Olena ZUBRYLOVA: "What helped me win was not an alignment of the stars"

Olena Zubrylova was born February 25, 1973, in Shostka, Sumy oblast. She is 161 cm tall and weighs 62 kg. Serving in the military, she has won three championships and four-times silver medals in world class competitions. Her best result in the Olympic Games was fifth place in the relay at Nagano; her second best in the current World Cup. Married, she has a four-year daughter Tania.

"Olena, you are said to have been awarded the title of silver lady abroad two years ago. How do you take this?"

"With humor. There was an amusement center in a Kyiv park called the American Hills and a similar one in the US called Russian Hill. The same story with my title: my homeland thinks I was awarded it abroad, while foreigners think just the opposite. In 1997, at the world championship in Osorbley, I won three silver medals. This is when it all started. This season, too, I finished second in the World Cup first stage. That was a great honor for me."

"But the silver fairy has already turned into a golden one, as shown by three firsts in the latest world championship. What do you feel about your new status?"

"Frankly speaking, it hasn't sunk in yet. It is very hard to change one's psychology, when you turn from a mid-level into a leader. You are always under pressure from some complex (is it inferiority?), when you have to catch up with or reach someone. But transition from second place to leader is smoother, for we compete with one specific person."

"But this happy moment was still two years away. Having come then, after your Silver Rain, to the Nagano Olympics as a favorite, you stayed behind the winners' line."

"Yes, I was very upset then. After a dizzying success, I came, like they say, tumbling back to our sinful earth. I know it happens to everyone: after a disappointing failure you want to give up everything and do something entirely different. For example, to grow flowers or build dirigibles. I'm joking, of course, but I did think of abandoning the biathlon and taking up Nordic skiing again. Precisely at that moment, my coach and husband convinced me that my many years of efforts should not be wasted. Giving up is the easiest thing to do."

"It is very important that in the right time and the right place you were accompanied by a man who backed up the utterly downbeat future champion. It was Roman Zubrylov whom you married in 1993, five years before what you call failure at Nagano. Meanwhile, many experts claim that such a tandem, for rare exceptions, is a hindrance in achieving high results. They say this is because of compassion, softness, and so on."

"Let's say ours is truly a happy exception. We discussed beforehand all points and decided never to mix work (training) with our private relationship."

"Does this mean you have really entered into what foreigners call a contract marriage, with everything carefully itemized?"

"It's some contract when Roman burdened me with such strenuous training that I am still surprised at my ability to withstand it."

"You are always inseparable from Roman: during training, visits, competitions, at home, and on vacation. Isn't this too much? For there are endless examples when too close personal contact lead to quarrels."

"Who knows? This might happen if you go around hand in hand for days on end. But when you are united with your partner by what you love to do, you never get bored. Moreover, this kind of contact has its own advantages: we complement each other. Of course, minor spats and fits of temper do happen. While earlier I strictly obeyed him in training sessions, two years ago I 'displayed' an opinion of my own. This is only natural, for I had gained experience participating in major international competitions."

"The town of Shostka is better known as producer of Svema color film. Does this film bear the images of Olena Zubrylova's victorious finishes on the biathlon pistes?

"I'm not sure, but you are right that I was born and went to a children's skiing school and then took up the biathlon precisely in Shostka."

"You learned to ski fast at Shostka, one can put up an improvised shooting-range quickly, but what about surmounting steep slopes? And, in general, do you know how to ski downhill?"

"I certainly do, it's part of the training plan. You have to cope with slopes at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour on a biathlon piste. If you fall, imagine the impact! Injury is one thing, but then what if the rifle you have got used to for many months breaks? So I obligatorily train twice a year at the Tysovets base in the Carpathians."

"Speaking of arms, what make do you prefer?"

"Earlier I used to fire an Izh, but now I have switched over to the German-made Antschus. It never loses its qualities at any temperature and guarantees a close pattern of shooting. But the Russian rifle has its own pluses: it can chamber rounds almost automatically, while in the case of the Antschus you must do it very carefully and thoroughly, which reduces the rapidity of fire."

"How many shots do you make during a training session?"

"All depends on the objective you set: from 50 to 300."

"Watching the biathletes compete, one has to think that you are very tough people. Aren't you afraid of frost even a little?"

"I certainly am! I am not delighted even when it is minus twenty outside. A very 'thrilling' sensation is a frosty face-burning wind. Little wonder, most biathletes like relaxing in warmth and coziness. For instance, sitting by a fireplace with a cup of hot coffee in hand."

"You won your first gold medal in the world championship on February 3, twelve days before your birthday. Many astrologers claim that people's physical strength peaks close to one's birthday."

"It turned out that way, but what helped me was not a special alignment of the stars but my painstaking training beforehand."

"But wasn't this birthday present welcome anyway?"

"A birthday, like a soccer match, takes place in any kind of weather. And this time, too, there were toasts in my honor. But what we clinked were cups of tea, not glasses of champagne."

"We have rejected astrology, but many athletes have good luck charms or special superstitions. What about you?"

"I dreamed before the previous world championship that I had been leading for a long time on the piste but was overtaken in the final meters. It then happened exactly like that. You can't help believing prophetic dreams! As to mascots, before starting, I always stroke my dear rifle and say: we have to make it. This is quite sincere."

"To hit targets is your job. And what about hunting?"

"For me that's something quite different."

"But you must like at least something. What does your husband present you with after a victory, on your birthday, or a holiday?"

"Roses."

"Like in the song?"

"No, I don't need millions of roses, three will be enough if they are from a loved one."

"And a woman shouldn't be entirely indifferent to candy."

"I never refuse to treat myself to chocolate or cake with coffee. Earlier, I even baked, but today, due to lack of time, I have to content myself with store-bought Kyivski tort. You may ask, what about the regimen. Athletes choose it individually. I am not a gymnast, so sweet doughnuts do me no harm."

"What other sports do you like?"

"Feminine ones. Such as rhythmic gymnastics, figure skating, and lawn-tennis."

"Do you have a vulnerable nature?"

"Very much so, but I try not to show it. What I hate most is rudeness and conceit. The coarse catcalls of spectators along the piste also leave a bitter taste in my mouth."

"You have a four-year daughter. Do you see her as a future biathlete?"

"She is sure to take up sports, but which one is up to her. But even now little Tania can ski and asks for a toy gun..."

"It feels like Mom is her captain. You have been promoted to this rank ahead of schedule for your brilliant wins."

"I could as well be expecting to become a major, had I won a couple of more races in the world championship."

"And the last thing. Have you ever suffered from that very contagious disease, stardom?"

"Only a little. I got over it quickly and easily. Glory is today for me no more than a modest reward, which provides the joy of personal contacts."