Overcoming illness: Bolshunov won his 22nd victory in a row of the season, Stepanova won the first gold of the Russian Championship

Bolshunov's winning streak and Ustyugov's bronze

The Russian Championship in Malinovka opened with two freestyle sprint races.

And in the run-up to them, one of the main intrigues was whether the strongest domestic athlete Alexander Bolshunov would take to the start line.

As it became known, a few days before the start of the championship, he experienced health problems and could even miss part of the tournament, as told by the senior coach of the national team Yuri Borodavko.

However, Bolshunov was still included in the sprint entry, as was Alexander Terentyev, who was also not in ideal shape due to an illness.

But if the undisputed leader of Russian cross-country skiing easily overcame the qualification barrier and qualified for the quarterfinals from sixth place, then his namesake suffered a crushing fiasco.

The Olympic bronze medalist in the individual and team sprint showed the 54th time and finished the performance in his signature program.

The same fate befell another medalist of the Beijing Games, Ivan Yakimushkin.

True, in his case everything turned out even more offensive.

The representative of the Tyumen region finished with 32nd result, and was only 0.32 seconds short of qualifying for the next round.

A couple of star athletes were eliminated at the 1/4 finals stage.

Thus, the last, sixth places in their races were taken by the champions of the 2022 Games in the relay race Denis Spitsov and Alexey Chervotkin, Artyom Maltsev also remained behind.

True, he never specialized in sprinting, and this season he did not rise above the eighth line, more often being in the second ten.

Emotions really began to run wild during the semi-finals.

In the first of them, an offensive fall ruined the chances of Sergei Ardashev, who won four medals in the sprint this season, to reach the decisive round.

And the second one was remembered for the fierce struggle in the last meters of the distance, when three athletes fought with each other at the finish line.

As expected, Bolshunov took the upper hand, while in the dispute for second position Savely Korostelev was only three hundredths of a second ahead of Pavel Solovyov.

And he deprived him of his hopes for awards - he did not make it to the final stage in time.

In the final, many fans probably expected a confrontation between Bolshunov and Sergei Ustyugov, but there really wasn’t one.

Alexander immediately took the lead and never let anyone go ahead.

And when he got tired of clinging to his opponents’ skis with his poles, he made a spurt and strengthened his advantage.

Ivan Gorbunov resisted to the last and even tried to organize a chase, but was forced to settle for silver.

Bolshunov won his 22nd victory of the season and extended his phenomenal unbeaten streak, while Ustyugov won bronze.

In a dispute over her, he defeated Korostelev.

“The feeling is average.

He did not fully recover.

Three days ago I had a slight fever.

I thought at least the first three starts should be skipped.

But this morning I woke up, Anya (Bolshunov’s wife -

RT

) said: “I want you to run.”

I think I scored 50%, I need to ask Eva (daughter)... She begins to move her hands, as if she were moving with sticks.

Well, I think there are no options now.

The girls said it’s necessary, so it’s necessary,” said Bolshunov.

In turn, Ustyugov wished everyone to have the same form as Bolshunov in this sprint.

He also admitted that this race was extremely important for him.

“I purposefully prepared for this.

For me this is the main start of the season.

Even in my best state of health, I lose to Alexander in average condition.

It's a little sad.

I didn’t consult anyone... Finally I got a medal.

Before the start he said: “Guys, you all have awards at the Russian Championship, but Andryukha Melnichenko and I don’t.

We need it more.

Maybe you can give it as a gift somehow?”

But everyone was against it.

I had to work today,” Ustyugov said.

Faleeva's fiasco and Stepanova's first gold

For women, one of the main surprises happened already in the prologue, when the leader of the sprint standings, Anastasia Faleeva, failed resoundingly.

Since November, she has won five races in this discipline, not only at the stages of the Russian Cup, but also at the Spartakiad of the Strongest in Tyumen.

True, there she ran in the classical style, while at the national championship in Malinovka it was necessary to move freely.

Despite this, Faleeva’s advancement to the next stage seemed a done deal.

But she was not like herself; she was already 16.46 seconds behind the leader, taking only 32nd place.

“Of course, Faleeva had to pass... I think she had thoughts of passing it with little blood, but it didn’t work out.

Plus a tough track.

Maybe I was careful on the descent, that’s why I got this result.

Many girls passed it more competently, that’s why everything worked out for them,” Borodavko noted on Match TV.

However, Polina Antipina was much more unlucky.

The 17-year-old representative of the Arkhangelsk region did not fit into the turn and flew off the track.

Moreover, the fall turned out to be so hard that the girl required hospitalization.

“I saw that she fell, after which they called a snowmobile to take her away.

Doctors should have examined her,” Borodavko said on Match TV.

In turn, the quarterfinals were without sensations, although a couple of star athletes still decided to play with fire.

Thus, Veronika Stepanova did not perform very confidently in her race, but with great difficulty she managed to climb to second place.

Shortly before the finish, she was fourth, but first Ekaterina Evtyagina fell on the track, and then the Olympic champion herself turned on the maximum speed and passed Ekaterina Nikitina.

At the same time, Tatyana Sorina only made it to 1/2 as a lucky loser.

In her top six, she was in fourth position, but surpassed her competitors in time.

It is noteworthy that Sorina reached the final in the same status, ahead of her rivals in the second heat.

And it turned out to be one of the most dramatic during the competition day.

Already at the start, Evgenia Krupitskaya’s pole broke, which is why she lost precious time, but miraculously regained her lost positions and became second.

What can you say about Irina Ibragimova?

Before the finish line, she lost and was unable to recover, taking the last, sixth place.

As a result, Sorina, who miraculously advanced twice, won a bronze medal.

Tatyana overtook Daria Nepryaeva by 0.05 seconds, and lost only to Elizaveta Pantrina and Veronika Stepanova.

If during the previous races the form of the Olympic champion raised questions in anyone’s mind, then by the end of the competition day they were dispelled.

Even in 1/2 she demonstrated her skills and became the first, and in the final she did not leave her rivals a chance.

The key was the final climb, during which the representative of the Arkhangelsk region, as if standing, walked around her counterpart along the outer radius and did not allow her to approach her anymore.

By the way, it was at this moment that Krupitskaya and Istomin lost their hopes for awards.

The first lost her balance and fell right at the feet of the second, who was forced to stop.

Thus, Stepanova won her first victory at the Russian Championship and admitted that she was able to meet the expectations of fans and experts.

“I was reborn... This is a very interesting descent.

I pass it perfectly, as does Natalya Nepryaeva.

That helped.

The rest is details.

We built a new ski and biathlon stadium in Kazan, we have Zlatoust.

And here is a new sprint circle, a service center.

Russia is developing and moving forward.

What about in Europe?

Are there any new service buildings in Falun?

No, there's nothing.

And without us, all this will die out,” said Stepanova.