Senior coach of the Russian cross-country ski team Egor Sorine said in an interview with that he does not consider the Olympic champion Veronica Stepanova the undisputed leader of this season.
Stepanova, 23, trains in Sorin’s group. At the last Russian championship, the skier won three gold medals.
— You probably understand that you have the strongest group of women in the country. In this regard, do you feel happier as a coach, or is it always an added responsibility?
“Of course, I’m happy that my group includes some of the strongest skiers in the country. At the same time, liability increases significantly. If none of our athletes reached the podium at the end of a race, as happened at the Russian Championship, the frustration is much greater after such starts. As I said earlier, the level of the group is now such that in every race at least one of our athletes must get on the podium and win.
It is clear that we do not underestimate the merits of our rivals, the same Anastasia Kuleshova. I think she is now a leader in the country alongside Veronica Stepanova. But I always give my athletes the task of winning. And of course, when something doesn’t work out for Veronica and she loses, that’s an unsatisfactory assessment.
— Elena Vyalbe sometimes says that Veronica lacks competition.
— I understand Elena Valerievna’s statement in a specific context. The last time she said that was after the team sprint, about a specific race. And, probably, indeed, at the final stage of the sprint relay and in the big relay, Veronica has no competitors. She is clearly the favorite in these races.
But if we take the general level of competition at Russian competitions, I would not say that Veronica is an undisputed leader in the country. She can and should, on paper, win speed skating time trials, skiathlons and speed skating sprints, but on paper Kuleshova should win at long distances as well. However, Stepanova and Kuleshova are not always successful. And to some extent it’s good that not all predictions come true and sometimes someone else wins. It’s competition, it’s a plus.
For the general level, it would not be very good if there was only one leader, about whom we can talk about unconditional victory even before the start. For girls, it is often impossible to predict the outcome of the race. The Spartakiad also showed this. Everyone thought that Stepanova would definitely win the 10 kilometer time trial, but she was defeated. Although two days before, she had won the skiathlon, which was not her favorite discipline. The same can be said about Kuleshova: she won the top ten, but at long distance she became only third, although she seemed to be the clear favorite. We can also pay attention to the sprint of the Russian Championship – Stepanova may not even reach the quarterfinals. Yes, she won in the end, but it happened in a fight. These things happen at World Cups when the big favorites don’t live up to expectations. It’s impossible to say with certainty that anyone will win.
There are competitions in the country in men’s and women’s skiing. This gives us energy to work and prevents us from being sad about not being allowed to go somewhere, about not going somewhere. The guys work and fight. “Emotions run high sometimes,” Sorin told .
Source : MatchTV
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