“I never had cronyism”: Slivko - about his place in the national team, intimidation by Padin, confidence in shooting and the Spartakiad

— How do you perceive your victory in the pursuit race - as incredible luck or a natural result of the work done?

— Now the emotions are not as vivid as they were immediately after the finish, but I always try to treat any result calmly. According to the principle: today is today, and tomorrow will be a new day and new tasks. There will be new races, for each of which you need to tune in, you need to fight. On the one hand, I am, of course, happy about the good result, but on the other hand, as they say, it was and was.

— What were you thinking between the first two starts in Zlatoust?

— After a successful sprint, for some reason I was confident that everything would go well in the pursuit too. I walked along the course and realized that I would definitely get a medal. It remains to be seen which one it is.

— A somewhat impudent statement regarding a race with four milestones, don’t you think?

- Well, I have some kind of inner confidence about shooting. The ability to gather yourself at the right moment, not to flinch, not to be afraid. In this regard, it doesn’t matter to me whether I shoot first or 20th.

— What, in this case, prevented you from performing equally well in previous races of the season?

- Health problems. Before the roll-in, I got quite sick, took antibiotics, so my physical condition was completely bad. I competed and understood: I couldn’t show the result that I was theoretically capable of. All this accumulated, and from start to start it only became psychologically harder. The turning point occurred only in Ufa at the Commonwealth Cup stage, where I became third in the sprint, shooting to zero. That’s where, perhaps, for the first time I got the feeling that things would only get better.

— What comes into place faster as you get in shape—speed or shooting?

— For me this is a difficult question. When I feel confident at a distance, then, as a rule, there are no problems with shooting. But when you run from the first lap and endure every meter, realizing that you will have to overcome yourself until the very end, it becomes very difficult to work on the boundaries.

— Do you feel comfortable running in Zlatoust?

- Yes. Despite the fact that this is a new stadium and this is my first time here. I really like the track. She's complex. For example, our sprint began with a 960 m climb, and there was not a single descent where we could rest. On such a route you have to work from start to finish.

— It turns out that the pursuit race was twice as hard?

“She just turned out to be different.” There was a slightly different climb, a little shorter, although the descents turned out to be quite short. There was nowhere to even sit down and breathe.

— Throughout almost your entire career, you have been accompanied by the opinion: in the national team, Slivko is not exactly superfluous, but not the most desirable character. In much the same way, Yana Romanova was called a criminal behind her back.

“It’s just that I never had any connections - I got into the team only based on the results. I remember the story when I was still a junior. I then legally won a place in the team, performed quite consistently, won medals at both European and world championships, but at the same time there was an opinion that I should not be included in the team at all. Like, who needs a shooter who doesn't run? It's better to take a runner and teach him to shoot.

— A common point of view.

- Yes. But I beat many runners at important starts. And little by little I stopped having complexes about this. At the same time, I realized: biathlon is not always just about legs. Although I still don’t like it when people, when studying the protocols of contact racing, focus not on the final result, but on who lost how much with their feet.

- Why contact ones?

— Because there you always make a decision based on the situation, exactly how to go. You can not resist and win. But someone makes mistakes on the lines and, on the contrary, is forced to rush headlong. But I don’t stop anyone from shooting or running. Every athlete has everything in his own hands and feet. Therefore, it is simply incorrect, in my opinion, to talk about the result from the position that some were more fortunate and others less fortunate.

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— Has anyone ever stopped you from shooting?

- I don’t remember such a situation. Since I was a junior, I have accustomed myself to the fact that I am always alone at the turn. It really happens that I don’t hear or see anything. Sometimes I perceive the noise of the stands when there are a lot of spectators, but there is no opponent who could somehow distract me or make me jittery.

- Roughly speaking, they got to the point - and everything is on the drum?

— Roughly speaking, yes.

— Throughout your adult career, you worked with Vitaly Noritsyn and Mikhail Shashilov, but did not get along with either one or the other. What is the reason?

“I’m probably too harmful.” It’s a joke, of course, but our work didn’t go well. It happens. In general, it is a great happiness for an athlete to find “his” specialist. When I trained with Padin for the first time in the 2018/19 season, I realized that he was my man.

- By what signs does this become clear?

