Yulia Efimova: “I also came back after a two-year break, like Kovalchuk. But his return is more emotional for me.”

Triple Olympic medalist in swimming Yulia Efimova on , she compared the return Ilya Kovalchuk in hockey with his own return to competition after a two-year break.

On Sunday, Spartak defeated Kunlun in the KHL regular season home match with a score of 5:2. For Kovalchuk, who signed a contract with the “red and white” in early December, this meeting was the first after returning to the KHL. Kovalchuk scored a goal in the match against Kunlun. The 40-year-old forward has not played professional hockey since winning the Gagarin Cup with Avangard as captain in April 2021. Kovalchuk signed a contract with Spartak until April 30, 2024.

– Amazing! Actually, I also had a two-year break and came back as well. Now he’s coming back. Of course, it’s even more emotional for me. I mean, I encourage it even more because it’s awesome. We prove that something else is possible at our age. “Come back and continue creating history,” Efimova said in Nikita Berezhkov’s special report “Kovalchuk 4.0.”

In November, Efimova, after a two-year break, started the Russian Short Course Championships in St. Petersburg. The swimmer then invited the hockey players of Spartak Moscow to the tournament and wished Kovalchuk good luck. In mid-December, the athlete took part in the Vladimir Salnikov Cup. Efimova competed in the 100-meter breaststroke wearing a gladiator costume, the symbol of the Spartak football team.

Spartak will play their next match on December 26 away against Torpedo. Watch the live broadcast of the Fonbet KHL championship match on Tuesday on the channel, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru sites. The broadcast begins at 6:45 p.m. Moscow time.