Translated material
With trump cards in hand
Russian athletes took third place in Norway
Last weekend, several stages of the Winter Sports World Cup took place. Russian athletes won several awards, the most significant of which was the bronze medal for Russian skiers in the men's relay.In Beitoshtolen, Norway, the Russian quartet of Vasily Rochev, Nikolai Pankratov, Alexander Legkov and Evgeniy Dementyev finished behind the two Norwegian “fours”. Coach Yuri Borodavko's team lost to the Norwegian team number two in the starting protocol - Martin Sindby, Thor Rud Hofstad, Thor Arne Hetland and Jens Arne Svartedal - by 11 seconds. Nevertheless, according to the best Russian skier of last season, Alexander Legkov, he assessed the results of the competition positively. The past stage showed that it is possible to fight the Norwegians on their territory. Although the advantage of “home field” is an undeniable thing.
The men's relay completed the competitive part of the second stage of the Ski World Cup. The day before, on the first day, two individual freestyle races took place: 10 km for women and 15 km for men. Norway's Marit Bjorgen won the women's ten-kilometer race. The best of the Russians, Olympic champion Evgenia Medvedeva, who returned to the track after a year-long break, was only 16th, losing more than a minute to the winner. In the men's 15 km race, German Axel Teichmann was out of competition, to whom Legkov, the best Russian participant in the race, lost about 45 seconds. This lag did not allow the skier from the Moscow region to rise above 12th place. Legkov explained the reason for his failure as problems with lubrication. The skis, he said, simply didn’t roll.
Such an unsightly picture emerged in the Russian camp before the relay races. But to the credit of our athletes, it is worth noting that they were able to largely reverse this situation. The women's four - Larisa Kurkina, Yulia Ivanova, Evgenia Medvedeva and Natalya Korosteleva - finished fourth. Although they had real trump cards in their hands to get into the winners. The weak link in the women's relay chain was Evgenia Medvedeva. While Kurkina and Ivanova were flawless in their stages, Medvedeva, who started third, was almost 40 seconds behind the leaders. The trailing Korosteleva, although she reduced the gap, was unable to reach the podium. Nevertheless, this result should be considered as encouraging, since last season our relay athletes did not rise above fifth place.
As for the men, the race followed a different scenario. At the first stage, Vasily Rochev fell on a difficult turn, and this resulted in an almost 33-second gap from the leaders. Later, the coach of our skiers, Yuri Borodavko, said that the opponents caught Rochev on the turn and hit him on the skis. Nevertheless, Pankratov and Legkov, who followed the team captain, were able to prove that the failures of the previous day could be regarded as an accident. Legkov demonstrated the best result in his segment of all the starting participants. True, Evgeny Dementyev did not succeed in his winning finishing dash. This is understandable; if a skier had started a chess game with the Norwegians, then the others could have caught up with him. Almost the entire race, the Russian led the ski peloton, but a few meters before the finish he was outwitted by the Norwegians. After the race, Dementyev did not refer to the weather, strong wind, justify himself with lubrication problems, or nod to his health. He said that he’s just not in the best shape yet, which he hopes to gain during the season.
Matching our skiers, Russian short track speed skating masters won a bronze medal at the third stage of the World Cup in Heerenveen, Holland. Nina Evteeva, Valeria Potemkina, Ekaterina Belova and Olga Maskaikina became third in the 3000 m relay race.
Unlike our girls, domestic lugers did not reach the awards. Olympic silver medalist Albert Demchenko was fourth at the second stage of the World Cup, and this is the best the Russians are capable of so far. Victor Kneib - 8th, Alexandra Rodionova - 12th. The equipment of the Russian team was delivered to Calgary later than the athletes arrived there from Lake Placid, where the first stage took place a week earlier. By the way, during training on the American track, Demchenko crashed his “Olympic” sled and competed in Canada on a new model.
Meanwhile, the other day it became known that the Russian stage of the Speed Skating World Cup, scheduled for early December, will be held not in Moscow, but in Kolomna, near Moscow. The reason for this was problems with the roof on the Moscow oval. According to the President of the Russian Skating Union, Vladimir Komarov, the “pin” weighing 60 tons, which supported the roof, has shifted in the structure of the skating rink. Measures were quickly taken to prevent the roof from collapsing. But these are temporary measures; the facility needs serious remodeling. Previously, the workers of the skating rink in Krylatskoye have more than once drawn attention to the existing problems, and the builders have also pointed this out. Let us remember that the stadium was hastily commissioned in 2005.