Skier Bolshunov and boxer Beterbiev do not skimp on knockouts: they can do anything

Well? Let’s go too. Collecting quotes. Each of them is like Alexander Bolshunov’s race: an exact hit on the target, nothing superfluous. Here is an ambitious one: “You can share victories, but I won’t, I’m not going to.” It would even sound provocative if it did not come from a ski genius. And this is the truth of life. And it would be strange if Alexander admitted that he was going to give away victories: this one needs to be tossed, and now – this one. The law of the jungle, which is also the law of sports, is one: the strongest survives, that is, wins.

Another quote: “I don’t just want to stagnate at the same level, but I want to become a little better.” Simply – about the main thing, without looking for beautiful words, but accurately conveying the essence. There is also an explanation: “because all the guys themselves ask for this – they all create competition, and thereby force them to become better.” He also thanked his colleagues.

The skier’s dad, also Alexander Bolshunov, chimes in: “There is only one secret – a constant struggle with oneself. When you set someone as an example, that’s the ceiling. And so you improve every day, improve yourself. You have to prove it to yourself, not to someone else.”

Words have no boundaries, just like the victorious path of the Olympic champion.

In Kazan, Alexander Bolshunov again repeatedly became the first at the distance he entered. He won his fifteenth victory of the season. Yes – in a row. Yes – playfully. The favorite question of our time does not work: was it possible? Another one works: what is not possible?

He can. The hero of the fifteenth celebration himself commented on the victory in skiathlon at the fifth stage of the Russian Cup in Kazan in the style: I’ll tell you how it all went. The race, they say, turned out to be interesting, because the distance for a skiathlon is small – only 20 km. So we walked in a large group, and there was no place to leave. “And if you left, you had to work from start to finish.” But today is not the case, everything went more smoothly. And at the end there were thoughts: “either speed up there, or a little later, but for some reason I decided there.”

Wherever he wanted, he accelerated there. And, although all the rivals, and Savely Korostelev who was closest, expected a breakthrough, they were again unable to support him. So the stage of the Russian Cup in cross-country skiing in Kazan ended traditionally, like all races of the season: with the victory of the three-time Olympic champion.

No, in the first part of the distance, the classic one, there were still attempts to diversify the movement on the track. Ilya Poroshkin, Dmitry Zhul, Ilya Semikov tried to break away. But they didn’t break away. And Savely Korostelev also broke a stick, ran, as he says, more than a kilometer with one, or rather, limping on the second, inferior one. “Nothing unusual, you just have to go lower.” Then coach Egor Sorin heroically rushed to help with a new stick. And he was in such a hurry that he fell. “When the coach gave me a stick, I rolled around in a snowdrift and made a snowman,” Savely joked.

And in the second part, Bolshunov and Korostelev were ahead, someone like Alexey Chervotkin, if he tried to impose his game, was unsuccessful. And then Bolshunov went into that same gap on the climb. And only Savely, although he could not get right next to Alexander, also, having increased the pace, broke away from his pursuers to a quite comfortable distance for the finish. And third place was shared by Artem Maltsev and Ilya Semikov; Artem was lucky for a few seconds.

It is interesting that Maltsev said that in the morning he felt strange: either he had not recovered, or something else. But as the race progressed he got better and better. When they changed his skis, the first skating circle turned out to be the most difficult for him. But here again I was “lucky”: the skiers in front did not set a very high pace, this helped me recover and “give my best at the finish.” Artem was especially happy that sudden movements were finally starting to appear, which had not happened in previous races.

It was interesting to listen. But lucky is the one who… you know what he’s doing. And the athlete did not ignore the advice of the ski master, coach Yuri Borodavko. And the coach himself said about the advice: “You have to jerk once, but for all the money.” This is what Artem did, and at the very last moment, he was sure that he would bypass Ilya Semikov at the finish line.

Although, of course, to twitch once, but for all the money – this is right about Bolshunov. Which today does not have pursuers, but rather followers. A whole group of the strongest skiers who change each other on the podium and on the track behind Bolshunov. Sergey Ardashev, Alexey Chervotkin, Ilya Semikov, Artem Maltsev, Ivan Gorbunov, Andrey Melnichenko, Ilya Poroshkin, Denis Spitsov…

One of them, the one who is nearby almost all the time, is twenty-year-old Savely Korostelev. Right before our eyes, he is maturing from stage to stage in the phenomenal races behind Bolshunov. Savely does not hesitate to say (and this is not bragging, but a feeling of strength) that he had thoughts about victory in the last skiathlon. “Shouldn’t we take a swing at William, you know, our Shakespeare”? Defeat Bolshunov?

He says force is force, but no one is immune from some accidents on the ski track that do not depend on the racer. “Someone could have fallen and accidentally hit Sasha’s stick.” And Savely even believes that Alexander took a risk by not going into the lead for so long. “If I were him, I wouldn’t put it off until the last minute, yes, it’s spectacular, we all understand that he has more strength than we do, but putting it off for so long is dangerous.”

But Korostelev knows that it is not possible to “just” overtake Sasha today, there are only accidents or sprint showdowns. Perhaps it will help if you manage to escape earlier, so that you have to figure it out at the finish line. In general, all that remains is to seize the moment, and all this is “a matter of tactics.” No other way.

…The other day, the famous promoter Vladimir Khryunov commented on the victory of Artur Beterbiev in a fight against the British Callum Smith. The Russian boxer came out once again to defend his world light heavyweight titles according to WBO, WBC and IBF. The result is 20 wins in 20 fights, 100 percent knockouts. “It is a celebration of self-discipline, skill and natural talent.”

Alexander Bolshunov today also demonstrates 100 percent knockouts. Not in the ring, on the ski track. His triumph is the same. So Elena Vyalbe, a cool skier herself, organizer and leader, calls: let’s face it, Bolshunov is now a different league. But suddenly he admits: I want him to win all stages of the Russian Cup. Why, how is this? Should a manager always be concerned about competition? “This will be the next step for any other skier for the next 20 years,” Vyalbe answers.

And the current stage is Bolshunov’s understanding that one climb is enough for him to escape. And then the rivals see only the titled heroic back somewhere ahead. But Vyalbe, and not only the president of the FLGR, thinks that all the skiers running behind him “should thank God that they are next to him.”

…I love Zhvanetsky very much: “What is the difference between an artist and a non-artist? “Don’t pay this guy – he will write. Pay him, he won’t.” He explained at once about all the true creators. And we, stupid ones, are still looking for what this special motivation of Alexander Bolshunov is.

Ski race. Cup of Russia. Overall standings. Men

1. Alexander Bolshunov (Arkhangelsk region) – 803 points.

2. Saveliy Korostelev (Arkhangelsk region) – 593.

3. Sergey Ardashev (Tatarstan) – 572.

4. Ilya Semikov (Komi) – 496.

5. Artem Maltsev (Tyumen region) – 449.

6. Alexey Chervotkin (Arkhangelsk region) – 438.

7. Ivan Gorbunov (Tatarstan) – 408.

8. Andrey Melnichenko (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug) – 329.

8. Ilya Poroshkin (Komi) – 329.

10. Denis Spitsov (Tyumen region) – 248.

Tournament calendar:

Russian Cup, 6th stage

Tyumen, February 2 – 5

Spartakiad of Russia’s strongest

Tyumen, February 9 – 19

Russian championship

Malinovka, March 15 – 25

Russian Cup, 7th stage (final)

Kirovsk, April 2 – 7

Russian championship

Apatity and Monchegorsk, April 12 – 15