Natalia Nepryaeva: Sometimes Feel Like Turning Around And Whacking Particularly Annoying Ones

We love it when in interviews top skiers instead of prowessing some internal kumbaya between all stakeholders, actually don’t hold their tongues.

Enter Natalya Nepryaeva. In conversation with Sportbox.ru
the leader of the Russian tea had this to say (among the other things, clearly).

“…When I train in the forest, I always do so with earphones. Can’t stand when people I don’t know try to engage me in conversation, tell me what their impressions of my performance were and so on. After Tour de Ski this year some ” veterans of skiing ” who I never met before wanted to engage me in conversation on the tracks as if we were to be best friends. And I was thinking ” Please leave me do my job! I’m not coming to that office where you work and waste your time asking how are you doing, do I? Why should I waste my time on you when I have my training goal to reach today?” But I didn’t actually tell them that, just kept on ignoring them. Surely, some were offended, some thought I was behaving like a vain celebrity – but that’s really not my problem…

…Often enough amateur skiers try to get behind you on the tracks and effort to keep your tempo. While staying as close as possible, including stepping on your skis. Irritated? I actually feel like turning around and whacking particularly annoying ones over their heads! I have to keep a certain tempo on training – and when you get some clingy right behind you, you unconsciously start to accelerate away, exceeding heart rate zone you mean to stay in…”

Source:
https://news.sportbox.ru/Vidy_sporta/cross_country/spbnews_NI1184367_Natalja_Neprajeva_O_biatlonistah_govorat_bolshe_Somnitelnaja_popularnost_Mne_takaja_tochno_ne_nuzhna