Elistratov’s silver and bronze, a surprise from Aldoshkina and Maltsev’s injury: how the Spartakiad of the Strongest started

Balbekov's golden double in short track speed skating

Short track skaters were the first among the representatives of skating sports to compete for medals at the Spartakiad. At distances of 500 and 1500 meters there was a surprise: so far 33-year-old Semyon Elistratov, who won the Russian all-around championship this season, has not been able to win a single gold.

Young Vladimir Balbekov climbed to the highest step of the podium twice, and for the first time in a long time he was able to fully prepare for the tournament.

“And I managed to take good care of my health - no one coughed nearby, I came here without snot,” Match TV quotes the athlete as saying.

In the 500, the 22-year-old athlete immediately created a comfortable gap for himself from his pursuers and retained first place, Pavel Sitnikov finished second, and Elistratov took bronze in the fight.

And in the 1500m final, team tactics worked. Three members of the St. Petersburg team came forward at once, preventing their opponents from taking convenient positions for attack. At the same time, the athletes increased the pace to such an extent that only Balbekov could cope with it: Sergei Milovanov “fell off” in the middle of the distance, and Maxim Shevelev fought only for bronze with Sitnikov.

Elistratov’s race didn’t go perfectly; he almost fell a couple of laps before the end of the race. However, he still ended up behind the leader and at the last moment was close to having his skate end up first on the finishing line.

At the same time, Sitnikov’s silver still stands apart from other awards. As it turned out, before the Spartakiad he spent two weeks in the hospital.

“Character and many years of training make themselves felt. Things don't end that easily. I was counting on a medal, but it was very difficult. What kind of health problems? Peripheral paresis of the facial nerve. The left side of my face completely failed, my eyes couldn’t close, so I was in the hospital recovering. This could be from anything - infection, hypothermia, temperature changes. The exact reason has not been established,” Pavel admitted.

The girls at 1500 meters had no equal to Ekaterina Aldoshkina, who this season competes more in speed skating than in short track speed skating. Nevertheless, as in the case of Sitnikov, experience helps to win.

“When I put on short track skates for the first time upon arrival in Chelyabinsk, I couldn’t even take the usual cross step. I started to worry - maybe I had made a mistake, maybe I should have stood and ridden a couple more times in October-November-December so that the sensations wouldn’t go away. The difference between the boots is very big and the most unpleasant thing is when the bones start to hurt. It feels like these are not your shoes, but new casts, not very comfortable,” the athlete admitted.

At the same time, according to Aldoshkina, the schedule for the Spartakiad is very convenient. It would have been more difficult for her to compete in speed skating at first.

“Short track competitions are mentally tougher - you have to run several times, worrying before each start. Sometimes there is not enough rest - you need to sharpen your skates yourself, hang out, warm up. In speed skating, everything is happening more calmly, especially since I run long distances - I have time to think and prepare,” the athlete added.

The 500-meter distance was won by Failya Aimaletdinova, who this season won the national championship among juniors and gets on the podium at the World Cup stages. Moreover, Sofya Boytsova was in the lead the entire distance, but she was disqualified for throwing away her skate.

“Our sport is such that there is always drama in every race. You don’t know what you’ll be like at the finish line, everything is very unpredictable. Atmosphere? Like! This is the biggest start in my career so far. The organization is at the highest level, everyone is supportive. Chelyabinsk is the best, everything is going great,” noted Aimaletdinova.

Return of Demidova in halfpipe

Representatives of acrobatic sports competed for medals in the halfpipe discipline on Saturday. Perhaps the most unexpected results were obtained in the girls' snowboarding competition. And it’s not even that the gold medal was won by 14-year-old Maria Nikolskaya. This season she has already made a name for herself in adult competitions.

Rather, we were surprised by the low results of the athletes in the finals compared even to the qualifications. The winner received only 60.67 points from the judges, and silver medalist Elena Kostenko received 45.00 out of 100 possible. At the same time, leader Sofia Afanasyeva failed the final, remaining only fifth.

In men's snowboarding, a serious fight unfolded between Maxim Suikov and Yaroslav Lenchevsky. The representative of St. Petersburg showed an excellent performance in the second attempt and finally managed to beat his opponent, who had previously won two stages of the Country Cup here in Miass.

The ski halfpipe was won by Russian champion Vladimir Ivanov and Valeria Demidova, for whom this tournament was the first major competition after an injury. The athlete missed the 2022 Olympics due to injury, although she was the winner of the World Cup in this discipline in the 2019/20 season. In Miass, she was ahead of young Ekaterina Glazkova, who replaced her in Beijing.

Without Kostornaya

Figure skating competitions will start in Chelyabinsk only next week. However, not the most rosy news is already coming. So, Alena Kostornaya must undergo shoulder surgery in the near future, so she and Georgy Kunitsa will miss the Spartakiad.

“Alena had pain in her shoulder for a long time, and the pain was constantly getting worse from exertion. An MRI study showed that there are indeed problems in the joint that could become critical without surgical intervention. Therefore, it was decided to carry out the operation in the near future,” the figure skater’s coach Sergei Roslyakov told RT.

Another specialist sports couple is also having problems: Taisiya Sobinina and Denis Khodykin will miss the Spartakiad due to their partner’s health problems.

Also in question is the participation of Pyotr Gumennik, who won bronze at the Russian Championship. As the figure skater’s mentor Veronika Daineko said, he has double pneumonia.

“He recently tested positive for COVID. Petya really wants to perform, despite his illness. Now we are waiting for a negative test,” Daineko noted.

Skiers also experience health problems. As it turned out, Artyom Maltsev, who finished third on Saturday, is competing with an injury. 

“I have a complete tear of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus in my knee. I think that this spring I will look at the MRI and, most likely, I will operate. Because in the summer they can’t put full weight on their legs, it gets in the way. This limits me,” said the athlete.

And Sergei Ustyugov admitted after the skiathlon that he had already forgotten during the pause in performances how tough his opponents act in contact races.

“There were moments that were very stressful. They run very hard, I’m out of the habit of it, I have no practice, and it’s taking its toll. I can’t say anything about readiness. The pace was choppy. I was sitting in the back. You know how a train travels fast on one side and slowly on the other. I had to jump into that little train that always went fast. And it was more fun there,” the skier said on the Telegram channel.