“There are no emotions left.” Kuleshova beat Stepanova in a powerful race at the Spartakiad
Andrey Shitikhin February 12, 2024, 16:20 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
And Bolshunov coincidentally won his twentieth victory. He paused after half the race and stuck with it.
In the 10 km time trial speed skating race at Spartakiad 2024 in Tyumen, victories were won by Alexander Bolshunov and Anastasia Kuleshova. But how different these victories turned out. Kuleshova snatched the gold from top seed Veronika Stepanova, and Bolshunov secured a comfortable lead at mid-distance and then ran at the same pace as the other winners.
The battle in the women’s race turned out just unrealistically cool. The undisputed favorite was Veronika Stepanova, for whom the skating race in the top ten is a profile race. And she beat them all with her usual style. Except a skier. Anastasia Kuleshova came out early to win and from the start she had a bite with Veronica.
Stepanova has already lost one race in the Spartakiad:
The Russian skier screamed with excitement after the race! But Bolshunov won and he wanted more.
For a long time the fight was very close, but Anastasia completed the final part of the race phenomenally. Proper design is its strong point. She has always been distinguished by her ability to power through the second half of any race. However, now Kuleshova is off to a great start. And at the finish line she gave Verónica eight seconds.
“It’s a very, very nice feeling inside. He finally managed to win gold in the Spartakiad. It’s also good to beat Veronica as an athlete; after all, she had a series of victories. I go to all races with the mentality of winning. And now there was the same task. It’s true that I focused on the skiathlon. I love him, so I bet on him. I didn’t have that many expectations in the time trial, so this result is a relative surprise for me,” said the champion before the award ceremony.
And her brother and coach Pyotr Sedov had no strength or emotions left after the race: he was very worried about his sister.
“There are no emotions, I left everything there, at a distance. There was an intense struggle, constant changes: Nastya won, then lost, then began to win again. The girls kept us in suspense until the end. I am completely exhausted.
I have already said that when working with Nastya, my main task is not to spoil what was invested in her before: the father who raised her, the coaches who trained her, including in the Russian national team, Markus Kramer. My father’s contribution here is very great,” Sedov Jr. admitted.
Maria Istomina came in third place, and Lidia Gorbunova, Tatyana Sorina and young Alina Pekletsova also finished in the top six.
For the winner’s men, it was business as usual this season. Alexander Bolshunov created a comfortable reserve at mid-distance and in the second he controlled the situation. There is no doubt: if he needed to add more, he would have added more.
Alexander Bolshunov
Photo: RIA Novosti
Denis Spitsov took second place. And this is his first award this season. At the main exit. After many problems, due to which he could not reach his usual level. It turned out that he had been bitten by two ticks over the summer, but he didn’t get tested.
“I was bitten by a tick twice and I got sick constantly, almost every two weeks. Ticks love me, they bite me every year. This time I was careless: I did not take the tick for analysis, nor did I take antibiotics myself. But it turned out that I had a positive test for borreliosis. I was wrong and I started it all. I am glad that thanks to the mountain harvest we have been able to return to the previous level and get on the podium,” Denis highlighted.
Bolshunov continues to crush everyone in the Spartakiada:
“He’ll kick everyone’s ass at the World Cup too.” Bolshunov won the 19th consecutive race
Savely Korostelev was third, losing to Spitsov by just over three seconds. After the force majeure that happened to him in the sprint and in the skiathlon (they hit him with a stick and broke it twice), in the time trial he pulled himself together and gave it his all. I planned to be closer to Bolshunov, but I am also very happy for the bronze.
On February 13 there will be no free day for cross-country skiing in the Spartakiad. The classic relay races were moved to the present day starting February 15. There will also be a cool fight there.
