The return of Ustyugov: beat Bolshunov, called the members of the national team “bags”

The third stage of the Russian Cup in cross-country skiing in Chusovoy brought victory in the sprint to Veronika Stepanova

Olympic champion Sergei Ustyugov became the winner of the freestyle sprint race at the third stage of the Russian Cup in cross-country skiing, which takes place in Chusovoy. The Perm region saw the first start and the first victory of Ustyugov in the Cup of Russia this season. And the skier also congratulated himself in his personal channel: “With victory, Elk!”.

Olympic champion Sergei Ustyugov opened the season at the Russian Cup only at the third stage. It was as if he was waiting for his coach Markus Kramer to celebrate his 60th birthday in order to present a gift: to win beautifully in the sprint, leaving Olympic champion Alexander Bolshunov in second place, and Olympic medalist Alexander Terentiev in third.

Sergey in Chusovoy won already in qualifying, declaring his serious intentions. Bolshunov lost more than a second to him, Terentiev lost three seconds. The final alignment in the final only slightly reduced the gap between the rivals. Ustyugov beat Bolshunov by 0.82 seconds, Terentyev lost by 1.56 seconds. (Savely Korostelev, who won the sprint at the previous stages, does not participate in the races of the third stage; he is preparing to compete in China.)

The excellent mood of Sergei Ustyugov, who trains separately from the national team and uses the plans of Kramer, who is not able to train an athlete in person today, can be understood: the first start and an unconditional victory. As well as the joke about the “bags”, which pleased the journalists, and the words: today I won against the national team.

“Some people called me a sack in the summer. And even then I said that if I beat the collections, being in the regional team, I can call them bags myself, ”RIA Novosti quotes Ustyugov.

Coach Yuri Borodavko praised the victory of Sergei Ustyugov in the sprint: “everything is on point.” And he chose the best tactics, and took a leading position, and did not allow himself to get ahead of anyone.

True, the coach emphasized, it was difficult to get ahead of the one who came out ahead: heavy snow fell in Chusovoy, there were snowdrifts, there was only one knurled track on the track. “Therefore, there was no fight.”

Pleased Borodavko with the news about Terentyev’s condition, Alexander’s sprint confirmed these words. “Everything has returned to normal, everything is going on as usual. There are no visible problems with Terentyev.”

In the women’s freestyle sprint race at the third stage of the Russian Cup, Olympic champion Veronika Stepanova won with a clear advantage. Her result is 3 minutes 47.16 seconds, in second place is Anna Grukhvina (+6.93 seconds), in third is Anastasia Faleeva (+7.03).

The coach believes that everything worked out for women, as it should. The fight was for places, except for the first, no surprises happened. In Chusovoy, due to health problems, Olympic champions Natalya Nepryaeva and Yulia Stupak do not perform. At the next stage of the Russian Cup, Nepryaeva should join the team, as for Stupak, the coaches will discuss her entry to the ski track closer to the point.