- The Olympic season is a time when most coaches do their best to avoid any new situations for themselves. In your case, Marcus Kramer takes Federico Pellegrino and Francesco de Fabiani into his group, that is, not the most ordinary foreign athletes, and this is involuntarily perceived as an experiment.
- Why only foreign ones?
Sasha Bessmertnykh began to train in Kramer's group this season.
As for the Italians, we didn’t come to them, but they came to us.
- Agree, any additional person in the group in one way or another consumes the resource of the trainer. It takes time, attention ...
- On the one hand, yes. But after all, everyone we are talking about is adult professional athletes, for whom the main thing is not the method of Cramer or someone else, but good sparring partners. Strengthening the group is a big plus for both Sergei Ustyugov and Gleb Retivykh. I think that Bessmertnykh, before making a decision, analyzed the situation, discussed it with his coach Oleg Orestovich (Perevozchikov -
RT
), and together they came to the conclusion that almost all skiers who start working with Markus perform in the first year a noticeable leap. Sasha understands perfectly well that the Games in Beijing will most likely be his last, so why not take advantage of this opportunity? By the way, not only Kramer works with Italians. They also have their own assistants.
- Do Italian specialists work only with their own athletes or with ours too?
- We still have one team, a single one.
Nobody looks at the situation from the position: they say, two new people in the team have appeared, and "theirs" now do not have enough transport or something else.
The Italians also have transport, which our athletes periodically use.
We need to help something - skis, pliers, service - please!
- So skiing is one big family?
- Well, we would like to think so.
It is clear that when athletes go to the start, there is every man for himself.
But in general, cross-country skiing is probably one of the most friendly sports.
- But were there any attacks on Alexander Bolshunov from the Finns and Norwegians last season?
- So we run into them from time to time.
Has it never happened in your family that you would not quarrel at least once in your life?
We are not obliged to love each other, but mutual respect is a very big thing.
I can say that Sasha is respected by the Finns, Norwegians, and any other rivals.
We often turn to each other.
Someone needs to transport skis, or some other baggage does not fit.
Today you helped out, tomorrow someone else will help you out.
- One of your coaches, Yegor Sorin, has realized his old dream this season - he spent part of his summer training at the same training camp with the Norwegians. True, then he said: "I am convinced that we will never train like the Norwegians, but we do not need it." In your opinion, is it worth striving for this form of training relationship at all?
- At one time, when the ski team was headed by Alexander Alekseevich Grushin, we also periodically trained with the Norwegians.
There was definitely nothing wrong with that.
It seems to me that any joint work is beneficial for everyone.
For example, I was always interested to see what the Italian Stefania Belmondo and Manuela Di Centa do in training.
We also trained with them, saw each other at the training camp and realized that there was not a big difference in general.
And the technique is about the same.
- It is generally accepted that in skiing, as in biathlon, the Norwegians have some secrets of their own.
- I don’t know about the secrets, but you must agree that in ski racing in Norway there is, by and large, one leader, and then there is a rather serious abyss.
For women - so generally abyss-abyss.
- Who cares when there is a leader like Teresa Johaug?
- Teresa generally stands apart from the entire world of skiing.
As for the guys ... I sometimes think that the Norwegians probably have a more correct approach to how to prepare a team for the World Cup or the Olympic Games.
In the sense that they prepare each athlete separately for one race.
Yes, they also have a leader, Johannes Klebo.
I am sure that he has the right to choose which races he will start and which he will miss.
- When such talents as Johaug or Klebo appear in sports, should we strive to be like them? Or is it pointless?
- I have always had a different position on this matter.
There is no need to strive to repeat someone at all.
We must strive to become better.
It is clear that there cannot be 10 people like Johaug or Klebo in the country, they are unique.
But I'm sure young Norwegian girls want to be better than Teresa.
This is fine.
- There is an opinion that a leader of this magnitude destroys his entire generation and kills interest in the sport.
- I'm not ready to agree with this.
Although, as far as Teresa is concerned, this is partly true.
