“Somewhere I had to withdraw my maximalism, I didn’t put pressure on the guys.” Dorofeev on the season without international departures

Kolomna hosted the final of the Cup of Russia in speed skating. Not all the leaders took the start, some missed the usual distances.

Russian national skating team head coach Dmitry Dorofeev told what this season has been like without international departures or extra motivation.

— Dmitry Anatolyevich, is the season over?

— Yes, the principal starts behind. The leaders have already run all their starts this season.

– Why didn’t Artem Arefyev run a thousand?

– He shook his back during the “five hundred” when accelerating. In the fall, everything was not bad, but the results are born in the rivalry, and we had the same thing in the season. After the Olympics, Artem was fine, but as the season progressed, the motivation faded.

– Not enough adrenaline?

– Yes. And if Ruslan Murashov and Viktor Mushtakov have more experience, the more families and children they have, this also leaves traces, it allows them to be more stable. But Artem has reached a very good level. “Five Hundred”, if we had an international season, it would be good.

– How is Pavel Kulizhnikov?

– He was not admitted to the Cup of Russia in the sprint in Chelyabinsk, after which he broke slightly, went into himself. But he came after that, he skated. Now keep fit. He has a gym at home and, in principle, he is in good shape, we expect him next season.

Athletes are not motivated. How do you feel about this?

– With understanding. Somewhere removed his maximalism. The guys, in principle, had good results – Murashov and Mushtakov in particular. It’s the first time we’ve been in such a situation and we don’t know what will happen next. We were already suspended before the Olympics in Pyeongchang, but then we had the opportunity to participate in the World Cup, but there was nothing. Competing within your squad is part of the workflow, except here it was a whole season.

I was absolutely in no mood to pressure them one hundred percent in the current situation, to pressure one way or another. We are told that our results will be compared to the results of international competitions, with Heerenveen. How to compare? Will biathlon and skiing also be compared? Different tracks, different levels of competition. And that’s not to mention the fact that our schedule is different in its structure with no international departures and doesn’t allow us to reach top form like we did before.

Here, we had to focus on working with young people. Here they should add, take shape, show a certain level. There are questions to the regions. The guys come to the national team and they need to rebuild, because they are doing a little badly.

I can say that Alexandra Sayutina has improved considerably. And the way she ran in the Russian Cup final proves it. Coach and dad Vadim Alexandrovich (Sayutin) has the necessary experience, Stepan Chistyakov turned out, found himself. But goals and objectives will then be on another level. Let’s see how and what will happen.

Timur Karamov added us. At the Olympics – if it will be for us – we have someone to run on the “five hundred”.

– If admission to Asian departures starts, how do you see it for yourself?

– It is not yet clear how all this will be set up in general and how everything will be done in terms of speed skating. We may find ourselves in a situation where we will not see the best athletes from Asia at the Asian starts. It is clear that as an option, the last and only one is good.

We had the Russian-Chinese matches, but there too it was not very clear in terms of the composition of the teams, who was at what level. But the guys left, felt the vibe, rallied, were one team – these are all very important feelings. But all of that is good for young people, and in the commercial age, we have to somehow keep leaders.

Sport is a specific thing. Yes, it is work, but work is not in the usual sense. It is a certain state of life at a given time. It must be recognized and understood.

– You have already spoken about the neutral status, but still. What do you think of a possible admission?

– The sport has recently turned professional. At the start, the sport is applied, and in these difficult times you have to be aware of it. It will be unpleasant to act in such a status once again. This is my opinion, how athletes relate to this – they have to decide for themselves. I think we are going to live very serious moments. It won’t stop today or tomorrow. Yes, we open the news now and see the statements from the IOC and Thomas Bach, but we also see how many parties are against it. And the question of security is important – who will provide it? Organizers? I don’t have all the information, I just read, analyze what is happening. Some information appears, but everything changes quite quickly and it is difficult to navigate. I can’t even imagine how we are going to be selected in principle by ratings and quotas after the missed season. I think about it, but in fact I don’t even know where to start.

There is no certainty. That’s about all we know now.