“I have one goal: to win!”

Summer Grad Prix winner 2019, Stefaniya Nadymova, is an ambitious athlete. For this week's TUESDAY TALK, the Russian number one reflected on her biggest win this summer, her eternal rival Tara Geraghty-Moats and goals for the next COC winter.

After an intense fight throughout the Summer Grand Prix 2019, you were finally able to win the overall trophy this year. What does this victory mean to you?

Stefaniya Nadymova: The Summer Grand Prix was a very important tournament for me. It was important for me to return to the competitions and be a part of the fight for the overall victory. All my preparations in spring and summer were planned for this tour and I am very glad that everything worked out for us in the end. To hold a trophy like this in their hands is the dream of any athlete and it is in my hands!

With Tara Geraghty-Moats, you face tough competition in each event. Is it helpful to have a strong opponent like this to push yourself and become better?

Nadymova: Yes, it’s useful for me. Tara is a strong opponent who pushes me to train, train and train. I really respect her, and it just so happened that she was the measuring stick of the level of performance last winter. She produced an excellent series of victories, but we have drawn our conclusions and now we are preparing for a new fight. This winter season, I, Gyda Westvold Hansen and the rest of the girls from the other countries will try to make her fight for it. I am sure the scenario of last season will not repeat so easily this year.

Another highlight must have been the third place in the Mixed Team event this summer. How was it to compete together with the men and are you looking forward to more of these events in the years to come?

Nadymova: The Mixed Team event turned out to be a surprise for me. I didn't expect that the first start in this discipline would be so successful for us. I felt even more joy about this third place with our team than from my personal medals. The whole team worked very well, thank you all for this great experience.

Unfortunately, Vitaly Ivanov injured himself during the Russian nationals just some weeks ago. Without him, we will not be able to achieve such good results. But of course, I want to see more starts in this format in the calendar.

Women's Nordic Combined in Russia is strong. At the national championships, you became Russian champion facing 22 other women. How does it feel to be a team leader of one of the biggest nations in the sport?

Nadymova: I don’t really think about being a leader in a team or not. It’s very important to me to feel that our women's team can be and should be a leader in the world. The Russian Championships is a very important event for me, I will try to never give anyone the first place, of course, while I'm in the sport. (laughs)

Which goals have you picked for the upcoming winter 2019/20?

Nadymova: I have one goal - to win. There can be no other goals. I'll try to take the overall trophy in this season.

What is your training plan until the season start**?**

Nadymova: Until the 20th of October, we were in Sochi, where our team had a ski jumping camp. Then we'll go to ski on the first natural snow at Vershina Tyoi (Republic of Khakassia). After this camp we will be in Chaikovsky for more skijumping training and before the Continental Cup in the USA we are going to visit Nizhny Tagil.

Anastasia Shuhova