The Russian ski school is rich in big names, and one of them is Sergey Shiryaev. A participant in the Olympics in Vancouver went through a difficult career path, which included both success and scandals, but he constantly proved his professional level.
Carier start
Sergey Yuryevich Shiryaev was born on February 8, 1983 and already at school he began to professionally practice skiing. As a student, at the age of 18, the young Russian began to participate in Russian competitions, where, having gained two years of experience in performing, he began to regularly get into the top ten.
In 2005, he was invited to play for the national team, and the first tournament turned out to be quite successful for Sergey - in the Austrian Innsbruck, the 8th came in the 30 km race. In November of the same year in Finland, Shiryaev first climbed the podium, winning the silver at the nine-kilometer distance, and a month later he won the gold medal on the Italian highway in Dobbiaco, winning the 15 km race.
International success
But, despite his successes, the Russian did not get to the Winter Olympic Games in Turin due to the presence of more experienced teammates. Despite missing such an important start, Sergei Shiryaev set himself the goal of getting to the next Olympics, having climbed the podium 7 times in 2006, 4 of which with a gold medal. The next season began for the skier with two victories - in Cavalese and Davos.
In the February relay race, Shiryaev also added a phenomenal finish to the list of his achievements. Speaking at the last stage, the lag of more than 30 seconds did not become a problem for the Russian - at the finish line Sergey “brought” 0.7 seconds to his rivals, creating a real sensation and becoming a living legend of the Russian national team. However, the athlete's joy was soon overshadowed by unpleasant news from the International Ski Federation.
Doping and Disqualification
In March 2007, an anti-doping company found the erythropoietin drug in Sergey’s sample “A”, which soon confirmed the autopsy of the athlete’s second test. Following the meeting of the commission, Sergei Shiryaev received two years of disqualification. After the decision was announced, the Russian side conducted its own investigation, which revealed the guilt of the Russian coaches - Anatoly Chepalov and Alexander Bazaichenko. For violation of the coaching, both specialists were suspended from work with the national team for several years.
An attempt to return to the elite
Sergei Shiryaev did not abandon his dream of going to the Olympics and two weeks after the completion of the doping disqualification he became the winner of the 10 km race in the French Metabyeu. In just a year, the Russian was able to prove that he was able to compete for medals at competitions of any level, and was sent by coaches to the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. However, at the main world start, the athlete could not get on the podium: taking part in two races (15 km freestyle and a 50 km marathon), Sergei did not get into the Russian relay four, leaving his dreams of medals.
Despite the failure, Sergei Shiryaev in his first interview after the Olympics said that he expects to win a medal at the home tournament in Sochi in 2014. The skier immediately began to confirm his words with successes in national, continental and world championships. In 2010, after the Olympic Games, the athlete again had 7 medals, of which three were of the highest standard. The next year, Shiryaev spent even more productively, albeit at a lower level. Most often falling only to European and Russian competitions, the skier became a winner 5 times, and four times a tournament winner.
Despite the stable winning of the awards, the state of the Russian began to deteriorate, and in the next two seasons Sergey Shiryaev, the skier, who was recently considered the favorite in any race, practically did not appear in prize-winners, only three times being second, and once again the third. The coaches hoped that this decline will be replaced by a successful wave of the athlete, but in 2014, the Russian only once got into the top ten, taking 10th place in the Austrian marathon at the beginning of the season, and in 2015, taking part in two races, was removed from the national team, where the experienced Shiryaev squeezed more successful young athletes. In the future, Sergey performed only at national and amateur competitions, where he was often invited as international-class masters of sports and is still invited.