Stupak's tears, Nepryaeva's silence, the tactics of the Retivykh and Bolshunov: what was discussed after the team sprint at the World Cup

"Such results are not what I was going for"

Another competitive day of the World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf turned out to be extremely discouraging for the Russian team.

After the victory of Alexander Bolshunov in the skiathlon, domestic fans expected the continuation of the banquet in the team sprint, but had to be content with only one medal - and even then a bronze one.

But in both races, the Russians claimed gold.

In men, Bolshunov passed the baton to Gleb Retivykh at the last stage with an advantage of four seconds from the Norwegian and five seconds from the Finn, but his more experienced team-mate at the finish missed both of them.

Later, in a conversation with reporters, he admitted that he was not ready to lead his two final sections.

“Initially, the tactics were a little different, I had to go ahead at the penultimate stage and only then pass the baton first.

Sasha decided to change it a little during the race.

And by this time I had ate.

Sasha, I'm sorry that everything turned out like this.

The last circle failed at all.

It is interesting, of course, why the Finns ran so well, ”Retivykh said on Match TV.

The skier also complained that by the final races the track had become completely unusable and turned into a snowy mess.

“It is clear that on a hard track you can attack somewhere, go left, right.

And here you just have to drown in this circle.

After all, we athletes are heavy.

After the finish, everyone sat for 20 minutes, the conditions were difficult, ”added Retivykh.

Bolshunov tried to accept what had happened with optimism and responded to his partner's comment about changing tactics.

“It’s not that I changed it, I just heard that the breathing of the opponents is no longer felt behind the back, so I decided to“ pull ”and see how they react to it.

If not now, then when?

Thanks to everyone who looks, worries, criticizes.

There are also races, we will try to show good results.

The championship is 50% complete, we will try to spend the rest of the game better, ”the world champion promised.

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The final was even more offensive for the Russians.

Yulia Stupak also passed the baton to Natalya Nepryaeva at the last stage of the first, but she simply did not have enough strength for the final segment of the distance.

Unlike the men, the girls were left without a medal at all and finished in fourth place.

Stupak did not hide her tears, and the exhausted Nepryaeva refused to communicate with journalists.  

“There is emptiness inside, frenzy.

There are no words.

I knew that one could and should fight them, but in the end, it turns out, once again - the fourth place.

This is not what I was counting on.

Such results are not what I was going for.

I know that after a couple of hours I will leave, but, to be honest, I have not forgotten the fourth place in Seefeld yet, so I don’t think that I will be released soon.

Nothing wrong.

I squeezed the maximum, the state of health was heavy.

The track fell into disrepair from the very first race, but this is not critical ... It turns out that I am failing again ... And myself in the first place, ”Stupak complained.

At the same time, the athlete supported Nepryaeva and reminded reporters about the severe injury of her teammate, which she received a month before the World Cup.

“If we were in better condition, we could have created a more comfortable break for Natasha.

I understood that with her hand it was not easy to run at the maximum.

I could not create a groundwork - and this is the result, ”added Stupak.

In turn, the coach of the Russian national team Yuri Borodavko found it difficult to answer the question whether the result would have been different if the skiers changed stages.

“We missed a 100% medal for women.

This is very disappointing because happiness was so close.

As for the men, Alexander did everything he could, and Gleb could not, unfortunately, keep the advantage that was organized by Bolshunov.

But it's good that there is a medal, "- quotes the words of the Sport24 specialist.

And the president of the FLGR Elena Vyalbe supported the Russians and explained why the coaching staff of the national team made a choice in the team relay in favor of the Retivykh and Nepryaeva.

“Natalya is a great fellow, she trained with one stick for a month and is now going to the start.

Julia was very pleased with her movements.

It seems to me that with Marcus Kramer they missed a little with the preparation.

Now she's starting to dial.

I really wanted the girls to have a medal in this discipline, everything went to this, but ... I can’t make a claim to Gleb either.

He cannot jump over his head.

He has the wrong movements, but we have no other option.

It was still dangerous to put Alexander Terentyev.

Zealous have more experience.

Again, I repeat, Kramer's group missed the form, ”said Vyalbe.

At the same time, the head of the federation expressed the hope that domestic skiers will successfully show themselves in the "cut", calling it a "Russian race".  

“Yulia, Natasha and Yana Kirpichenko will run.

All the strongest will run at the boys too.

We have repeatedly contacted the FIS about the fact that the individual race rarely turns out this way, because everyone starts to gather on the circle, this is already some kind of mass start.

There are two different loops here, so the circle will turn out to be difficult, and everyone will have their own race, ”said Vyalbe.

"Perhaps the coaches were wrong with the stage arrangement"

In turn, experts generally did not criticize the Russians for the failure in the team sprint, but supported the same Nepryaeva and Retivykh.

However, the silver medalist of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Alexander Panzhinsky, lamented that the composition of twos, both for men and women, turned out to be unequal.

“Our athletes were ready to show better results.

But, unfortunately, the composition of the teams turned out to be unequal: the first stages worked very hard, the leaders passed the baton, and the second did not match them.

Stupak had a very good race, was in excellent shape, showed that we should expect medals from her in personal starts.

And Nepryaeva, unfortunately, lacked a little, literally one rise, she is still gaining shape.

Natalia, like Retivykh, did not cope with a very soft track.

By the final races, it became harder for powerful and dimensional athletes, ”explained Panzhinsky.

According to him, the skiers should have been swapped, and then the Russian doubles could rise higher.

“Perhaps the coaches were wrong with the stages, especially among the girls.

With the reverse placement, most likely, everything would have been different: Natalya could sit in the group, and Yulia - at the finish line, compete for a medal.

It's hard to say about the guys, but they could be the second.

With Johannes Klebo at the last stage, probably, even Bolshunov would not have coped, ”added Panzhinsky.

Olympic champion Evgeny Dementyev, on the contrary, supported the team and admitted that he did not feel like “swinging a saber” after a local failure, since the championship was not over yet.

“The most offensive thing is that the girls did not succeed.

But there were chances, and the guys did everything to take advantage of them.

They do their best in any race.

There are coaches who know better than me which of the athletes and how to stage ... The championship is difficult, but at least ours fight to the last.

Yes, Bolshunov brought the Zealous advantage, but perhaps Gleb was not ready, or was already mentally at the finish line when he saw such a gap.

Maybe he lost psychologically, but from the point of view of physics, the Zealous is able to fight, "- quotes the words of the Olympic champion" Sport-Express ".

And the head coach of the national team of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug Sergey Kryanin congratulated the men's team on the bronze medal and complained that Sergey Ustyugov could not take part in the race due to an injury.

“If he was in good shape and could perform, perhaps the distance take-off tactic would have worked.

And the Zealous had a little hard when it was necessary to keep the pace.

Nevertheless, this tactic brought a medal, this is a good result.

Sasha at his stage created a sufficient gap in order to win the award.

Many teams after the first stage lagged behind, including the Italians, who could compete at the finish line with a different gap, ”the specialist explained.

Finally, the silver medalist of the 2017 World Championship in the team sprint, Natalya Matveeva, stood up for Nepryaeva and noted that it was difficult for a skier with hand problems to fight at the finish line, for example, with a perfectly ready Slovene Anamaria Lampic.

“I think the coaches did the right thing to put Natalia on the team sprint today.

Firstly, she deserved this place, and they have been running quite successfully with Stupak for a long time.

I know that Tatiana Sorina was also considered, and if Natalya felt bad, she would have refused.

But Nepryaeva was in good condition, so she went to the start, "- quotes the words of Matveyeva TASS.