“There is inner confidence that speed skaters will participate in the 2026 Olympic Games.” Interview with Nikolai Guliaev

The main competitions of the season for speed skaters and short track speed skaters will take place in December. Nikolai Guliaev in an interview with , he spoke about the pre-Olympic season, although the Russians still do not have access to the qualifying competitions.

— Last year you said you weren’t entirely satisfied with the speed skaters’ seconds. Has that changed this season?

— At the start of the Russian Cup, some team leaders showed results comparable to the best in the world. In particular, the sprint guys, Aldoshkin, have improved. Positive dynamics and progress are observed, which can only be welcomed. I would also like to note that at the request of athletes and all specialists, this season we are holding the main competitions on the fastest rinks.

— Recently you had a stage of the Russian Cup in St. Petersburg and the weather was bad. Do you want to abandon outdoor rinks?

– Can you imagine what we arrived at? In November we do not have stable winter weather, skating weather, as they say. I think we’ll just move these competitions to a later date next season. But I believe there should be competitions in outdoor rinks, and we will organize them.

— Olga Fatkulina won on this rink – her first personal victory after her return. How do you assess its potential at present?

— I always believed in Olga. With its results – and these seconds are not the limit! — proves that he is one of the leaders of Russian speed skating. And the fight in our women’s sprint promises to be really intense over distances of 500 and 1000 meters.

The sprint guys are also showing good results. Murashov, however, was not well, but I think he will get back into shape and we will see strong competition in the men’s 500m distance. There are Karamov, Bazyuk, Viktor Mushtakov, Pavel Kulizhnikov and Mikhail Kazelin.

Such competition can only please us. This helps you progress. And, whether we like it or not, we compare our athletes’ results with the seconds of world leaders. At least we can compare the results shown in Kolomna with the coefficients of European ice rinks.

— Are you satisfied with the level of competition in short track speed skating?

“I am happy with the increased competition between the boys; young people are following our leaders. The girls are not left out in terms of internal competition either. The Russian Championship promises to be interesting.

— Kristina Silaeva, who joined the Kazakhstan national team, is already playing for the new team and has reached the podium at the international level. What emotions do you feel about this?

“We let her go in peace.” The decision of the executive committee of the Russian Skating Union confirms that we have no stones in our bosom and we wish success to all our athletes, no matter for whom they compete, after all, they were born and raised grew up in Russia. Christina from the heroic city of Moscow.

— About Moscow. Does Krylatsky’s return help with competitions and preparation?

— This is one of our best rinks, we try to use each of these facilities to the maximum, both for training and for competitions. There is talk of distributing the events between five high-level indoor ice rinks; no other country can boast of having such a number of ice rinks.

— But after Krylatsky’s return, you have not yet organized the Russian championship there. Is this possible next year?

– Everything is possible. But the Moscow Federation itself has asked not to organize major competitions there for the moment, as the ice rink has only just resumed normal operation. But there was already a Russian junior championship.

— Have you increased the allocation this year?

– Yes. I think that in the absence of international competitions, we should stimulate the guys as much as possible. This is an incentive for competition. Last year we decided to award the first six places in the Cup Final based on the sum of all stages. This is, I believe, a completely correct practice. Under these conditions, athletes are encouraged not to miss the stages of the Cup.

This year we want to reward both the best athletes and the best coaches, and choose a winner in the “Breakthrough of the Year” nomination.

— Will you be rewarded at the end of the season?

— Season 2024/25.

— It should have become pre-Olympic. Do you feel that way, or is it no longer true psychologically?

— I have already said more than once that there is confidence: Russian speed skaters will go to the 2026 Olympics. So yes, for me this is a pre-Olympic season.

— Judging by the schedule of ISU council meetings, there is no news about admission before the end of the year?

– Probably not. But the inner feeling of expectation remains. Suddenly, a miracle will happen. But we are now seeing how the situation is evolving and in several sports our athletes are starting to be allowed to participate in international competitions. Generally, there must be a basic decision regarding admission, and then there will be specific questions. The guys are getting ready, we’re starting slowly.

— The dollar exchange rate has increased. Are there any equipment expenses that will increase in this regard?

— There is no need to make emergency purchases at this time; some things were purchased for future use. But, for example, if we want to increase the quality of competitions, we have to change the equipment of some rinks. We are taking steps in this direction.

— In addition to the regular calendar starts, you have the Commonwealth Cup and the Strongest Cup coming up. Can you tell us about these competitions?

— Both departures will take place in Minsk. The strongest Cup will take place in mid-February, the Commonwealth Cup – at the end of December. Our strongest athletes will go there. The Belarusian side will pay prize money; the Russian Skating Union will also provide financial rewards.

Concerning the Cup of the Strongest, there is one point: it will take place almost at the same time as the Russian Cup in Kirov, these competitions will soon be 100 years old, they are significant for our calendar. Therefore, now we are thinking about how to do it correctly, how to organize everything correctly according to the schedule.

— How did you perceive the story that some speed skaters were working undeclared as couriers?

— They are not athletes of the Russian national team. All this falls within the competence of the trainers. Everyone has the right to do what they want. But if you play sports and come to training camp, you have to do this first. Well, in their free time, everyone is free to do whatever they want.

– But are athletes really that short of money?

— It’s difficult for me to comment on what’s happening in the regions; the athlete is not from the national team. He is not in centralized training.

— Will International Skating Day take place at VDNKh?

– Yes, and we are preparing for it now. We invite the Minister of Sports Mikhail Vladimirovich Degtyarev. We have already shown the ISU President how we organize the events for this day, he was pleasantly surprised. This event is important for the ISU and we remain integrated into the international community.

— Athletes wrote on social media that almost all of them had been removed from the international control group. Is this so?

“This is a specific WADA policy, but we are working to ensure the testing issue is resolved properly.

— What prospects does the Ministry of Sports see in the development of speed skating?

— One of the main tasks is the development of mass sports and children’s sports. We even discussed the possibility of including three stages of the GTO complex in speed skating, drawing on successful practice in the USSR. In the future, this will increase the number of people involved in speed skating. And we included the “skating” module – running on all types of skates – in the decree of the Ministry of National Education. This gives school principals the opportunity to teach physical education classes on all types of skates. These actions can significantly increase both the popularity and the number of people involved in the sport.

— What is the “Everything on Ice” project?

— The event will take place on December 1 on the territory of Okhta Park in the Leningrad region. The owners filled a picturesque and cool ice rink, and after seeing this, they decided to start this project on the first day of winter. Anyone can compete using all types of skates. In addition, master classes will be organized, notably with Svetlana Zhurova. We are organizing this event with the help of the Committee for Physical Education and Sports of the Leningrad Region, together with the regional figure skating and ice hockey federations. And thanks to the help of the committee, we opened another speed skating federation – the Leningrad region, which has glorious traditions in our sport.

— Previously, the story of the construction of an ice rink and training center in the highlands was discussed.

— Yes, we are talking about a multi-sport complex in Kabardino-Balkaria. I’ve been there twice already. Many sports require such a base. No one is saying this is unnecessary or inappropriate, but we agreed to return to this issue a little later. A working group has been created, of which I am a member, now everything depends on the political and financial decision, because it is an expensive project.

— Is the plan for an ice rink in Yekaterinburg still in force?

— We agree on the location, principle and format of the stadium. I think that such rinks, where competitions at regional and higher level can take place, should be agreed with the relevant federation. I will insist on this at all levels.

— The main trend of the last months of the year is the unification of federations. Didn’t you and the skaters of the general federation have such an idea?

— Apart from rumors, there have been no details or official information. I don’t see the point in commenting on rumors.

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