br>
Skier Anastasia Dotsenko was suspended in 2017 for violating anti-doping rules, along with many other participants in the 2014 Olympic Games. Later, sports arbitration acquitted most of the athletes. But not Dotsenko; her results, shown from 2014 to 2017, were annulled. In an interview with Sport, the skier, who continues to compete at the age of 37, spoke about Rodchenkov’s delirium, patriotism, kind Elena Vyalbe and how not to hate sports.
“Vyalbe cooked food for us, walked around in an apron «
— Anastasia, how to beat 20-year-olds?
— Honestly, I don’t even know , but I can do it. As you get older, you worry less about yourself before the start, because you already have a family, children, and competitions cease to be the center of the universe.
— How long do you plan to perform at a professional level?
—I don’t stop by for a long time. There is an incentive, there is support from the Tatarstan Federation. Any fees are financed if you show results. Our federation spares no expense.
— In 2017, you were banned for life from participating in the Olympics. Remember that day?
— This was the first season after returning from maternity leave, Elena Valeryevna Vyalbe called personally and said. We then arrived at the World Cup stage in Sweden, and they told me right before the race. We packed our things and flew home.
— What did you feel?
“I couldn’t believe it.” I was completely sure that a trial would begin and it would turn out to be a mistake. Even when I was already summoned to court, I spoke in front of the audience, but I did not believe that this was happening to me. I was 100% confident in myself. No one has ever fully presented evidence. Two years of investigations, nothing was found, or maybe they weren’t looking for anything, they were just stalling for time, I don’t know. After two years, the suspension was lifted, there was no disqualification.
— Did you give up then?
— Anything happened. I received great support from the republican team, the senior coach of the Tatarstan national team, Eduard Shaykhnurovich Galeev. There were mood swings, thoughts of ending everything, then continuing. But I understood that I hadn’t said everything yet.
— Did you feel relieved when the lifelong suspension was replaced with inadmissibility to the 2018 Olympics?
—It’s hard to remember. It was probably a relief. I try not to remember this, this story frayed my nerves.
— In Rodchenkov’s report, you were on the list of athletes who used Duchess (a mixture of anabolic steroids with elite alcohol — ed.). Is this even possible in sports?
— It's not even about sports. How can you imagine this — taking some kind of medication with alcohol? These are incompatible things. I don’t understand how you could trust a person and such nonsense. To be honest, I never saw him before the proceedings. He probably wanted everyone to recognize him.
— As a person who suffered more than other skiers, can you say who is to blame? Is there any resentment?
— There is no resentment. I don’t know who to be offended by, I don’t know who is to blame for all this. We just fell into this meat grinder. I don’t know why exactly I ended up there, why not other people. So it had to be this way. There is no way to return anything now. So this is my sporting destiny.
— Did Vyalbe support you? She says she supports skiers as if she were her children.
— This is no longer the case now. Nowadays they have more family relationships and more cohesion. I think it comes with results. Previously, it was not the case that the national team is a family.
— Is the president of the federation feared in the national team?
«Vyalbe does not prohibit, but convinces»
—You were would you be ready to participate in international competitions in a neutral status?
— Probably not. I'm a patriot. Now it’s hard for me to talk like that, I’m not in the national team, I don’t know how the guys feel.
— Elena Valerievna has said many times that she is categorically against the participation of Russians in the Olympic Games without a flag and anthem. Do you think this is correct?
—I don’t think she forbids it. Maybe she conducts conversations, talks, convinces the guys. But in any case, each athlete must decide for himself; everyone is already an adult.
— Do you understand the people who have decided to change their sports citizenship?
— Every person has the right to decide and choose his own destiny. If it doesn’t bother him, if his conscience is clear… I probably wouldn’t be able to do that. I run in Russia and I would run. At one time I was invited to compete for Kazakhstan, but I didn’t go.
—Why?
— It’s an honor to play for Russia, it’s pride. Although I grew up and was born in Kazakhstan, I spent my entire adult life in Russia, and here I started skiing. I couldn’t, because I knew that I would live in Russia, and running around and returning was not in my character.
— They promised mountains of gold there?
—We didn’t even communicate about this.
>— Vyalbe prohibits skiers from changing their sports citizenship.
— She says this about the collections. I don’t think anyone there even thought about it, because they know that it’s unrealistic. Probably, if a person is from the region and not on the national team, then he can change.
— Don’t you miss European ski slopes and international competitions now? Would you like to go to Sweden, Germany, Norway?
—For the last two years I have been let go. I started running at the Russian level and became useful for my region. When I feel useful, I am motivated. I understand that due to my age I am not included in the Russian national team, so I see no point in talking about this.