Evgeny Belov

At the age of 29, Evgeny Belov is a veteran of the team. You probably know him, among other things, from the painful history with the suspension: in the fall of 2017, the IOC found Belov guilty of violating anti-doping rules in Sochi 2014, annulled the results and suspended him from the Olympics for life. A few months later, Yevgeny won an appeal to the CAS, all charges against him were dropped.

It's time to learn something about Belov's principles and views on life. Salomon, having become an official partner of the Russian Ski Racing Federation, has done this.

I can do more.

• My parents are masters of sports in cross–country skiing. They spent most of their lives working at a sports school. Recently, my mother retired, and my father moved from the position of director to coaching, although in fact he combined both all his life. I think it makes no sense to explain why I got on skis when I still had a nipple in my mouth.

• All parents love to teach, to lecture. Mine are no exception. It's not out of spite, they want to do better. It used to be like this: you miss a workout or break the regime – and at the dinner table you listen to mom and dad, who tell you how to do it, and how not to. Now that time is gone, and they have switched: I get more advice on life, not on sports.

• My wife Alexandra is a very active person, she can't sit still for a long time. Therefore, separation is hard for us. I'm busy training, and she's looking for new hobbies at home. She is also an athlete, a skier – however, she has already finished. But when we meet, the first thing we do is go to the forest together to train.

• I am a superstitious person so much that these superstitions do not interfere with my life. But I will bypass a black cat running across the road.

"I wouldn't shake hands with a person who took doping." Alexander Bolshunov's Gold Hunting Season

• What did this dramatic story teach me when I was first accused of doping and then acquitted? No one who has fallen under the ice rink is able to influence his fate. I remember sitting in court. And some athletes could not stand it and began to make excuses with tears in their eyes for what they had not done. But they didn't believe them. It was terrible to watch and realize that there is no justice.

• We are not actors, but athletes – we can't just give out some emotion to the public.

• It happens in life: no matter what you do, it's all for nothing, nothing depends on you, your life is going downhill, and you can't influence it in any way.

• What is the power, brother? In truth!

• I'm from the Urals. And this means that I have a Ural character. What is it? Resilience, the ability to get out of the most difficult situation without losing face and composure.

• You need to turn into a robot to win. You need to fully immerse yourself in the work. There is no way without it. Professional athletes sacrifice a part of their lives. If you turn off the robot, you will not achieve the highest goals.

• On the highway, I run for loved ones. Before the start, they call, send SMS with words of support. When you run, you think about these words and messages. This is my patriotism.

• Why do we need top-level sports, why arrange expensive Olympiads? And why should we be the first to fly into space?! Such questions arise because people have a lot of poverty in Russia. We would live well, there would be no such questions.

"We know what country we live in: today you are the king, tomorrow you are looking for a trifle for bread." The philosophy of the top skier of the Immortals

• Goosebumps always run through the body when the anthem of Russia is played at competitions. And this is our drug: you want to experience similar sensations again and again, once again to be at such a peak of pleasure.

• If we have the opportunity to learn from foreign coaches, then why not use it. Peter the Great brought a lot of people and things from Europe to Russia, including foreign specialists. However, we do not scold him for this – on the contrary

I don't run to take revenge if someone offended me during the race. On the other hand, I want to be angrier as an athlete. I try to change. Although it's hard. I think sometimes I'm too soft on the track.

• They say Martin Sundby hangs photos of Russian skiers, his competitors in his room – this is how he gets himself into the fight. I am pushed by self-esteem. I think, "Well, I can't be weaker!" It makes me angry that I'm being beaten, and this anger is my main motivator.

• Are technologies driving people and the human spirit out of sports? I don't think this is such a serious problem for ski racing. The equipment of the athletes is now about the same. This means that the winner is not the one who is better equipped, but the one who has prepared himself and his head better.

• As long as I have ambitions and unrealized dreams, I only think about sports. I don't want to be sprayed.

"You won't become an Olympic champion if you're stupid." 34-year-old coach steers in skiing

• Now I have such a borderline age, when most athletes can no longer compete with the young. Therefore, it is necessary to fully open up. Then there may simply not be a chance.

• You have to keep running as long as you are able to compete. Or if you benefit the team or the country by passing on experience to young athletes – so that there is no gap between generations.

• It is hard for a professional athlete to live without regular physical activity, it is almost unbearable – this is an internal need of the body.

• I'm not so stellar that people pay a lot of attention to me. I like silence more.

• If I had a lot of money, I would open a sports center and help sports schools to improve the lives of young athletes.

• I wish I could be happier. Now it's about seventy percent of the possible. In short, I still have reserves.