“In my opinion, this is just unfair”
Russian skier Alexander Bolshunov, who failed to reach the final of the sprint at the stage race "Ski Tour", called the behavior of his rival from Norway Simen Kruger strange. The Russian was defeated due to a fall after a clash with the Norwegian and believes that he intentionally came too close.
The winner of the race was the main rival of the Russian - another representative of the Scandinavian team Johannes Klebo. And after the finish Bolshunov accused the Norwegian team of dishonesty. He admitted that he simply refuses to understand what happened during the race.
“It's hard to explain how Simen was under my feet on that bend. There was enough space there. But I respect all my rivals, I just would like to wish that the competitions were held in a fair fight, and the rivals no longer did strange things, ”Bolshunov said in an interview with TV2.
The athlete emphasized that this behavior made him very angry.
“In my opinion, this is simply unfair. It seems that the Norwegian team is playing a dishonest game. Krueger had no reason to fall on my skis. All other races were fair, but today's race is not, ”the Russian quoted NRK.
However, the skier still tried to find the pluses in the current situation and promised that irritation after an unfortunate fall would only add motivation to him in the next competitions.
“If tomorrow’s race is not canceled and if there are no changes in the schedule, then this incident will not affect the final results. I will say more: I will be even meaner, ”concluded the athlete.
“It turned out stupid, but it was an accident”
The culprit of the clash was punished for his behavior: the judges showed Kruger a yellow card and put in last place. However, after the race, he did not recognize intent on his part and insisted that the unpleasant episode occurred by accident. In addition, according to the Norwegian, there was enough space between the rivals.
“I thought I could squeeze through, but the clash happened anyway. I did not want to bring down Bolshunov. It turned out stupid, regardless of who is to blame. But it was an accident, ”said Kruger in an interview with NRK.
After the defeat of Bolshunov, his main rival, the Norwegian Klebo, reduced the gap from the Russian in the overall World Cup to 482 points. He confirmed the words of his partner Krueger, but noted that he understood the irritation from the opponent from Russia. Now the Scandinavian is looking forward to a spectacular race and even more fierce rivalry.
“Bolshunov is angry and thinks that he was specially attacked. But we hope that he will nevertheless be able to cope with this. Annoyed Bolshunov will go very quickly. An extremely interesting race awaits us on Thursday, ”Klebo said in an interview with VG.
Both Norwegian athletes supported another team representative Paul Goldberg and coach Eirik Muir Nossum. According to the first, Kruger was the first to enter the turn, and a clash of skiers was simply inevitable. And the mentor of the Scandinavian team, in turn, admitted that he regrets the fall of Bolshunov. According to him, Kruger just really wanted to break through, despite the fact that the athletes walked side by side.
“He could afford such an attempt. Skiers walked very close, and one of them fell - this happens. Sprinters quite often find themselves in similar situations, but remain on their feet. The main problem of Kruger is that he rarely performs in the sprint. Yes, he tried, but, unfortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful, ”quotes Nossum TV2.
“They faced in the heat of struggle”
In Russia, they reacted to the incident without unnecessary emotions. For example, Olympic champion Alexander Legkov assured that Kroeger himself was unprofitable this fall.
“Simen collided with Bolshunov absolutely not on purpose. The fact that Sasha had such thoughts - these are questions to him. But from the outside, everything looked different. I talked with people who work in a team, with coaches. Krueger didn’t have to specifically deal with Bolshunov, because he, like Sasha, is fighting for points and is at the top of the overall standings. They faced in the heat of struggle. My opinion is that everything was honest. One hundred percent other athletes are of the same opinion as me. And the fact that everyone was interested in the words of Bolshunov is all “jaundice”, - quotes the words of the Olympic champion FAN.
The coaching staff of the Russian national team also reacted with restraint to the incident. So, working with the team, Marcus Kramer also recalled that such cases are not uncommon for sprint races.
“Bolshunov simply did not have the opportunity to stop. Today, luck was not on our side. But I know Alexander. Perhaps he will scroll this episode in his head for about thirty minutes, and tomorrow he will concentrate on the new race and in any case will not give up. Sasha will fight further, he will never give up, ”Kramer said in an interview with NRK.
Another coach, Yuri Borodavko, wrote off the charges of the ward to excessive emotionality after the race.
“Most likely, for Alexander so far more speak emotions after the finish. It is very difficult to say how much everything was done by the Norwegian on purpose. This happened in the heat of struggle. Naturally, we will talk about this topic, we will understand, but this is no longer for the general public, ”said Borodavko in an interview with Sport24.
At the same time, the bronze medalist of the World Cup Sergey Kryanin noted that recently Bolshunov has noticeably added, which gives reason to believe in the final victory of the Russian.
“Alexander’s fighting spirit. Let's hope that everything goes together and after almost 30 years, our country will again receive the World Cup. Sasha this season conducts the race very tactically. You can have frantic health, but if you act badly tactically, you lose. Now Bolshunov in this regard is much better than before. Of course, there is something to work on and there’s no need to relax, but now he is no longer a young man, but a man, ”Kryanin said in an interview with Izvestia.