Team Russia Manager Turns 80!

Yuri Charkovsky most likely is the busiest man in the international cross-country skiing world.

As a manager of the world largest team (the Russians have 40 skiers in the national squad plus roughly equal amount of coaches & support personel) he is in charge of all the logistics.

As the de-facto team captain he’s present on most of the race-related meetings with the FIS & local organizers.

As a coach with decades on international experience ,he is involved in mentoring athletes.

And when all of the above is said and done, he’s doing media interviews (Charkovsky’s accented but very colloquial German is a stuff of legends), negotiates with sponsors, drives athletes to and fro airports…

Did we forget anything?

Oh, yes – something very important!

Somehow , in-between all this Yuri finds time to ski himself. And more miles per season than the most of us do – a couple of years ago he said in interview that 40-50k doesn’t feel like all that much to him.

Charkovsky is a living embodiment of the thesis that healthy lifestyle (hasn’t drunk a drop of alcohol in ” in the last decades” he says , never smoked) AND regular exercise helps to stay active, stay fit longer.

Cheers to your next 80,Yuri – and may they be as exciting as the first!