“I had to endure”: how Bolshunov defeated Chervotkin with difficulty, and Yakimushkin snatched the bronze from Maltsev

The Championship Heights tournament continues in the Arkhangelsk region.

On Wednesday, the skiers took part in a 15km freestyle time trial and put up a thrilling fight with only 25 seconds separating first and sixth places.

The athletes this time had to overcome three laps with a long ascent at the beginning and a descent with a lot of turns, which caused considerable inconvenience and did not give the opportunity to take a breath.

As Ivan Yakimushkin noted, in the second part of the distance it was easy to lose all the advantage gained through active work uphill.

Sergey Ustyugov found himself in the most disadvantageous situation.

He was the first of the leaders to enter the track, having received 27 starting number.

Therefore, it was the time of the Olympic champion that became the main reference point for contenders for medals.

The representative of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug ended up only sixth.

Only five seconds separated him from his place in the top three.

However, the athlete was satisfied with this result.

As Alexander noted, the race was quite difficult for him, because fatigue had accumulated in a week.

“I'm tired already here, hunting home (

).

Kinda lazy today.

If I tuned in to previous starts, then I got up and thought that somehow I was sad.

This is a burnout, I prepared for a long time, ran the rest of the race well, ”the skier admitted in an interview with the Championship.

Aleksey Chervotkin also helped Ustyugov to show a good time, who was on the course when Sergey was completing his third lap.

Athletes worked in pairs, giving each other a break.

“Lyokha helped me a little, I held on to him and then tried to give out the finishing part.

He had to catch up with me a little earlier so that I would sit out, and then it would be possible not only to finish, but to work out the whole circle 

Of course, it's my own fault that I lost five seconds to Maltsev.

There was no need to feel sorry for yourself.

Everything is fine

said Ustyugov.

Chervotkin was frankly dissatisfied with how the tournament in Malinovka was developing for him: before the cutting, he could not win any awards.

According to Alexei, he counted on a good performance in the skiathlon, but in the end he took only sixth place.

This time, the skier, on the contrary, did not claim a medal, setting himself up for the top five.

But everything turned out much better: Alexei took the lead from the very first time cut, overtaking the rest by a comfortable 15-20 seconds.

And did not lose this advantage on the last lap.

Only Alexander Bolshunov managed to get around Chervotkin.

The three-time Olympic champion was only six seconds faster.

“I’ll give myself a four for the race.

My legs were numb... Fairly short descents after heavy climbs, I couldn't rest... The weather was not easy... I didn't expect that today I would be in the top three.

Appetite comes with eating.

Now the distance between me and Bolshunov is minimal, ”Chervotkin admitted, noting that he was a little upset. 

As for Bolshunov, the race was not easy for him.

For two laps, the leader of the national team confidently held the first position, having ten seconds of advantage over Alexei.

But in the third segment of the distance, it began to decrease, and the fans of San Sanych had to get nervous when the athlete drove into the stadium with a minimum margin from Chervotkin.

As the athlete explained after the finish, he started too quickly and at the end it was difficult for him to keep the speed of his rivals. 

“Today's race was 100% not easy, because difficult weather conditions, snow, wind - and this all affects the well-being.

It seems that at first it was not bad, but in the course of the distance, maybe it started a little quickly, so I had to endure along the way.

The guys - Lyokha Chervotkin, Yakimushkin and Maltsev - made very good competition today.

At the end, the guys added, I didn’t support this pace a little, because it was already hard, ”said Bolshunov.

The real battle unfolded for third place: Ivan Yakimushkin was ahead of Artyom Maltsev by only one tenth of a second.

At the same time, the bronze medalist of the race lost nine seconds to his opponent before the last long descent.

As the Russian admitted, at first he did not believe that he had managed to close such a huge backlog.

“To be honest, I didn’t even hope.

But, probably, the team sprint played its role, studied these turns on it fully.

I understood that I had to go downhill when there was still strength, like in a team sprint.

I practiced every turn to the end, and I was a little lucky.

What can I say to Maltsev?

I think he won't talk to me for the first two minutes.

I have no doubt, he was sure that he would have a medal.

I left from above - there was a lag of nine seconds.

It's like bringing half a circle in Formula 1, ”Yakimushkin joked.

Maltsev, on the other hand, can be called the main loser of the tournament in Malinovka.

Artyom was fourth for the second time.

In the skiathlon, he was also quite a bit short of bronze.

He lost to Ilya Semikov only two seconds.

Also, the athlete missed gold in the team sprint, unable to keep the gap from Bolshunov, which Yakimushkin created for him.

The last one who could intervene in the distribution of places on the podium in the dressing was Denis Spitsov.

The Olympic champion in the relay had been very ill before the tournament, so the 19th place in the skiathlon did not surprise the specialists.

At a shorter distance, the athlete clearly felt better.

He remained in the group of leaders throughout the race and finished fifth, overtaking Ustyugov.

Most of all, the head of the FLGR, Elena Vyalbe, was pleased with the results of the race, she is sure that the competitions in Malinovka turned out to be more interesting than the World Championship.

“Just, probably, they have alternative games, and we have a real world championship here.

See how tight and cool the results are.

Who would have thought that Maltsev would lose one tenth of a second and be only in fourth place?

God forbid that Artyom also reaches his cherished dream - the Olympic gold medal, ”said Vyalbe.