Ski income: how much did Bolshunov and other Russian athletes earn

The winter season is officially over — skiers, biathletes, and figure skaters are on vacation. And this is a reason to sum up the financial results. We've already done this in figure skating and biathlon, and the numbers are quite impressive. Skiers are next in line. The results are more modest here. For more information, see the Izvestia article.

San Sanych's income has dropped

Where can skiers earn money? Mainly at the Cup and the Russian Championship. At the Cup, the victory is estimated at 100 thousand rubles, the first six skiers receive awards in the format 100 – 80 – 60 – 40 – 20 – 10 thousand rubles. Earns ten points at the national championship: 150 – 120 – 90 – 60 – 40 – 30 – 25 – 20 – 15 – 10. There are also bonuses for high places in the overall standings. For winning the Russian Cup, 300 thousand rubles at once.

It should be noted that our estimates are somewhat different from those featured in other media. So, Metaratings cited the figure of 4.45 million rubles, estimating Bolshunov's earnings. In any case, this is lower than in the 2023/24 season, when Alexander won almost all the races he participated in.

But perhaps this season's numbers are overstated. Firstly, judging by the regulations posted on the federation's website, not all starts of the Russian championship involve prize—winning events, but only those that took place in Kazan, without marathons and other races scheduled for other dates and places. Plus, we do not have a specific layout for the prize money from the "Race of Champions" — although the leaders of the ski rating were not very successful in it.

Of course, there are always prizes that are difficult to determine precisely — at various regional competitions such as the Monchegorsk Marathon. We decided to take into account the Cup and the Russian Championship. Most likely, our figures can be multiplied mentally by 1.1–1.2, especially in the case of Bolshunov, who, for example, went to a night race in Italy and earned another €2,000 for winning there. But the order of sports earnings of skiers can be determined quite accurately — it is unlikely that it is higher than 3 million rubles.

For men, the top three looks like this at the end of the season:

1. Savely Korostelev – 2,452,500 rubles

2. Alexander Bolshunov — 2,197,500

3. Sergey Ardashev – 1,547,500

The most successful women have earned:

1. Daria Nepryaeva – 2,272,500

2. Natalia Terentyeva — 1,782,500

3. Ekaterina Smirnova — 1,397,500

Finishing collection: how Alexander Bolshunov got in shape at the end of the season

The three-time Olympic champion confidently won the super marathon in the Czech Republic, but is already thinking about next season.

Interesting is the rise of Natalia, who missed the first part of the season due to the birth of a child, but then returned and mowed down the Russian Championship and other races. But she almost didn't get to Daria's younger sister. And, of course, the very fact that someone in Russia has earned more than Bolshunov already means a change of era. However, Alexander's level will greatly depend on his Olympic prospects. A trip to Cortina d'Ampezzo will greatly change his attitude towards the upcoming season.

Norwegians and figure skaters are no match

But these figures are completely incomparable with international competitions under the auspices of the FIS. We compare similar with similar — without commercial launches. So, Korostelev, the richest Russian Cup racer in prize money, would have been only 22nd in the World Cup with his earnings, between American Ben Ogden and Norwegian Ansgar Evensen.

The winner and the absolute favorite of the season, Johannes Klebo, received 339,200 Swiss francs before taxes over the winter. That is, the Norwegian replenished his wallet by 34 million rubles. But it is clear that Klebo is not like everyone else. The second place went to Eric Valnes, with 12.6 million rubles. These amounts are more mundane and closer to ours, but still far away. They have more races, and they have sponsors. The situation is similar for women. Diggins and Johaug earned about 20 million rubles each, and Nepryaeva would have become the 27th.

The phenomenon is understandable and logical, if not for one "but". There is a winter sport where in Russia they earn more or comparable with their foreign counterparts. We don't even take hockey and KHL opportunities into account — we're talking about figure skating. The highest—paid figure skater in the world at the end of the season is Mark Kondratyuk, and almost exclusively due to his victory at the Russian Challenge show program tournament. It wasn't the most successful season. And biathletes have significantly higher amounts. The leaders of the season, Victoria Slivko and Karim Khalili, became rich by 7.1 and 5.5 million rubles, respectively.

In general, entering the international arena will not hinder skiers even economically. True, the Olympics is not a commercial competition, but in Russia the government traditionally generously honors the winners. The international federation and the IOC have the floor.