December 18, 1982: World Cup in Davos, Switzerland. Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass won the 15-kilometer race ahead of fellow countryman Tor Haakon Holtet. Gunde Svan makes his second World Cup competition in his career and finishes fifth. In seventeenth place comes the 18-year-old debutant Vladimir Smirnov:

“I started cross-country skiing when I was eleven years old, and it was only at the age of 14 that I understood that skiing was something I could invest in. Then the first dream was to be able to travel around and compete in the “old Soviet Union.” It was only later that I realized that I would have the chance to reach even further than that,” says Vladimir Smirnov, who was born and raised skiing in Schuchinsk, Kazakhstan, where the Roller Ski World Cup was contested last week. 

Read More: Roller Ski World Cup in Smirnov’s hometown 

What were the strengths that took you to the top of the world?

“I would say technique and patience. Patience was needed above all on the longer distances. In general, 30km was my best distance, and I succeeded almost every time. The 50km was a little more uncertain, but it often went well even there. And my strength was that I was very good technically,” says Smirnov to Langd.se.

After all, traditional cross-country skiing has increasingly shifted to shorter races with a mass start. How do you see it, and how would it suit you?

“I would say that it is not about the individual performances in the same way anymore. There will be a lot of focus on sprint characteristics. This makes training look completely different. During “my time,” we trained to maintain a high average speed. The shorter races and more mass starts in cross-country skiing make both the training and the skiers look completely different. So, honestly, I don’t know how this would suit me,” says Smirnov.

But we know that his skiing and training produced a long and highly successful career. The first victory in the World Cup came in 1984. First Olympic medal four years later, and the following year, in Lahti, Finland, he became World Champion for the first time, with a gold in the 30km race.

But when questioned about his best memory, the answer comes straight away:

“The Olympic Gold in the 50km in Lillehammer. I felt before the race that it could be my last chance to win the Olympics. I knew the form was very good, and I took Silver in both 10 and 15km earlier during the event. After those races, I chose to stand over the relay to concentrate on the 50km fully. And I really got the perfect race,” says Smirnov.

Two hours, seven minutes, and twenty seconds (with a margin of victory of almost a minute and a half to Mika Myllylä) took Vladimir Smirnov to be Kazakhstan’s first Olympic Champion of all time:

“It was and is a great honor for me. Unforgettable. It hadn’t been that many years since Kazakhstan became independent (1991), and there weren’t many who showed their nationality at the international level,” says Smirnov, who the following year won three golds at the World Championships in Thunder Bay, Canada:

“I think the others were perhaps a little tired after the Olympics. Therefore, maybe it was a little bit of my luck,” he says humbly.

By then, Smirnov had been living in Sweden for several years.

How did you end up in Sundsvall?

“After the World Championships in Val di Fiemme 1991, Jelena Välbe and I were invited to Sundsvall and Östersund for invitational competitions. And I immediately liked Sundsvall very much, so already a few months later, I moved here,” says 59-year-old Smirnov, who since 2015 has been trying to get more people to move both to and within Sundsvall. This is when he works as a broker:

“Most people I am in contact with recognize my background as a skier. This makes it easy to find common topics to talk about besides the professional with the object they are interested in.”

How is your form at the moment?

“I like to be in good physical shape. I still ski a lot, and then I run and paddle,” says Vladimir Smirnov.

Here are all of Vladimir Smirnov’s Championships medals 

Olympics 

1988 Calgary, Canada

• 30km Silver
• 15km Bronze

1994 Lillehammer, Norway

• 10km Silver
• Pursuit Silver
• 50km Gold

1998 Nagano, Japan

• Pursuit Bronze

He also competed in Albertville in 1992, where his best result was 8th in the Pursuit.

World Championships 

1989 Lahti, Finland

• 30km Gold

1991 Val di Fiemme, Italy

• 30km Silver
• 15km Bronze

1993 Falun, Sweden

• 30km Bronze
• 10km Silver
• Pursuit Silver

1995 Thunder Bay, Canada

• 30km Gold
• 10km Gold
• Pursuit Gold
• 50km Bronze

He also competed in the World Championships in 1985 (Seefeld, best result 16th), 1987 (Oberstdorf, best result 5th), and 1997 (Trondheim, best result 4th).

World Cup

He debuted in Davos in 1982. The last competition was Holmenkollen’s 50km race in 1998.

His first victory was in Kavgolovo in 1984, a total of 29 World Cup victories.