Translated material
Women's tactics
Russians won gold and silver in Dusseldorf
Russian skier Natalya Matveeva won the first sprint stage of the World Cup in Dusseldorf. For the first time in her career, the athlete won a gold medal in the individual race and became a silver medalist in the team sprint in a duet with Natalya Korosteleva.The World Cup sprint stage is being held for the sixth time on the Rhine embankment, attracting crowds of spectators. And although this “pleasure” is not cheap, since the organizers lay artificial snow throughout the entire one and a half kilometer distance, no one is thinking of canceling the race. The results of a survey of city residents, which are conducted annually, indicate that the popularity of these ski competitions is growing every year. This is both a sports event and a family holiday in one package, and fans from almost all over Germany gather to watch the “fleeting” ski races.
Of the six Russians who were entered in the women's individual sprint, only three overcame the qualification barrier, and only one Matveeva reached the final. Evgenia Shapovalova and Natalya Korosteleva were eliminated in the quarterfinals. Svetlana Ovchinnikova, Yulia Ivanova and Victoria Melina were not among the first 30.
This situation was predicted in advance. Before the start of the opening stage of the World Cup, the coaches of the Russian team pinned their main hopes on Natalya Matveeva. For three seasons in a row, the athlete walked step by step towards this victory. Two years ago in Dusseldorf she was third, last year second and finally became first. Standing on the podium, Natalya could not hold back her tears, and this explained better than any words what this long-awaited award cost her.
Despite the fact that over the past two seasons, Matveeva became a prize-winner at the World Cup stages, she could not count the main competitions - the Olympics in Turin and the world championship in Sapporo. In 2006, in Turin, Natalia left the Olympic village without ever going to the start line. The reason for this was high hemoglobin, because of which she was removed from participation in the competition. It was not possible to show a decent result a year later in Sapporo, although there were prerequisites for this. It is possible that, having gone through all these failures, the athlete gained new motivation, although judging the entire season based on the first start is like guessing on coffee grounds. Nevertheless, such a start will undoubtedly give the athlete confidence.
By the way, as Natalya said, it was destined for her to become a skier, because her parents were also fond of this sport. Natalya associates her first great successes in cross-country skiing with coach Tatyana Revina, under whose leadership she began training in the national team, having moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow. “In my opinion, sprinting suits my personality better. Although this is not the case for everyone. I thought a lot about what is important in women's sprint and what distinguishes it from men's. Many say it's tactics. But women, to be honest, have no tactics. They stood up at the start - and forward, until the very finish. We are crazy, one might say. It’s men who like to “invent”, watch over each other, cut each other off on the ski track. But for us women, everything is much simpler,” Natalya explained.
It was in this style that Matveeva won the final race, leading the rest of the peloton. According to the skier's coach Tatyana Revina, her student's current victory can be considered natural. Recently, Natalya has become more conscious about her work, the volume of training has increased, and this has brought results. Be that as it may, Matveeva will enter the next sprint race in the yellow leader's jersey, borrowed from the experienced Norwegian Marit Bjorgen, who finished second this time. Swede Anna Dahlberg was third.
In the men's individual sprint, the best result was shown by Nikolai Morilov, who eventually became sixth. But after last year's stage in Dusseldorf, where he was 47th, this can be considered an undoubted success. Two other Russians, Vasily Rochev and Dmitry Chvanov, were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
The winner of the stage was the owner of the ski track, Josef Wenzl, who qualified with the best result. Joining him on the podium were Swede Bjorn Lind, who finished second, and John Christian Dahl from Norway, who finished third.
In the sprint team relay, of the four Russian tandems that started, only the women's pair Natalya Matveeva - Natalya Korosteleva made it to the finals. In the semi-finals, Yulia Ivanova and Evgenia Shapovalova finished fifth in their subgroup, Ivan Ivanov and Dmitry Chvanov were 13th, and World Championship silver medalists Nikolai Morilov and Vasily Rochev were seventh. Thus, the men's final took place without the participation of Russians. Two prizes - first and third - went to the Swedish skiers, between whom the Norwegians wedged themselves. Tobias Fredriksson and Bjorn Lind won the right to be called the strongest at this stage. By the way, this is Lind’s second award in Düsseldorf.
The women's final in the team sprint brought the Russian team silver. Natalya Korosteleva and her namesake Matveeva were ahead of strong Finns Pirjo Marinen and Virpi Kuitunen. The Swedish team, consisting of world junior champion Charlotte Kala and Britta Norgren, also won.