Did you manage to realize all your plans during the off-season?
– Right from the training camp, everything went as planned. The only thing is that we didn’t manage to climb to Krasnaya Polyana, there was the Summer Biathlon Cup, and we couldn’t find a place. The training camp started in April – those who are the main stayed with their families and missed the first training camp. And so before this season we trained in Sochi, Kislovodsk, Kolomna, Minsk. And whatever was planned in terms of volumes and so on was generally fulfilled.
The cut on the intermediate results of training is worthy. The guys did well out of competition in Kolomna. In terms of health, the only thing that Chernenko fell with a slight injury was an old knee injury – it’s a shame. He had 12 days of rehabilitation.
The structure of the team seems good before the season. The same Pavel Kulizhnikov did tempo control training, which is in no way inferior to himself. We’ll see how it will go further, how much motivation the guys will have.
– The season should be non-standard, the psycho-emotional state will be different.
– So far there is no decadent mood?
“I just want this whole situation resolved as soon as possible. Now, for example, Arefiev’s time has come. In previous years, it was even more of an adaptation after the juniors, but now it is clear that the athlete is growing.
Let’s see what happens in the competition. The gap in the calendar is quite significant compared to the international season. In addition, the country is big, there is a question of logistics, of flights. It remains to discuss how the team will train after Shavyrin’s memorial, because, as a rule, after that we already had competitions.
Again, the ISU does not allow any competitions with the participation of national teams in Belarus, if we are talking about joint starts. Let’s get out one way or another.
– The guys are not attracted to other teams yet?
– The season is experimental, we are entering an active life – the year will pass quickly. But we all understand that a sporting life is inherently short.
– Did you invite anyone to China?
– The competition situation in the sprint compared to China is different for us, not the same as for the stayers.
– I think if we had an ice rink at 1800 m altitude, if we trained there, like the Chinese for two years during a pandemic, few people could beat our athletes. But that’s how it is, the words, the thoughts out loud.
– How did the guys get to work after the Olympics, the results of which they took hard?
They work as a team, not alone. In such a situation, it is psychologically easier to bear all this. We just gave them enough time to relax, to be with their families.
Arefiev gained strength. As for Beijing, I told him that it was not his Olympics. Maybe it’s somewhere for the better… But “for the best” is also true, you know… Now, after February 24th, we don’t know how it will be.
All is well in the team. Fills Kulizhnikov, Arefiev clinches. Artem video blogs won.
– You yourself, they say, were in one episode.
– I didn’t really want to go, I just went into the frame. I think all these activities complement their communication in the group in terms of emotions and colors.
– Due to the fact that you were nominated for the position of head coach, did your duties change in any way?
– Not yet. I am still a person who works in the field. So I did not feel any cardinal changes – yes, I communicate with coaches from other groups. We are now in a period of transition, we have changed the direction of the federation. We work with Nikolai Alekseevich (Gulyaev) on a relationship of trust, we have known him for a long time. But the team has also changed, we are improving the communication process.
– Are there losses due to injuries in addition to Dasha Kachanova?
– We expected Dasha’s recovery to be faster, but that’s how it is.
– Angelina Golikova fell ill during the last training camp – there was 35 degree heat. With such a difference in temperature, there is always a risk of getting sick.
Those who arrived in the team we looked at, their level is not yet international. It is our pain, we are looking for, we are looking for talents. The girls aren’t bad, but technically there’s still a lot of work to do. They took them down early, now it’s time to do it. They work, adapt to new conditions, to new requirements.
– What was the story with skeleton athlete Elena Nikitina in training camp?
– I see that there is now such a trend – everyone started trying new sports. And this is understandable, people somehow try to change the situation and apply themselves.
I didn’t really communicate with her, but as far as I know there were disagreements with her federation. Let’s do this: we have completely different sports – I think she got that. Somehow she communicated with people, she was promised something, but for us it all came as a surprise. And it is not clear why you have to immediately go to train with the national team.
– The interview is coming to an end, and you have not yet invited Alexandra Trusova to speed skating. Now it feels like a mandatory program.
– Ruslan Zakharov, I heard that he invited her. I understand all these activities, but they are not for me. Skaters have their own world – the media, the dogs. They are used to it. We’re just talking about something else.
Also, I don’t think it’s a popularization of a sport that someone comes to like that. This is to draw attention to a particular event. Let. Why not? Let him come to the competition, to train. But that has nothing to do with popularizing the sport. Well, we don’t have figure skating, but speed skating. Not everyone who drives a car can compete in Formula 1.
– I recently left the information field. There are now types of games, martial arts… Hockey will start now. What is our plot? Only within the team. No one is interested in this – only specialists. Unless, as part of some sort of daily life, something suddenly happens, interest will arise in us.
– Do you allow yourself to keep the hope that at least at the end of the season, but to perform at the World Cup?
– One hundred percent of this will not happen. Because even if the ISU decides to admit, other countries may not accept our athletes in competition. Moreover, it is really dangerous.. Even if we are allowed to, I will be careful about it.
Sport, of course, brings people together in its cuisine, but the situation is difficult. It’s one thing when you come as a tourist or private person, it’s another – as a team.
However, in principle, I don’t share the impression that someone will let us in somewhere. Here in general. From now on, everything will be decided by the main political figures of the world. I would like to keep guys, and young people should be pulled up.
– The Spartakiad of the strongest in your country has been announced for 2024. That is, for example, large and one-time financial support for launches has been postponed two years in advance. There’s no worry about someone leaving, someone changing citizenship, and someone just losing motivation in your far from rich sport?
“We are all in the dark now. How events will develop, we do not know. We’ll live until May, we’ll run, we’ll see. Our step forward now is to start the season on autopilot and try to show good results.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