— When Andrei Viktorovich and I first started working together, I knew nothing at all about him: what his character was, how he coached, how he behaved with athletes. It’s not that they dissuaded me, but I heard that Padin would ruin me.

- Wasn't that scary?

— I’ve worked with a lot of people, starting with the junior team. And she always trusted all her coaches 100%. I proceeded from the fact that we are equally interested in my result, so you should never question the words of your mentor. What's the point of working if you don't trust the person? So it was with Padin. For myself, I immediately decided that I would not listen to anyone. And I will do everything suggested. I think that’s why Andrei Viktorovich and I have made progress: I performed well at the IBU Cup stages, and the progress was good, and the shooting stabilized. It was very disappointing when Padin was fired and I had no one to work with.

— After that you ended up in Noritsyn’s group?

- Yes. She worked there for a whole season and two more with Shashilov. After this, I decided to go into self-training.

— Didn’t this ruin your relationship with Mikhail Viktorovich?

- No. We both understood that this was how the circumstances developed. First I got sick with Covid, then for some reason I didn’t qualify for international competitions. Even then she began to ask Padin for help. At that time, no one even wrote plans to me. It’s as if everyone completely forgot that there is such a biathlete in Russia.

Well, then, when the question was being decided whether I would work in the national team or stay in the region, I didn’t even hesitate with the decision. I knew that I could train on my own. Although Andrei Viktorovich was very worried then. I constantly asked: am I sure I can handle it?

— Was it difficult to work alone?

— I would say it’s unusual. But only the first time.

— Is there any moral discomfort now? You continue to work virtually alone.

- I'm not alone. I have a regional team around me, there are people who help me, support me, and worry about me. There is a reliable rear, to put it simply. Before the Spartakiad of the Strongest, for example, we held a training camp in Sochi, and a service team came there to prepare our skis. In the summer there is no need to prepare skis, so I can go somewhere alone.

— So in life you are a loner?

“I really like being left to my own devices.” I love a calm environment. If there is a choice between spending time in a company or staying at home, I will most likely prefer the second option.

— I’ve heard many times from track and field athletes and pentathletes: if an athlete “doesn’t run,” it’s impossible to teach him. Does this principle apply in biathlon?

— To increase your speed, you need to train a lot, and most importantly, do it correctly. Padin made me into an athlete who runs with his legs at the top-3 or top-5 level, if we take everyone who is now competing in Russia.

“So I’m trying to understand what blood it takes for you to do this.”

- Big. We work very hard on this. I won’t say that I’m the only one, but in terms of work I never allow myself any indulgences. Moreover, now I see perfectly well that high-speed work has begun to bring the desired result. It's very motivating.

— After three medals won in Zlatoust, do you have the feeling that the plan has been fulfilled, and you can continue to perform for pleasure?

“When I finished the sprint with silver, I mentally said to myself: “I have a medal, now I can breathe out.” But appetite comes with eating! Therefore, I will compete in all remaining races, including relay races. After all, we have not only personal, but also team competition.

— Do you have a preference for stages in relay races?

“We haven’t discussed this yet.”

- And in a past life?

— Most often I accelerated, ran the first stage. I generally like contact racing. And from the outside I often hear that it’s mine. In the same mass starts I almost always finish either in the top six or close to each other. Although I won’t say that I like to push. On the contrary, I try to behave carefully, not step on anyone, not interfere.

“I just pictured the picture: Slivko was starting, and she was like, “Oh, didn’t I bother you?” In general, I would say that men's contact disciplines are not even close to women's ones in terms of the toughness of the struggle for a place in the sun.

- Oh, it's true. I love watching the guys’ races from the general start. Falls happen there too, but only where they are truly inevitable, a kind of extreme. This is the norm for us.

Everyone tries to get ahead as quickly as possible, no matter how. It’s clear that everyone decides for themselves exactly how to organize the race, but I’m pleased to know that I didn’t break anyone along the distance or drop anyone anywhere.

Once I even tried to persuade the girls: let’s calmly get to the first milestone together, and we’ll figure it out there.

- Are you convinced?

- Where there! They answered me: “Yes, yes, yes, we will get to the line together, you will quickly shoot and move on, and the rest will go to penalty loops?”