Head coach of the Russian speed skating team Dmitry Dorofeev told that the lack of international practice for two seasons leaves a psychological imprint on the athletes’ training.
The Russian all-around championship ended on Sunday in Kemerovo.
— This is the second year that we have not competed on the international stage. And that leaves a certain psychological imprint and a certain tension. If they said tomorrow the light would be green, then for the athletes that would be the starting point. In this situation, I would not be as critical of the comparative characteristics of the results. Kemerovo does not have the fastest ice. The arena did not prepare for the championship in advance, general tests were held on the eve of the competition, and athletes who arrived early did not have the opportunity to train. Some may think that there is nothing wrong with this, but in the competition preparation system, it matters.
The guys competed, did their best, one of the three key starts is very soon – the Spartakiad, great importance is attached to it. It’s true that after such an all-out competition, running a key race… there are also some questions about that. Especially for those who ran in the top ten of this all-around.
In the current situation, the coaching staff and I look at and evaluate people based on the season, not only based on starts, but also based on the training process. I was happy with Artem Arefiev. If Ruslan Murashov and Viktor Mushtakov showed that they were in good shape, except for the period when Viktor was injured, then Artem with his current seconds in the 500m really pleased me. In the frame of reference in which we find ourselves, such sprint results allow us to hope that in certain circumstances we could appear in the World Cup prizes. Only Jordan Stoltz stands out, he broke Kulizhnikov’s 1000m record, but that’s life.
Our task is to create conditions, training practices and give credit to coaches and athletes who show decent results in these realities. For example, Dasha Kachanova, who does this after an injury. About 10 main athletes, under certain equal conditions, if they return to the international stage, will prove that they have not lost their skills. As for juniors and those who have just moved to adult sport, it is more difficult for them to adapt. Time will tell if we will be able to cope with this,” Dorofeev told .
Source : MatchTV
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