Cross-country skiing: Saveliy Korostelev to continue racing until the Olympics
Since the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin’s army, Russians have been excluded from international competitions. They are now confined to national competitions, where they compete exclusively amongst themselves, without any confrontation with the best forces in the world.
This situation raises many questions about their real level. The Tour de Ski, which ended on Sunday with the ascent of Alpe Cermis, provides the beginnings of an answer.
Russia’s Saveliy Korostelev was allowed to start under neutral status. He finished in 8th place overall, 2’28 behind the winner, Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo. Ever since he revealed himself on the international scene by winning two titles and a silver medal at the 2022 World Junior Championships, dominating in particular the 10km classic, we knew the 22-year-old was a promising young man. He confirms his status, even though he finished fourth on Sunday’s terrible climb, ahead of Amundsen and Pellegrino.
Prior to that, Saveliy Korostelev notably took a 9ᵉ place in the 10km classic and a 12ᵉ place in the pursuit, demonstrating that he can compete with the best in a demanding format.
He also suffered a few setbacks. For example, he failed to qualify for the finals of the classic sprint in Val di Fiemme (Italy). We were really hoping for a better result [31st],” his coach Yuri Borodavko admitted to RIA. So this race cannot be considered a success.
Whatever happens, the important thing for the skier is to gain experience, as his colleague Egor Sorin tells RT: “At the moment, it’s clearly more important to race competitively than to train, especially during the World Cup stages. He goes on to explain the rest of the programme for his colt and team-mate Dariya Nepryaeva, who has also been awarded “neutral individual athlete” (NIA) status: “That’s why we’ve chosen to take part fully in the two World Cup stages after the Tour de Ski, even if it means sacrificing our training at times. Ideally, a complete cycle lasts three weeks. For us, that means two weeks between the Tour de Ski and the Oberhof stage, then another two weeks between Goms and Milan.
Saveliy Korostelev is on the same wavelength: ” The main objective now is to race again and again, because with each race we have to adapt better and better to the conditions. That’s how we hope to be fully prepared to face the local realities between now and the Olympic Games,” said the young Russian.