Last season, when the Norwegians did not come to the World Cup, the ratings for cross-country skiing immediately skyrocketed.
Every day there was a new intrigue, new podiums, new winners.
And this certainly added interest to the competition.
- Last season showed that we had a very strong women's team. At the same time, Natalya Nepryaeva and Tatyana Sorina approached that championship after injuries. Did you have an inner fear that forcing preparation for the sake of the World Cup could break both of them to such an extent that they simply will not be able to recover for the Olympic Games?
- Come on, stop, what kind of break are we talking about?
In general, one might say, we were lucky if we compare with the Finnish skier Kerttu Niskanen, who left the same Swedish stage of the World Cup, breaking her leg right during the race.
At first, no one understood anything at all.
Niskanen finished and immediately went home.
And only then there were photos on Instagram with a plaster cast and a caption: they say, the season ended early enough, and everything is very serious.
In fact, each sport reflects well the character of those who practice it.
Skiers cannot be compared with anyone.
We are different.
- I would say that you have a different threshold, both pain and load. Anyway, the whole sport is one continuous patience.
- Why?
You go on a ski track training - there is a forest all around, the weather is beautiful, snow, sun ... Sheer beauty!
- And at the finish line, a man falls into the snow, and begins to turn him inside out.
- It's okay, this also happens.
But I think that the same gymnasts sometimes fall in the same way after training, and they also turn inside out.
- Not so long ago I watched a video interview of a very rich man who created a professional swimming league. He said that, from his point of view, for the current generation of athletes it does not matter at all under which flag to go to the start. And that the division of athletes along ethnic lines has long outlived its usefulness.
- I absolutely disagree. So, it turns out that guys and girls go to the Olympic Games for the second time, and the second time without a flag and without an anthem. Four years ago, it was very difficult for us. Constantly had to keep in mind: God forbid, some spectators come up with a flag. God forbid sanctions will follow. It was terribly exhausting. There was a moment when fans, whom I knew personally, approached us in Pyeongchang. They had a flag with them, and we went with this flag to the guys. So Bolshunov just ran away from us. Then he agreed to be photographed, but only after I gave my word that this photo will never go beyond the personal phone in my life. And you could still see how tense he was. Now, of course, everyone is already more adapted to such a situation, but honestly, I am very offended for the guys. I don’t know how to say it correctly, it seems to me that we are really different.We are less spoiled, more disciplined. We have more patriotism, or something. And it turns out that these young guys have been trying to take away faith in their country, love for their country for several years now. All the same, they will not be taken away, but, in fact, it is insulting.
- What is the feeling when you finish with the flag?
- This is very cool.
Up to goose bumps.
I cannot say that I am somehow too sentimental or just such a patriot ... Although, of course, I am a patriot.
It seems to me that if I need to go to fight for my Motherland, I will go without hesitation.
All my life I was proud of my country.
And when she lived in the Soviet Union, and now.
And all the time I tell my children and athletes, who are the same children, that we should be proud of our country, love it, know its history.
And not just the history of cross-country skiing.
- Before the Olympics in Pyeongchang, it turned out that you formed a team without any experience of serious performances. Now these are the same people, only four years older. Is it easier to work with them or more difficult?
- Not more difficult for sure.
But it's not calmer either.
I have never had peace of mind as a leader.
Honestly, this year, even at the World Championships, I actually ran every race in my sleep, before every new start.
For Sasha, for Petya, for Vasya, for Natasha, for Yana ... I can't even understand why this is happening to me.
But I am very worried, very worried.
- You can't tell ...
- Well, before the start I behave adequately.
I smile, joke, I know which of the athletes I can approach, and who, if possible, shouldn't even say good morning.
That is, I still feel them.
It is important.
- What is the worst thing in your night dreams?
- In fact, I have never watched a single race to the end.
I never saw whether a person lost or won.
Every time the same thing: I wake up before the finish line, I understand that the result can no longer be recognized, and I go to the balcony to calm down.
