“I don’t pay attention to money, it’s good to eat”

Two-time World Cup winner and world champion in cross-country skiing Alexander Bolshunov on Monday returned from the Russian national team from Switzerland, where the final stage of the WC took place.

In Engadine, Bolshunov won the mass start and became the sixth in the pursuit, after which he finally got the opportunity to take a break and raise the Big Crystal Globe above his head.

“The season, in principle, went well.

This is evidenced by the gold of the world championship, as well as the victory in the overall standings of the World Cup and the title of champion "Tour de Ski".

All the goals set before the season have been fulfilled.

It turned out well, ”the athlete told reporters.

However, the Russian is not going to stop there.

According to Bolshunov, he is ready to spend all € 120 thousand in prize money for participation in the KM on a special treadmill for practicing skiing equipment.

Also, the champion of the planet intends to improve in sprint races, which are not his favorite.

Alexander lamented that there was practically no time left for the appropriate training.

“Before the World Cup in Oberstdorf, I looked a lot and looked for what needs to be done to add at the finish line, and it started to work out at the world championship.

I will continue to do so in the future, and I hope it will bring results, "- quotes the athlete" Match TV ".

Also, the skier will continue to invest in building a house in the Moscow region, since the road to his native village of Podyvotye in the Bryansk region takes too much time, and in charity.

The two-time World Cup winner admitted that he began transferring funds to special funds as soon as he began to earn good money.

For himself, Bolshunov leaves a minimum.

“I don’t pay attention to money, it’s good to eat.

I don’t spend much on myself, they give out the form, the meaning? ”, The skier emphasized.

Bolshunov also talked about working with his own coach, Yuri Borodavko.

According to the world champion, both him and the specialist sometimes have to be stopped.

The athlete admitted that, as a rule, he works in training until he “knocks out”.

“It so happens that I feel bad, something doesn’t work out in training, but it seems that I’m just lazy.

And I do not understand why this is happening, but then, when time passes, the realization comes that it was not laziness, but fatigue, the body did not give, but I tried anyway.

And I understand this, but my thoughts are all the same that something is wrong, that I feel sorry for myself, ”explained the two-time World Cup winner.

All work next season, according to Alexander, will be directed to the Olympic Games, which are a priority tournament.

In addition, if he won victories at the WC and World Championships, then he has not yet won at the Olympic Games.

In Pyeongchang 2018, the 21-year-old domestic athlete won three silver medals and one bronze medal, but he never managed to rise to the highest step of the podium.

Meanwhile, the doctor Sergei Chechil explained the fanatical work of the skier in training not only with maximalism and the desire to win everywhere, but also with the prohibitive professionalism that he manifested already in his youth.

“Sasha pays a lot of attention to recovery.

Stretching, stabilization exercises at least twice a day.

In total, about an hour and a half every day it takes him only to recover.

Man is progressively preparing his body for tomorrow's work.

This, in fact, happens extremely rarely: usually athletes begin to pay attention to this only when something already hurts.

And San Sanych does it in advance so as not to get sick, "Chechil said in an interview with Sport-Express.

"At the right time we will celebrate our athletes with an award"

And in Russia, immediately after the end of the World Cup season, they offered to present Bolshunov for a state award.

A member of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, Deputy Dmitry Svishchev, spoke about this.

In his opinion, the skier deserves it because he achieves serious results, despite "persecution, oppression, accusations and attacks on Russian sports."

Svishchev's idea was not appreciated by everyone.

Another State Duma deputy, former world boxing champion Nikolai Valuev emphasized that this topic should be raised after Alexander ends his career, when he "will bring many more awards to the country."

“Let's not mix everything up.

Yes, unthinkable pressure is being exerted on Russia.

And we will definitely award our athletes with an award at the right time for showing patience and being able to achieve success in such conditions.

The main thing is that no one has forgotten about it ", - quotes the words of the deputy" Sport-Express ".

In turn, the three-time biathlon world champion, former head of the RBU Vladimir Drachev stressed that, according to the rules, an athlete can only be awarded a state award for winning the Olympic Games.

Thus, Bolshunov should go to Beijing with special motivation for this reason.

“If all world champions were given state awards, can you imagine how many owners we would have?

It will turn out to be devalued.

It's my personal opinion.

Previously, for example, an honored master of sports was awarded for at least two personal victories at the World Championship, ”Drachev noted.

"Bolshunov mocks us in races"

They continue to discuss the success of Bolshunov and his foreign rivals.

For example, the Norwegian edition NRK published a piece about whether local skiers are ready to hang a portrait of a Russian on the wall in order to perform better.

This topic was not born by chance.

The fact is that the coach of the Scandinavian national team Eirik Muir Nossum, after Alexander's victory in the mass start in the Engadine, admiring the opponent's performance, promised to draw his image on the wall in the toilet to motivate his own charges.

The athletes reacted differently to the corresponding comic proposal.

So, Johannes Klebo seriously noted that he was not going to hang a photo of Bolshunov at home in order to “accumulate anger”, since he does not focus only on fighting him.

“Sometimes you win and sometimes you don't.

But in the end, the most important thing is how I feel afterwards and what kind of person I want to be.

I will not take photos of "enemies" for myself, - noted Klebo.

But Simen Hegstad Kruger, who won the 50 km skating pursuit in the Engadine, admitted that he was ready to take such a step for the sake of motivation.

“Bolshunov mocks us in races.

His portrait on the wall is perhaps what we have to do to mock him back.

The way he walked at that height was scary, ”said Kruger.

Finally, the coach of the Russian national team, Markus Kramer, advised the Scandinavians to hang a picture of the Russian athlete not only in the toilet, but in other rooms as well.