Russian Kayak-Canoe Federation | Yuliana Salakhova - Oleg (Aleh) Yurenia, Belarusian paddler was born on May 21st 1990 in the village Pravyje Mosty (Grodno region). He has been living and training in Brest (Belarus) since 2006.

In London Aleh did have a considerable chance to win an Olympic medal, but he finished sixth. He has numerous World and Europe championships awards under his belt:

• Twice Europe champion (2010, 2011) in 5000m
• Two-time 1000m Europe championship silver medallist (2010, 2011)
• World championship silver medallist of in 5000m (2011)
• Bronze at 2010 World championship in 1000m. 
• World Cup Winner (2010) and one of World Cups (2013)

Today Aleh will race at the European Championships in Portugal and had a chat with Yuliana.

How do you rate your performance at the 2012 Olympics?
“Terrible! There were mistakes in my preparation, though I can’t really say that I wasn’t ready, I was perfectly ready.

I like early starts, when you have to get up early. At the Olympic Games we ordered buses rather late and it turned out that I arrived at Eton Dorney 55 minutes before the start. I’m not accustomed to that, I usually go on the water for an hour and a half before the start, warm up, and after that I still have time to have some rest.

In this case I spent 30 minutes on the water, warmed up, stretched my hands and headed to the star. The Olympics are not a normal competition - the anxiety is, of course, greater here. And you feel more serious about it, it was hard. At the start I felt like I was made of rubber.

I didn’t like the channel [at Eton Dorney], perhaps, because of the bad weather. I was dissatisfied with my result - sometimes I can’t even remember whether I was 6th or 7th. I deleted this result from my memory.

What plans do you have for the next 4-year Olympic cycle?
“I’m eager to take part in the next Olympic Games and show that I can perform better. I am absolutely sure I haven’t done my best, my time was worse than that of the athletes in the Final B.

I want to prove my high level as an athlete, to settle down even more in the world elite of paddlers, to set the rhythm, to make everybody afraid of me for the next 4 years,” he laughs.
Are you planning to prepare for the next Olympics only in a single boat or would you like to try team boats?

“Actually, I want to be good in a single boat. I have a little problem with my position – I tend to heel the boat and it will be difficult for my partner. When you work at a high rate, it’s not so obvious, but when you push the boat over the finish line, you feel that you fall to one side.

This is the result of my training when I was a child. When I was 14-15 years old, I was already a champion among juniors and the coach told me; ‘Well, Oleg, I’ll give you a new boat, a new Proma’. We were training in a village and the boats were delivered to us from the town. I was very glad, but finally they brought me an old boat. Its nose was melted by the sun and the pin for the seat was fixed a bit too much to the right, instead of the centre, as it should be. That’s why my position in the boat is a bit uneven.”

Do you plan to take part in all 3 World Cups? How have you been preparing for them?
“No, only in two of them: Szeged, Racice. And then – back home. I haven’t been training especially for World Cups, I haven’t done distance work yet, maybe only during Belorussia Cup. I have only been training during the competitions. I have a rather tight schedule of competitions in this season; Europe and World championships. This year I want to take part in both the regular and junior World Cups at university in Kazan.”

Is it better to train with your team from Belorussia or, as many leading athletes like Max Hoff and Adam Van Koeverden do, train with an international group?
“I would like it very much to try and train with them, but I’m unaccustomed to leave the team. Although, I train at home in Brest, I would enjoy training with Hoff and Koeverden in Florida…”

Do you have a psychologist in your team?
“I think psychology plays an important role. Our girls do have one, but I can’t say I would reveal myself to a psychologist! I think it’s because of our Slavic mentality; we are not used to open ourselves to psychologists, as they do in American movies. In reality, we don’t believe a psychologist can help. So we rely only on ourselves!”

Who do you think are your main rivals? Do you pay attention to anyone in particular?
“In fact, everyone is a rival, everyone is equal and strong! Sometimes Max Hoff surprises me because of his preparation. At times he is the same as everybody else, but others he is so quick like Dyachenko and Postrigay. I don’t underestimate anyone and train hard.”

Watch out for fire-cracker Oleg fresh from birthday celebrations, he aims to make his mark on this season’s field. In his words, his favourite channel; the one where he wins!

Today Aleh will start at 08:44 CET. Timetable and website: http://canoesprintportugal.com/timetable-and-results.html