He became the world champion in classical all-around

Ivan Skobrev became the world champion in the most prestigious genre of speed skating - classic all-around. Having won the world championship in Calgary, he did something that no domestic athlete had been able to do for almost a quarter of a century.

The triumph of Ivan Skobrev in Canada became a landmark event. After all, the previous time the main victory in speed skating went to a domestic athlete a long time ago - back in Soviet times: in 1987, Nikolai Gulyaev won gold in the Dutch Heerenveen. Skaters representing Russia have never achieved such success. Moreover, only Dmitry Shepel managed to get relatively close to him, who in 2002 finished second after the Dutchman Jochem Uytdehaage.

The real rise of Ivan Skobrev, who turned 28 in early February, began, in fact, only last season. The speed skater was among the elite of his sport for quite a long time, but he began to show results corresponding to the level of its leaders when he decided before the Olympics in Vancouver to go train in a group with the famous Italian specialist Maurizio Marchetto. At the Olympic Games a year ago, Skobrev took two awards - bronze and silver - at the distances of 5000 m and 10,000 m. And this season he finally made a breakthrough in the all-around, winning the European Championship in Italy in January, and now the world championship in Canada .

In Calgary, two circumstances made life easier for Ivan Skobrev. Firstly, the absence of Sven Kramer, winner of four previous championships: the outstanding Dutchman has not competed due to injury since last fall. And secondly, the poor form of another favorite - American Shani Davis. Davis was ahead of everyone in the 500-meter event that opened the program, but suffered a crushing failure in the remaining distances.

Ivan Skobrev did not fail any of the four. He finished the first day (500 m and 5000 m) second after the Dutchman Koen Fairway, losing just a little. In the second, having run brilliantly in the 1500-meter race, he took first position and confidently retained it in his favorite “top ten”, leaving only the Norwegian Havard Bokko ahead in the longest distance. However, in terms of the all-around total, he was too far away to prevent Skobrev from taking the championship title. The Russian speed skater scored 146.229 points. Bocco's total is 146.408. And the third prize-winner was the Dutchman Jan Blokhuizen - 146.603.

Arnold Kabanov

Ivan Skobrev brought back the Soviet years