Skating

The first stage of the new raffle of the World Cup in speed skating was held in the Japanese city of Obihiro. The Russian team went to the competition in its strongest lineup, supplemented by several promising juniors. The result exceeded all expectations - in 16 races managed to win five gold, three silver and three bronze medals.

Sprinter Pavel Kouzhnikov climbed more often than others on the podium. First, he finished second in the 500m, losing four hundredths of a second to Olympic champion Hovar Lorentsen from Norway. In the second start, the world record holder was already out of reach for everyone and broke the track record. Then Kulizhnikov dealt with another winner of the Games in Phenchhane - at a distance of 1000 meters the Russian won, winning as much as 0.53 seconds from the Dutchman Kjeld Neuys.

Neuys suffered another defeat in the “lorry”, where Denis Yuskov again dominated. A 29-year-old athlete ran the last lap in 27.7 seconds. This helped to bypass the Dutchman, who won the 1500 meters race in Pyeongchang, by a quarter of a second.

Six years ago, Yuskov scored victories at the World Cup in the team race, and since then the Russian team has not managed to win any start. But in Obihiro, this series managed to break up sensationally. Team veteran Alexander Rumyantsev with young partners Danila Semerikov and Sergey Trofimov broke the track record, overtaking both the Olympic champions from Norway and the Dutch, who played in not the strongest lineup.

The girls won one victory in Japan - in the team sprint. Angelina Golikova, Olga Fatkulina and Ekaterina Shikhova overwhelmed the hostesses of ice by 0.12 seconds, and they were separated by a third and a half from third place. Such a success of the girls suggested itself even after personal starts. Golikova twice took the fourth place on the 500-meter, Fatkulina in one of the starts took the bronze, and the same medal went to Shikhova on the “lorry”. Back in the team sprint was 21-year-old Daria Kachanova, who twice appeared in the first eight personal starts.

Long distances also brought the Russian team a few medals. Bronze medalist of the Olympics in Phenchhane Natalia Voronina climbed the podium twice. First, along with Elizaveta Kazelina and Eugenia Lalenkova, she won bronze in the team race, and then won second place in the 3000-meter race. Most of the distance Voronina went faster than the Olympic champion Esme Visser, but in the end lost 0.41 seconds to her. Alexander Rumyantsev won the silver in the five-kilometer race. Faster than him was only Dutchman Patrick Rust.

The next stage of the World Speed ​​Skating World Cup will also be held in Japan, but at a different rink in Tomakomai. The competition will last three days: from 23 to 25 November.

Ski jumping

The World Cup about ski jumping started in the Polish Vistula from team and individual competitions for men. Usually in this kind of sport, Russians fail to please the fans, but in the offseason there is hope that the situation will change for the better. Yevgeny Klimov won the summer Grand Prix, beating in the overall standings of such famous athletes as Kamil Stoch, Peter Zhila, Karl Geiger.

The new season, already in the snow, really began for the Russians with local success. In the team tournament, Klimov, along with Mikhail Nazarov, Denis Kornilov and Dmitry Vasilyev, took the sixth place - the last time athletes were so high in the height of the 2016/2017 season. In part, this result was contributed by the disqualification of Norwegian Robert Johansson - without his result, Olympic champions Pyonchkhana did not qualify for the second round.

In the personal tournament there was a real historical success. Yevgeny Klimov sensationally won the competition on a large springboard. First, he won first place in qualifying, and then showed the two best jumps in the main starts. The gap from German runner-up Stefan Leyhe was rather big 6.7 points. Before Klimov, no Soviet or Russian jumper won the World Cup. At the next start in the Finnish Hand, the Russian will try on the yellow jersey of the overall leader.

Curling

On November 17, the European Curling Championship started in Estonia, where not only medals among the best teams of the Old World, but also vouchers for the World Championship in 2019 will be played.

Russia is represented both in the men's tournament and in the women's tournament. The men's team included Mikhail Vaskov, Alexey Aces, Peter Kuznetsov, Alexey Kulikov and Anton Kalalb. The women's team was formed from Alina Kovaleva’s skip, known for playing in Anna Sidorova’s team, from two former partners of Victoria Moiseyev Galina Arsenkina and Ulyana Vasilyeva, a young athlete Ekaterina Kuzmina and Anastasia Bryzgalova, who was deprived of the Olympic bronze medal in Pyongchhana, who was already at the time, in the same time, she was wired in the wooded wrestling pattern, she was wearing a young skater Ekaterina Kuzmina and Anastasia Bryzgalova. Alexander Krushelnitsky.

Girls start at the European Championship was much better than men. The women's team beat Germany and Italy with a big difference in the score, and it still comes first in the standings. Vaskov's squad after starting defeats from the Germans and Poles barely beat Scotland and so far shares fifth place with four more teams.

The group stage will continue until November 22, and the next day play-off matches will be held with the participation of four best men's and women's teams.

Skiing

In alpine skiing, the World Cup started in October. Then, however, the competition in giant slalom took place only among women, and in men they were canceled due to bad weather. These days in Levi Finnish there were traditional starts in slalom, and the favorites of this discipline won in them.

Among the girls excelled American Michaela Shifrin - this is her 44th career victory and 33rd in the slalom. She needed to win only two stages of the World Cup to catch up with the best slalom in the history of Marlies Schild from Austria. The men's competition was won by Austrian Marcel Hirscher, who climbed to the highest step of the podium for the 69th time.

Russian skiers were far from medals, but also from the struggle for cup points. The best result was shown by Pavel Trichichev, who recorded the 35th result in the first attempt.