Tatarstan skiers fail to reach olympic sprint quarterfinals

Russians hope for a medal from Daria Nepryaeva

Russian fans didn't have to worry about their skiers in the sprint races for long. Savely Korostelev finished 35th out of 95 qualifiers, trailing Norwegian Johannes Klaebo by 12.5 seconds. Among those who joined him on the sidelines were renowned sprint skiers Gus Schumacher from the USA, Czech Michal Novak, and Niilo Moilanen from Finland. It's possible they prefer freestyle technique over the classic style used in the Olympic sprint. Thirty participants were supposed to start in the quarterfinal round.

Daria Nepryaeva took 36th place out of 89 starters. She covered the distance in 3:51.6, losing 15.4 seconds to Swede Linn Svahn, who posted the best time in qualifying. Among those not making the top thirty were Germany's Katherine Sauerbrey, Poland's Monika Skinder, and Isabella Marcxis, who was a star of the ski events at the World University Games a year ago. Also missing the quarterfinals was Canadian Jasmine Drolet, the reigning world junior champion — an event we might have missed during the period when Russians were suspended from international competitions.

Nepryaeva will now prepare for the 10km freestyle race, which takes place today, Thursday. Korostelev will run the same distance on Friday, February 13th.

“It's strange, but I have more fans in Europe than in Russia," Nepryaeva remarked, though there's nothing strange about it. In Russia, they expect medals from her, which haven't come yet.

Only weak hope remains for Korostelev in the battle for the podium

Alas, hoping for Olympic medals in Italy in her case is futile. Nepryaeva received much sympathy after her debut in the skiathlon, when she fell and complained about running in some kind of “snow slush.” But the 16 skiers who finished ahead of her ran under the same conditions, as did the 35 sprint participants who placed higher. It turns out Daria tested her strength in both classic and freestyle on a broken track, finishing 17th. The track only began turning into “slush” closer to the sprint finals, when each subsequent heat became slower and slower.

Then Nepryaeva raced classic style on an excellent, hard track. Moreover, since it was an interval start, she didn't have to face pressure from rivals — and again, failure, sounding like a verdict. Cross-country skiing has many nuances depending on technique, mass or interval start, and track structure. In Nepryaeva's case, both of her completed starts leave no hope for medal prospects.

Korostelev, as we see it, still retains medal prospects. But it all depends on the judges' decisions.

What explains the dominance of Norwegian men and Swedish women?

Italian skiers, coached by German specialist Markus Cramer, performed well in the sprint races. His charges, Caterina Ganz and Federica Cassol, reached the semifinals — the level of the Olympics' 12 strongest sprinters. Iris De Martin and Nicole Monsorno were eliminated in the quarterfinals, a stage Russians failed to reach. This is also a success for Italy, which has been going through tough times since the previous home Olympics in Turin, when the track hosts won four medals, including two golds, thanks to the men's team and Giorgio Di Centa, as well as the women's relay quartet. There were times when their women — Belmondo, Paruzzi, Follis — and the men's ski team were at the top of world skiing. Just like Austria with Hoffmann and veteran Stadlober, Canada with Scott and Harvey, the USA with Randall and retiring Diggins, Switzerland with Cologna, Estonia with Veerpalu and the Šmigun sisters, Poland with Kowalczyk, Slovenia with Majdič.

Cross-country skiing offered a festive sporting diversity until 2017, when at the World Championships in Lahti, champions included Italian Pellegrino, Finn Niskanen, Canadian Harvey, and Russian Ustyugov — from a national team subjected to an unprecedented attack by the international skiing federation. The attack consisted of accusing our athletes of doping; nothing was found on anyone, but the leaders were suspended without any grounds.

Ten years have passed. Since then, Russians have had one gold medal at the 2021 World Championships — in the skiathlon, when Alexander Bolshunov ran 30 kilometers ahead of five Norwegians. They finished in that order. Since 2019, this is the only men's world championship gold not taken by Norway. All the remaining 23 gold medals are Norwegian. Regarding women's results, over the last five world championships, Norway has 15 golds, Sweden has 14, the USA has 1. Over the last two world championships without Russians, Norwegians won all the gold in the men's competition. In the women's events, where Sweden took 10 first places, they won two golds.

The list of Norwegian champions is slowly being supplemented by the list of athletes who have died due to health problems, including 30-year-old Ida Eide, 29-year-old Ronny Ansens, 18-year-old Camilla Nygaard, plus biathlete Sivert Bakken, 27. Another colleague, Sondre Fossli, ended his career at 26 due to heart problems.

With total Scandinavian dominance, others get crumbs from the medal table, like the American or someone from the French in sprint races, as well as in relays where Swedes and Norwegians can't sweep the podium. At the same time, they remain among the main critics of Russian sports, which, in their opinion, operates a “state doping program," so Russians have been allowed to compete on a restricted basis for the last 10 years.