- Is it really impossible to calculate in advance what to expect from this or that athlete?
- After all, in addition to the readiness of a person to start, we also have skis.
Which may or may not be very well smeared.
Or maybe the person took the wrong skis for the race at all.
Plus descents.
Plus the weather.
What will it be like, will everyone on these slopes be successful there?
- Biathletes usually add that they also have lottery shooting ...
- It seems to me that in biathlon there are more chances and for free, as I sometimes say, to slip through, and, at the same time, get into a complete ambush.
But we also have a lot of factors that can affect the result, this is absolutely certain.
Especially at the Olympic Games.
- What do you know about the Olympic track in Beijing?
- Nothing at all. I understand that not only we are in this position, but also other teams. We know the height, we have a diagram, but this is nothing at all. And those five days that we will have before the start are not enough to study the whole track, to know every turn, every centimeter there, to understand where to start accelerating and where to wait. Each athlete, one way or another, mentally draws this track for himself, understands where and what he will do, where he can recoup if something did not work out at the beginning. At least, that's how I prepared for the races myself. It would be nice to look at this snow in advance, to feel it. Some say that in China at this time of the year, the daytime is up to 20 degrees Celsius. Others say the snow will surely be frostbitten because the nights are so cold. Still others say that there is so much snow that artificial snow is not needed at all.Although artificial snow, too, probably should be.
- But Nikita Kryukov works with Chinese skiers. Isn't this a channel of information?
- In addition to Kryukov, our other specialists work in China, but they have signed contracts on non-disclosure of any information.
Therefore, Nikita does not tell us anything.
And does not share anything.
- Do you generally admit that the Chinese, it doesn't matter whether skiers or biathletes, will be able to surprise the world at these Games?
- Probably, I will not strongly believe if one of them may be able to win.
In cross-country skiing, a person cannot grow to an Olympic champion in one year, and so far we have not seen a single Chinese athlete or a single Chinese athlete who could compete at the level of the first world "three".
They had a sprinter who made it to the semi-finals, but I didn't see him last season.
- When and how will the final selection for the Olympic team take place?
- As in previous years, everyone will be selected exclusively from the World Cup stages.
With very specialized races.
We, nevertheless, agreed that every athlete must clearly understand and know what kind of race he can count on at the Olympic Games.
Honestly, the task is difficult.
Very few people.
The teams have been reduced to eight men and eight women, which is already quite tough.
In order to close six types of the program with so many athletes, someone will have to run and run.
But I am sure that the same Natasha Nepryaeva, Julia Stupak, Tanya Sorina, and almost all the guys understand that, firstly, they must qualify for the Olympic Games, and, secondly, they will participate in more than one discipline.
- How highly do you rate the Olympic chances of Sergei Ustyugov?
- It seems to me that we should now just talk about it as little as possible, wait as little as possible, and this applies not only to Ustyugov.
Sergey is a unique athlete.
The situation that happened to him before the Games in Pyeongchang could break any other athlete altogether, and Seryoga is still eager to fight.
I am sure that this season he will gather all his willpower into a fist.
- I know that at one time he discussed a lot with Sorin, defending the right to independence.
- Perhaps in 20 years we will come to the conclusion that we will be as disciplined in our work as the same Norwegians.
They practically have a club system.
They do not often gather in national teams, and if they do, then not for three weeks, but for a much shorter period.
Of course, they have much higher self-awareness.
It has always been that way.
If at one time I faced a choice - to train on my own at home, receive money for training and the opportunity to go anywhere of my own accord, or work in a team with a coach - I would not even hesitate.
Only in a team and only with a coach.
- You mentioned in a conversation that such athletes as Johaug and Klebo can independently choose which races they want to start and which they do not. Does anyone in our team have the right to choose disciplines at their own discretion?
- Well, I think if Bolshunov says that he is not ready to run any of the races, we will give him such an opportunity.
Although I strongly doubt the reality of such a situation, knowing Sasha.
- That is, he is the only one to whom you would be ready to provide some preferences?
- As of today, yes.