Snowboarder Olga Smeshlivaya about the sense of risk and the support of loved ones
Sport has long been an integral part of our lives.even if at times his presence boils down to awkward attempts to introduce short workouts at home on a dusty yoga mat, or even wear leggings and comfortable workouts. That is why we have prepared a series of interviews with girls who are addicted to or professionally engaged in extreme sports: someone will inspire their examples to sign up for regular classes in the gym, others will be encouraged to ride their first wave somewhere on the African coast. All our heroines ride on different types of boards - from skateboard to surf - and do not think their lives without sports.
It all started with skiing and dislike of winter and cold, and then I saw a snowboard and wanted to try. Immediately I realized that it was mine, in a short time, my passion simply grew into something more. Now I look forward to the winter, and in the summer I try not to part with the snow, training on the glaciers. Due to the lack of good places in Russia for training have to travel frequently. Snowboard almost immediately turned for me from the category of a simple hobby into a professional sport. On the slope near the house where I was skating, we had trainings at the RGS-Stolitsa snowboard school, their trainer noticed me and invited me to the next competitions, and then further trainings with the guys.
Three times I managed to become a champion of Russia, last year I won a prize at the European Cup. I try to take part in competitions whenever possible, it gives a great experience when riding and competing with other riders. During the competition, a lot of work takes place on oneself in the struggle with anxiety and fear.
Girls in this sport are treated as weaker and more fragile. Everything, of course, depends on the person, but most girls are more cautious than guys, which is why in extreme sports, men often perform more complex and dangerous stunts. My main advice is that you don’t need to take a lot of risk and rush trying new tricks. Everything needs to be approached sensibly and constellation.
In extreme sports without injury, unfortunately, no way. You need to understand if you want to achieve something, you have to take risks. My family is always worried and worried about me, but they see how passionate I am, and therefore they fully support and believe in me. Athletes without support in any way - both moral and material, with which my sponsors Völkl, Baby-G, Vans, Dragon, Dakine, 69Slam, Flux, Rip Curl, and Ruzskoe Milk help me a lot.
Snowboarding, like any sport, strengthens my physical form; regular off-season workouts, such as the gym and trampoline, support and make me physically stronger. Extreme sports are those feelings, emotions and atmosphere in which you plunge into your head, you meet people close to you in spirit and you just can’t live without it. At the moment, I finally recovered from a knee injury, thanks to daily workouts in the gym, and fly to America to train and get back into shape after a rather long break.
The editors thank Studio Photoplay for their help in organizing the shooting, as well as the Tsvetnoy department store. In the shooting used items from the collections adidas x Mary Katrantzou, Topshop, adidas x Opening Ceremony.