"Bolshunov can learn from my stress tolerance"

Skier Savely Korostelev's best result at the 2026 Olympics was fourth place in skiathlon. But the lack of medals in Italy did not prevent the athlete from becoming a star, including outside the fan community. One of the reasons is a joke on the verge of a foul that spread on the Internet about the lack of condoms in the Olympic village and the deprivation of gift smartphones from the organizers of the Olympics for Russian athletes. And then there's the story of the "sex marathon" that the porn actress offered the skier if he won the race. Korostelev himself is calm about such popularity. On April 7, Savely took part in a meeting with the Minister of Sports and President of the ROC Mikhail Degtyarev. And then he answered questions from Izvestia and Sport—Express about the Olympics, Internet memes, messages from fans in Yandex. Direct, and public pickups with the leader of Russian skiing, Alexander Bolshunov.

"You need to feel the edge in shocking statements"

— What are your impressions of the meeting with the minister?

— Mikhail Vladimirovich supports us, promotes our interests in the legal field. With his help, we have gained a neutral status in many sports. It was the first time I met him personally. Nice.

— You had an official part where journalists were present, and then a closed one. What were they talking about?

— We just talked. The minister asked us what was going on in our lives.

— You were also given gadgets that the organizers of the Olympics refused. Is it pleasant?

— Thank you all very much! I haven't decided what I'm going to do about it yet.

— At the 2026 Olympics, you made a great and not entirely censorious joke about the fact that athletes were deprived of condoms and smartphones. She became a meme. Now they've given me a smartphone...

— But you'll have to go to the store for the first one (laughs)! It turned out to be a big meme, I found it funny. Ski mountaineer Nikita Filippov arrived at the Olympics later, he was not aware that nothing was being given out. And I quoted it, and it sold out.

— Were you surprised that it went beyond the sports world?

— It's cool! I am in favor of involving people in sports by hook or by crook. People came up to me and said they started watching ski racing after the porn actress' statement. They saw her words, were surprised, and went in: "Oh, how cool, you can watch the races."

— Did you feel that your personal popularity increased after the Olympics?

— Of course. The Olympics is an event. Previously, if you qualified for the Games, it meant that you were already a top athlete. Unfortunately, we didn't have a direct selection process. But there was also more attention — not so many Russian athletes got to the Olympics. That's why there is increased attention to everyone.

— Has something started coming to yandex.Direct? Are there more fans?

— It became a little more than zero (laughs). Before that, they wrote once a month. Now two or three times!

— What was the most ridiculous thing you wrote?

— When a pornographic actress suggested a 24-hour sex marathon! Honestly, I was laughing about it all for half the day. But then this news got to me. They kept throwing it at me. Friends, acquaintances, and even Grandma sent it!

— And how did Grandma react to all this?

- She said, "Cool, mentally relieved. Now let's get ready for the race!"

— You speak vividly. Who do you follow as an example in dealing with the media?

— I like people who are not from the world of sports, who show themselves in public — they get high from their words! I won't name who it is. I can only say that these are musicians who prefer outrageous. But everything has its limits, you need to feel the edge.

— Russian athletes sometimes try their hand at music. For example, figure skaters. Would you like to try it?

— I don't think I can do it. Even in terms of style. I think the rhyme about smartphones is my maximum.

— Do you keep in touch with Nikita Filippov?

— We exchange messages. The guy's cool. I read that he has the same reviews about me. I think we'll continue to be friends.

— There is a pretentious saying that the Russian national team at the Olympics is one family. Could you feel it?

— I think it is. But not in my case. We were on different clusters, and only Daria Nepryaeva and I lived in the mountains. The rest of the guys were in other places — it turned out to be disjointed.

— What kind of attitude did you encounter in the Olympic village?

— Actually, we didn't spend much time there. We lived outside. But when did you arrive… Everyone is smiling! No one cares where you're from. An exceptionally friendly vibe.

— There is a tradition of exchanging badges at the Olympics between athletes. What was it like in your case?

— This is usually handled by national committees. But we imagined ourselves, we didn't have badges. The organizers provided Olympic souvenirs — it was necessary to complete a couple of quests. I've done it a little bit, and my chest is covered in badges. Many of our athlete friends just gave us souvenirs. It turned out to be an exchange, in general.

Debut run-in: how was the international season for our skiers?

Korostelev and Nepryaeva showed that Russians are able to compete for high World Cup places, despite a long ban.

"In the story of Bolshunov, I was not the first to go to the information field"

— Your fight with Alexander Bolshunov has added interest to skiing. Do you feel it?

- of course. Any of my statements, any of Sasha's words, will be released to the public. As well as any actions. But I wasn't the first to go to the infofield.

— Was Bolshunov the first to start picking up?

"Not me personally. But he voiced a reaction to this.

— You said that it's worth learning from Bolshunov how he finds motivation in himself. And what can he learn from you?

— Stress tolerance.

— Let's imagine that Bolshunov and Korostelev are going to the next Olympics. Will they tear everyone up?

— I will answer this question only in four years. Who knows what kind of shape I'll be in, what kind of shape Sasha will be in. Now we can only guess, but I won't risk answering what will happen for the next Games.

— You were choosing between the World Cup in the USA and the Russian Cup final in Kirovsk. And I stopped at the second one. Why?

— Of course, I wanted to go to the USA. But I sat down and thought with a cool head — it's very energy-consuming to go overseas. It takes ten hours to get there from Europe, plus several transfers. And we have so much luggage... it's all problematic. I would not say that the American stage of the World Cup played a big role. We decided that we shouldn't go there.

— Did the coaches consult with you when they made the decision?

— Of course, the athlete always has the last word. We realized that it wasn't worth it. Not in terms of money, but in terms of energy costs. Let's just say we were at the end of our strength: the end of the season, constant travel, and we hadn't been home for four months. Put it all together, it wasn't worth it.

— Did you have any problems with visas?

— To obtain a US visa, you now also need to have a Schengen visa. This complicates the process. If we had been there, it would not have been difficult to apply to the embassy. In fact, we had all the documents ready — we had to sign up and come. But we decided we weren't going. They did not submit.

— Do you have a feeling inside that the full return of Russian sports is near?

— It's hard to say what will happen next season. But I really hope that more and more guys will be able to compete at the World Cup.