Skier Ermil Vokuev told that in Russia not enough attention is paid to representatives of their sport, if we do not take into account the three-time Olympic champion Alexandra Bolshunova .
At the Alfa-Bank Russian Championship in the Arkhangelsk region, Vokuev won a gold medal in the 10 km individual race and interrupted Bolshunov’s winning streak in individual races, which totaled 23 starts. On Wednesday, Vokuev and Ilya Semikov finished second in the team sprint, losing to Bolshunov and Saveliy Korostelev.
— Did you feel an influx of new fans on social media after winning the time trial? How many wrote?
— Yes, after the race, there were many messages of support. Everyone congratulated us, thank you all. It takes a long time to respond to everyone. So they don’t say he’s arrogant and don’t respond (laughs). I tried to respond to everyone. And there are still some. And a lot of people supported me on the track, thank you very much.
— Your victory is a plus in terms of the development of cross-country skiing, what do you think?
– Yet they still develop. And when people lose to Bolshunov too. At this moment, everyone takes a step towards him. So in the “cutting”, I managed to do that. But, as I already said, he beat not only Bolshunov, but also everyone else.
— A few years ago, you said that in Russia, Bolshunov was popularized, and not ski racing…
— Sometimes other athletes are not celebrated. I’m not talking about myself. There are just a lot of skiers on the team. The same Ilya Semikov was second overall that year, but nothing is said about him.
“We could say that the other day you did everything you could to get someone else talking.”
– Yes. But I read the headlines after the race, they mostly wrote that Bolshunov’s invincibility streak was over, and not that I won,” Vokuev told .
The Russian championship takes place at the Malinovka ski center in the Arkhangelsk region from March 16 to 24.
Watch live broadcasts of the competition on and Match! Arena”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source : MatchTV
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