A month has passed since my disastrous WOC in Vuokatti. And now I feel like it’s time to take a look back.
    There is a word in finnish language "harraste" - a hobby. My "harraste" is photography. In 2009 I got reflex camera into my hands. At the level of an amateur I like to take pictures of everything that I find beautiful or interesting, always wishing to improve my pictures. 
And it takes huge expense of energy. Since the beginning of the WOC I was presented at team meeting as “our photographer," so here I stayed.. half of WOC week being a photographer, but not sportsmen. 
My mental power just burned out.

"The mental preparation is everything. It's above and inside physical, technical and psychological training. Without mental preparation I would spend a lot of my energy before THE RACE. The ultimate goal is what I'm preparing myself for and I want to save all of my energy and power to that goal."..

Jany Lakanen

    Прошло чуть менее 30 дней с момента моего выступления на Чемпионате Мира. Вот только сейчас захотелось описать то, что произошло на Чемпионате.  

Last day of WOC-2013 has brought GOLD to our men's relay team!! What a breathtaking battle it was! Valentin, Leonid and Dmitry won 4th gold medal for Russia in men's WOC relay history. And each time Valentin was in the winning team.
Leonid Novikov became the "Golden man" of this championship, taking home 2 gold medals.
Dmitry Tsvetkov on last leg took the responsibility and pushed our team into the lead in a most stressful and competitive situation!( He told afterwards, that he prepared his "breakaway" 3 controls before it actually happened, mindfully choosing correct moment)
At the end of the WOC Russian men has brought a lot of happiness to all Russian funs! I had often heard someone say: " I remember that fabulous relay victory in Denmark-2006 and I was there myself..." and each time I felt a bit jealous, but now I was happy to witness their amazing and awesome victory with my own eyes! It's almost unspeakable to see how after the tough battle in tricky Vuokatti woods Valentin, Leonid and Dmitry are celebrating behind the finish line!
Galina Vinogradova, Irina Nyberg and Tatiana Ryabkina became 6th in relay. And I congratulate them with the achievement! Each Russian representation in top 6 is collecting valuable points to the team! By the way, all our relay-girls also managed top6 during the WOC individually.