Alexander GovorovCorrespondent SportAll materialsBy the age of 26, Russian skier Natalya Nepryaeva already has three Olympic medals and is the only winner in the country's history of the most prestigious Tour de Ski. The success story of our ski queen from Tver, who climbed to the top step of the podium even before she was born. First successes In February 1995, the athlete from Tver, Irina Krupysheva, won gold as part of the Russian relay team at the Winter Universiade in Spain. Seven months later, Irina had a daughter, Natalya. The same Natalya Nepryaeva, who in 22 years will become the winner of the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. For the first time, Natalya started skiing at the age of three, and from the age of seven she was already seriously involved in sports under the strict guidance of her mother and Alexander Smirnov. When the girl was 14 years old, it was already clear that a real champion could grow out of her. She won one regional competition after another, and at the age of 18 she became the winner of the youth world championship. A year later, the Russian woman won the gold of the junior world championship. In 2015, Nepryaeva was first taken to the main Russian team. At first, she took places outside the points zone at the World Cup, because of which she was very worried. She did not like to lose since childhood and did not understand why she could not compete with the leaders in any way. After the 2016/17 season, she even thought about ending her professional career, because her ambitions did not match the results at all.
