Former Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Vitaly Mutko told how the decision was made to train the Olympic champion Alexandra Legkova for the 2014 Sochi Games abroad.
At the home Olympics, Legkov won gold in the marathon and became a silver medalist in the relay.
— Tell us how you flew from Vancouver and spoke with Legkov on the plane. It seems that the idea was born to let athletes train abroad.
— We started a conversation with Legkovy on this topic in Vancouver. We sat down with him right after the race in the paraffin dust: “Do you want to become Olympic champion at home? He says: “I want it, but I do what the coach tells me. I’m still third, fourth, fifth. “And what to do?” Sasha explains: “I want to go to this Burgermeister in Switzerland, where Cologna trains. Can?” I answer: “You can, but you need to become Olympic champion.” Sasha really wanted to win gold. I gave him the example of Vanya Skobrev, with whom we managed to prepare for Vancouver. It was in made a major step forward: letting him work with a foreign coach. But this gamble paid off.
I spoke to many athletes who could potentially perform better and had prospects in Sochi. We spoke in such a way that their personal plans coincided with ours, because you cannot force anyone to become Olympic champion. Legkov almost never returned home for four years. If you want to become an Olympic champion, you have to sacrifice something: your personal time, your health.
— Then Alexander had a lot of questions when he won medals at the world championships, while continuing to train separately. Everyone understood that it was expensive. There may be money in the country, but to everyone it seemed strange that Legkov, for whom everyone prayed, had not earned anything. But you believed in him until the end.
— Legkov is a car. Yes, now he probably won’t beat Bolshunov, although he may not agree with that.
— Why did you believe so much that Legkov’s costs would definitely pay off in Sochi?
— The one I trusted was Legkov. Don’t forget that before the Olympics, there was the Tour de Ski, where Sasha pushed everyone. And before that, at the royal marathon, in front of the king, he had defeated everyone. It was in perfect condition and was considered the leader in world skiing. I believed in Legkov and I was very happy for him.
— After the 50 km marathon, you were one of the first to congratulate Legkov. Do you remember these emotions?
— When we won the short track, the president turned to me in front of everyone: “Only invite him. He knows which competitions to participate in. Next time, I invited him to the men’s ski relay.
They tell me: “The President is coming. » I’m coming to meet you. I look at the scoreboard, I see a gap of more than a minute before Legkov’s stage and I think: “Here I called …”.
And when we got on the podium, Sanya soared and began to deceive everyone! Then I realized that at 50 km you can be calm. Legkov was already ringing – he was so physically ready. The last day of the Olympics is the last point, three medals. There is no joy because you are just empty. That’s the feeling,” Mutko told .
Source : MatchTV
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