"The Norwegians, apparently, have other rules": what they said about the conflict between Ustyugov and Klebo and the Bronze Retechy at the World Cup

“He did a lot for our country”

The first men's race in the World Championships in ski sports, which started in the Austrian Zefeld, ended in relative success for the Russian team. Gleb Retivykh won the bronze medal in the sprint free style.

After the finish of the race, the athlete on the TV channel “Match TV” admitted that after previous failures, the current medal was especially valuable for him.

“After not admitting to the Olympic Games, everything was not going the way we would like. But everyone was tired, it was hard for everyone, because the track was hard. And the excitement before the start was - affects the significance of the results. Of course, it was not easy to cope with emotions, but it still happened, ”Retivev said.

According to him, too much effort was spent in the quarter-finals, which partly did not allow him to fight for the highest step of the podium. In addition, the Russian paid tribute to the Norwegian Johannes Klebo and the Italian Federico Pellegrino, who took the gold and silver, respectively.

“They are doing something incredible. The World Cup, the World Cup or the Olympic Games - they always keep the bar high, ”he added.

Pavel Kolobkov, Minister of Sports of Russia, congratulated Retivykh on deserved third place.

"Bronze" - a decent result. The championship has just started, and I wish Gleb, like the other guys of our team, success in the rest of the disciplines, ”the official said.

In turn, the vice-president of the Federation of ski racing of Russia (FLGR) Sergey Kryanin expressed the opinion that Retivykh had a decent resistance to stronger and more experienced rivals.

“He has done a lot for our country. Has worked 100% and even more. Gleb - well done, but he still needs to prepare to fight these guys. Today he showed that at the moment he is the third in the world, ”said the functionary in a conversation with TASS.

"At the World Cup for this is removed"

Competitions of such a high level, where the world title is at stake, and the atmosphere is tense to the limit, have not been without an unpleasant incident. So, after the semi-final race, one of the leaders of the Russian national team, Sergey Ustyugov, pushed future victor Klebo, and then slapped him on the cheek. The cause of this conflict was a collision on the highway, which almost led to the fall of the Russians.

Despite the ambiguity of the episode, the Retives chose to take a neutral position during their interaction with the Norwegian after the final.

“Left it before the press conference. We discussed that it was hard for everyone. We discussed the last year's World Cup stage, which was held here. In principle, there was the same cat-and-mouse game, ”he noted.

Later Ustyugov shared his storyline. He accused Klebo of deliberately breaking the rules in order to gain an advantage over the finish line. As for the incident after the end of the race, then, according to the Russians, he thus only wanted to wish his opponent good luck.

“In our semi-final, no one wanted to go first to the descent, but I did it. He knew that they would "roll" on me, I had to not miss the rivals on the right side. When we drove closer to the climb, then I climbed, or the Norwegian cut me off. I think that it was all intentional, so at the finish a little bit nerves. If someone else went, there would be no such thing, ”the Russian confessed.

In turn, Klebo did not comment on the incident on the highway. He only noted that he does not blame the opponent for not being able to contain his emotions.

“I understood that Sergey is very angry, he is now in very good shape, and I am sure that on Saturday there will be a good fight. Now I can say absolutely frankly that I have no negative feelings towards Ustyugov, ”RIA Novosti quotes the Norwegian.

Ustyugov eventually paid for his quick temper - first a warning came from the organizers. Moreover, in the opinion of the FLGR president Elena Vyalbe, the skier deservedly received a yellow card. Representatives of the Russian team tried to protest Klebo's actions during the race, but he was rejected.

“Johannes blocked the athlete who followed him. Unfortunately, these are Norwegians, and they, apparently, have different rules. We are not facing this for the first time, and not only we, ”explained the position of the Vialbe federation.

In turn, the head coach of the national team, Yury Borodavko, called the semi-final race ambiguous and added that as a result of Klebo's actions, Russia lost real chances for another medal in the sprint.

“This is no gate to anyone. There was an absolute violation on the part of Klebo, and it was ignored. Sergei stepped on the socks of the skis, Johannes was parallel with him and blocked the movement. At the World Cup they are shooting for this, ”said the specialist.

The decision of the judges not to punish the Norwegian caused a wave of indignation. So, the coach of the Russian Marcus Kramer cited as an example the situation in which his ward received a yellow card for a similar episode.

“The jury believes that this is not a violation of the rules by Klebo, because he went ahead and could choose the direction of movement. Yes, it is good, but do not step on the opponent. At the 2017 World Championships in Lahti, Sergey did the same in a similar situation and was given a warning. And then how can this be explained to athletes if the rules change all the time? ”Kramer asked a rhetorical question.

At the same time, Olympic champion Alexander Legkov expressed the opinion that Ustyugov chose the wrong tactics in the semifinals, which ultimately led to a clash with the Norwegian.

“There would not have been an incident with Klebo if Sergey from the start ran very quickly - this was his plus. Even if he lost at the finish line and came third, he could reach the final as a lucky loser. He had to run away and work for the result, ”Legkov is sure.

Note that following the results of the competitions, the International Ski Federation issued Ustyugov a second yellow card “for unsportsmanlike conduct”, as a result of which he was disqualified and his result in the semifinal race was annulled.

Meanwhile, the headquarters of the Russian national team stressed that this punishment will not affect the participation of the biathlete in the ski race. Thus, Ustyugov will come to the next start on Saturday, February 23.