“Skiing in Asia is going in one direction. But not positive. Interview with Alexei Chervotkin

27 years old Chervotkin – one of the main silent Russian workers and skis. But at the last stage of the Russian Cup in Kirovsk, at the end of the last starts of the difficult season, it turned out that he was talking. And it’s difficult. He puts low marks for his performances, although second place overall after Bolshunov – more than good. By the way, in the ranking of distances, Chervotkin is also the second. With a pause. And only in sprints – 16th.

What would you think of the season?

– On a five-point system – three.

– Not a lot. What are the reasons?

– First evaluated the results. What he was ready for, he ran.

– Does this mean that something has to be changed in the preparation?

– We need analysis, communication with the coach. There were advantages – three sprint finals. But everything is “classic”. From a distance, the “skate” was good, but my favorite classic shot wasn’t very good, I still lost something.

– You have never been considered the king of sprinting. What do you think of this discipline?

The prologue is not my forte. In knockout races, where there is a contact fight, I feel more confident. When you’re in good shape, it’s fun to compete with six, you can accelerate, explode. So it was at the Russian championship and at the “Champion’s Heights”.

– What are you most satisfied with last season: sprints or distance races?

– We competed inside the country, there were no international departures, it is difficult to assess objectively. I think the level of competition has gone down to a certain extent.

– General?

– I am talking about me.

– Do you have enough motivation without the World Cup?

– Completely. I run, I participate, I try to fight, there are no problems with that.

– Is it interesting for an Olympic champion to start only in Kirovsk or Malinovka?

– Life does not end with Olympic gold. I don’t understand people who think: I won the Games, I did everything, now you can sit down and rest. I don’t know where this attitude comes from. But everyone decides for themselves, everyone has their own priorities in the present and the future.

It is customary for skiers to end the season with a marathon. Are you like that too?

– No, I ran mine. Now in Moscow, for a scheduled medical examination, then to relatives and friends.

— You were born in the village of Zykovy, Kirov region. The Internet reports that it has 15 inhabitants. How is it in general? Where to study and train, where to get bread?

– An ordinary village, next to it there is another, bigger one, where there are 80 to 100 houses. There are two shops, a school, a village council, an aid station. A little further on is the regional center. For six years I did not go to my small homeland, my parents also moved to a larger settlement. I rarely visit them either, three or four times a year, not to mention the Zykovs. There is not much time.

– Not so long ago, your Achilles swelled up a lot. Like now?

– It does not bother at the moment, but you have to pump, work the tendons and ligaments so that they are ready before the preparatory period and do not inflame. After the start of the offseason, when training in the moderate mode, you come to training camp – there is immediately three times more load. It seems to me that I am not old yet, although I am no longer young, almost 28 years old, so it is better to prepare the body for serious work.

– After the first stage of the relay at the World Championships in Oberstdorf, you could not get up for a long time, you felt sick. Is this normal for skiing?

It’s not normal, but it happens. The lactic acid accumulated in the body due to overload suffered so much that it squeezed 100%. At the races in Kirovsk, for example, this was not the case, because at the end of the season there was a slight drop, the form is no longer the same as in Malinovka and Tyumen. The level dropped, and decently.

Your military rank is captain. Are you ready for the fact that the way to the international arena is closed to you?

– Almost all athletes, not only skiers, are connected with CSKA, Dynamo, National Guard, etc. For now, everything seems closed, but that’s not the end. They will look for solutions. Many foreign athletes, by the way, are also assigned to the army, participate in the world championships among the military. Deleting some, leaving others is wrong, I hope they find something. It’s just that now this problem is so hot that we are the ones who are “extinguished”.

Football looks to Asia. Is it for skiing?

– In any case, it is a movement in a certain direction. But not positive. The competition in Asia, unfortunately, is incomparable with Europe, the level will drop. We will feel that we are in control – there will be no one to reach and there will be no need to grow.

– A Swede deliberately let the other go ahead, she won the little World Cup. For you, as an active athlete, is this an unfair game?

– There’s a jury. If he left the result in force, disqualifying only one of the participants, then this is allowed.

– But there is also an injured part – an athlete who lost the World Cup.

We also had similar cases. They gave their poles to the partner, who really needed test points, pushed from the descent as hard as possible, so that the speed was higher. In principle, this is within generally accepted limits. Whoever loses is always offended, but we don’t have a team sport, everyone decides for themselves what to do. In this case, I would say that you can understand both, the winner and the loser. You can’t just ban support from your teammates. But in the end, it’s up to the rules and the judges to decide what’s right and what’s wrong.

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The federal television channel broadcast live all the main competitions of the cross-country skiing season in Russia, including the stages of the Russian Cup.