Brilliant Ivanova and Loginov

Russian luge Tatyana Ivanova performed triumphantly at the World Cup in Sigulda.

The 30-year-old Permian came to Latvia, barely recovering from a severe leg injury, which she received at the first stage of the CM in Beijing.

Doctors gave the Olympic medalist permission to train and perform on condition of constant medical supervision.

Even before the New Year, she took the start in Winterberg, Germany, where she stopped a step away from the podium, while becoming the best among her compatriots.

In Sigulda, the ex-world champion first took bronze at the main distance, losing only to the Austrian Madeleine Egle and the German Julia Taubitz, and then won gold in the sprint.

It is worth noting that Ivanova holds the track record set by her back in 2017.

The head coach of the Russian national team, Sergei Chudinov, said that, given the injury, the ward showed “perfect performance” and proved that she was a real fighter.

According to him, the athlete's leg has not yet fully recovered, although there are improvements.

“It was painful for her to bump into the“ horns ”of the sleigh at the start, and it was clear that it was hard at the finish as well.

Because of this, Tanya at the start twice showed the ninth result, although she usually turns out to be the first or in the top three.

As soon as the painful sensations go away, she will begin to feel confident at the start, this will inevitably affect the final result, "- quotes the words of the R-Sport specialist.

Another victory was won by snowboarder Dmitry Loginov at the KM stage in the Swiss Scuol.

The three-time world champion excelled in the parallel giant slalom, ahead of German Stefan Baumeister and South Korean Lee Sangho.

This is the first Russian gold in the current season.

In women, Sofia Nadyrshina, although she took sixth place, retained the yellow jersey of the overall leader.

The 18-year-old athlete has one victory and a silver award each.

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Publication from RUSSIAN SNOWBOARD FEDERATION (@russian_snowboard_federation)

Skeleton scandal

Alexander Tretyakov lost his sure victory at the World Cup stage in Winterberg, Germany, due to the protest of his rivals that the track did not comply with the regulations.

At the end of the first race, the Russian was the undisputed leader with a margin of 0.21 seconds from the nearest pursuer, but the German national team appealed his results, since, according to the owners, the track was poorly cleared of snow.

The judges satisfied the protest and canceled the results of the first attempt: only the second was taken into account.

In it Tretyakov took third place.

In the end, the Latvian Martins Dukurs won, and the second place went to the German Axel Jung.

The Russian in an interview with "Match TV" admitted that he simply did not have time to file a counter protest.

“It all happened very quickly, just minutes before the next start.

Answers and protests should have been written immediately, but the second attempt began, it was already necessary to warm up and go.

The annulment was, to put it mildly, disappointing not only ours, but also other teams.

Everyone was shocked because this is not done.

The weather was cloudy, but no snow fell on the track itself.

Everyone saw and understood everything, but they just physically did not have time to do anything.

The second attempt began, where you either go or nothing, ”the world champion explained.

In turn, the president of the Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation of Russia Elena Anikina stressed that the decision of the judges was "not entirely correct and fair", but, in her opinion, one should not "raise an extra buzz and noise at the World Cup on the eve of the Olympics."

“We still understand for ourselves that Sasha would be the first based on the results of two races.

The main race is ahead.

Getting ready for the Olympic Games.

We must always strive to become the first in any scenario, "- quotes the functionary" Championship ".

The stage in Winterberg brought the national team another bronze, which was won by Elena Nikitina.

Following the results of two attempts, she lost 0.43 seconds to the leader Kimberly Bose.

For the 29-year-old Muscovite, this award is the third in the current KM season: in the fall she won two stages in a row, but after a month she could not climb the podium.

In Germany, the unsuccessful streak was interrupted.

Post-quarantine wrestling of skaters

The Russian national speed skating team at the European Championship, which was held in Heerenveen, was forced to fight not only with rivals, but also with unenviable circumstances.

Upon arrival at the tournament, several members of the national team, including the silver medalist of the 2014 Olympic Games Olga Fatkulina, passed positive tests for coronavirus.

In accordance with the existing protocol, the entire team was sent to quarantine at the hotel.

The athletes were forbidden to leave the rooms, and they had to train literally on the floor instead of ice.

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Publication from Daria Kachanova (@dariakachanova)

The Russians spent six days in captivity, from 2 to 7 January, and even missed the start of the European Championship.

Naturally, the form, which was carefully recruited for the tournament, was lost, and the emotional state of the athletes left much to be desired.

Therefore, the absence of gold medals did not come as a surprise.

In difficult conditions, the Russians managed to win a total of six awards: one silver and five bronze.

Angelina Golikova and Daria Kachanova put the first awards in the collection of the national team at a distance of 500 meters: they took silver and bronze, respectively, losing only to the owner of the skating rink Femke Kok.

Then the Russian squad consisting of Elizaveta Golubeva, Natalia Voronina and Evgenia Lalenkova took third place in the team race.

The victory was expectedly won by the Netherlands national team, in second place is Norway.

After the finish, Voronina admitted that she expected an even worse result, but she and her teammates had a chance to win silver.

“It's a shame that we are not the second.

But I would see how the national teams of the Netherlands or Norway performed if they sat in quarantine for a week.

<...> Let the Dutch rejoice here, and we will rejoice at the Olympics ", - quotes the athlete" Match TV ".

Another bronze on the final day of the competition pleased Kachanova - this time at a distance of 1000 meters.

Gold and silver again went to the owners of the rink: Jutta Lerdam won, and Kok finished second.

A native of Nizhny Novgorod went to the awards ceremony wearing a mask with the inscription "I'm smiling".

She admitted that at the previous ceremony she was upset that no one sees her beautiful smile.

“Let the whole world know - a radiant smile is hidden under the mask,” the Russian woman said.

Finally, at the end of the tournament, two more bronze medals were brought to the team by Ruslan Zakharov and Golubeva in the mass start.

The only Russian medalist of the ended European Championship admitted that he was pleased with the race, and also expressed his admiration for the winner - Belgian Bart Swings.

“Today everything turned out well enough, tactically everything was on my side.

Not without luck - as always in the mass start, but the lucky ones are lucky.

I would like more, I felt for a circle and a half that I could compete with Swings, but he is so strong!

He surprises and motivates, in every race he gives himself 100%, "Zakharov emphasized in an interview with Match TV.

In turn, Golubeva said that she was angry after the team race, because, in her opinion, the Russians could win silver in it.

Therefore, she even asked the coach to remove her from the mass start, but he ignored this request.

“Now I have a medal, but then I was upset,” the athlete admitted.

At the end of the competition, the president of the country's Skating Union, Alexei Kravtsov, did not give a traditional assessment of the performance of the Russians, taking into account all the circumstances.

“I just want everyone to be healthy.

I would like the team to avoid such situations before the Olympics and so that no one passes a positive test at the Games.

The women's sprint team performed well despite the fact that the strongest squad did not come to the tournament.

There are medals at other distances as well.

But, I repeat, now I want everyone to stay healthy, ”he said.