries, but never announced plans to play for the Austrian national team, where you were need for good biathletes even for the mixed relay…
– At that moment I had a good position in the Russian team. Even thoughts about changing citizenship never arose. And the leaders of the Austrian biathlon did not make any proposals. Apparently, they consulted with their husband.
– How do you feel about changing sports citizenship now that Russian biathletes are suspended from international competitions?
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– Every person has the right to make his own choice. I can't say that this is good or bad. If someone is ready to give everything to become an Olympic champion or simply compete at international competitions, you shouldn’t blame him.
– After the final completion of your career, will you continue to live in two countries?
– Nothing has changed in our family. The eldest daughter will go to school in the fall, the youngest goes to kindergarten in Toksovo, a suburb of St. Petersburg. We regularly visit our father in Austria. It is much more difficult for him to change his place of residence both because of language problems and because of work.
– Before the 2022 Olympics, you without hesitation made the choice to have a second daughter…– For me, family is more important than Olympic medals. When I found out that I was pregnant, the question of preparing for Beijing disappeared by itself.
– You never competed at the Olympics, although you could have started at four. Didn’t it really leave a thorn in the heart?
– Not anymore. I have already passed all these situations through myself – and let them go. Now I am flattering myself with the hope of going to the Olympics as a fan and supporting Russian athletes.
– Did the relay race at the 2011 World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, during which the then President of the RBUMikhail Prokhorov fired Khovantsev from his post as head coach, leave a notch on the heart?
– Three penalty loops in the relay at the home World Championships are not the best memory. After these competitions, the girls really supported me. Both Anya Bogaliy and Olya Zaitseva did everything to bring me out of terrible depression. We found the right words. And throughout my career I knew that there were people next to me who would support me in difficult times and be there on the days of victory. It is sometimes even more difficult for me psychologically to survive a victory than a defeat. A lot of emotions come out. After failures, I recovered faster.
– Has anyone explained why the organizing committee of the 2018 Olympics did not invite you to perform in Pyeongchang?
– Before I still haven’t received an answer and I don’t think I will. When I looked into this situation, knowledgeable people said: “Don’t even try.”
– How do Kira and Arina maintain their German in order to communicate with their father?
– With Kira throughout For the last two years we have been going to Toksovo to study with a wonderful teacher. My daughter’s German is very good. Better than mine. When we arrive in Austria, Kira perfectly finds a common language with Josef. And Arina, despite her age, too. I didn’t have a sister, and now I get great pleasure watching my daughters. They are so different!
– Your father was your coach for a long time. Would you risk training your daughters?
– Only if they themselves want it. It is impossible to separate the coach and mom or dad, no matter how much you want it. This, by the way, was what prompted the decision to go to Finland to train with Khovantsev.
– Through the mediation of the “literary agent” Anna Bogaliy and the direct participation of the then President of the RBU Sergei Kushchenko, a book of your poems was published. Are you writing new ones now?
– No. As the classic wrote, the years tend towards harsh prose. I'm thinking about publishing an autobiography. Thanks to Anya, with whom we often lived together at training camps and competitions, I now have a reputation as a poet in the biathlon world. We also need to thank Sergei Valentinovich, who published a collection of my poems.
– How do you feel about the accusations of Russian biathletes using prohibited drugs and the existence of a state doping support system?
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– I think that this is simply a policy of double standards. When biathletes from other countries are caught doping, everyone claims: “It’s a mistake, an accident.” They find ways to make the period of disqualification minimal. When it comes to Russians, conversations begin about the state system. I would like everyone to be treated the same. I have always had a negative attitude towards doping and those who use it.
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