Interview with boulder WC Olga Shalagina

 

I am at an internet cafe in Yalta, Ukraine (most famous for the conference in 1945), and next to me is Maksim Petrenko, #4 on the world cup ranking 2004. We are about to call Olga Shalagina, superior world champion in bouldering, to invite her to Yalta for some climbing or, alternatively, interview her by phone. Earlier we tried emailing her with some questions that Maksim had translated for me, but we recieved no answer. In the west, we are all aware of the possibilities that come with some publicity but over here things are still different. However, Maksim has now learned that if you are ranked #4 in the world, there are better sponsor deals than just free climbing shoes, and it is now up to us to convince Olga of the same. Of course we are also interested to know how she has become one of the strongest female climbers in the world.

Earlier, Maksim explained to me how difficult it is for people from Ukraine to travel smoothly in Europe. Generally you need two passports and there are always problems with VISA applications. For example, on the phone, Olga tells us that her passport is full and the process of getting her a new passport is so long that there will be no more competitions outside Ukraine this autumn. She will, however, participate in a few local competitions at home and in Russia.

As Maksim, Olga is a professional climber, living on a 200 E/month grant from the ministary. She is now training five days a week to get ready for the world cup season in 2006. When we ask her how she trains to become so strong she asks us to talk to her brother, which is also her trainer. She says that she follows a program that he has set up for the monthly training, which includes a lot of regular campus training but also weight lifting, especially in winter. Right now she is working hard on her weaknesses, such as feet placement etc. The problem, though, is that she hasn't found any good shoes (A cue for climbing companies: Olga has size 36 and 8a has her address).

Strange enough, Olga tells us that she is not focusing on power but rather on endurance. So coming to the WC, she mainly aimed to perform in difficulty and that winning the boulder trophy was just a bonus. This makes us wonder if Olga is just an extreme talent when it comes to power climbing or if bouldering actually requires some form of endurance? Olga also tells us that she is motivated by the fact that every win lands her a bonus and a raised "salary" from the ministry.

About the future, Olga doesn't dream of winning the total World Cup or living the "climbing life". She says she doesn't know if that type of life will suite her. She ends the interview by saying: "Right now, it's just great to be part of a team and train, but since I enjoy competing in difficulty, winning the world championship in that or speed would be great, haha". It will be interesting to see what will happen to this great climbing talent. 8a wishes her all the luck in the world.

Jens Larsen