"Now the focus is on the Tour de Ski
Savely Korostelev is one of the first Russian athletes to be granted neutral status by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS). The skier performed at the World Cup in Davos, where he managed to qualify for the 2026 Olympics. At the Games, his schedule should be as follows: skiathlon 10+10 km, classic sprint, speed skating 10 km, classic mass start 50 km. But the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy) are still more than a month and a half away. He spoke about how the athlete will conduct them and where he plans to perform in an interview with SE and Izvestia.
"I could barely drag my feet in there"
— Russian sprint and World Cup sprint are different disciplines. In our country, the route is usually longer and with a more gentle profile, in Europe it is shorter and steeper. It feels like you had lactate (a substance that is formed in muscles during intense exertion when there is not enough oxygen for energy. — Ed.) at the finish of qualifying?
— Lactate cannot be dispersed high in one segment. I think it was around 12 mmol/L. My maximum values are more than 20 mmol/L. But to reach them, one two-minute segment is not enough.
— From the point of view of load tolerance in qualifying, which was hit harder — on the legs, on the heart, on the breath?
— On the legs. When I went to the second lap, on the second climb, I didn't know how I was going to jump into it. I knew I had to jump in, but it felt like I could barely drag my feet in there. Although later on the record I saw that I still jumped a little.
— So the legs were not capable of impulsive repulsion?
"Exactly. It was too long.
— Can you comment on your quick start in the 10 km skate — fourth place in the 1.7 km cutoff, four seconds behind Amundsen? Did you consciously get so active and feel so good?
— To be honest, I started with a margin, but when you're at the height, this margin is less than on the plain. I went through the race as usual: I started with a margin, with the opportunity to increase the pace, keep it, but still got caught up.
— It would seem that you've spent a lot of time in the mountains this year, probably doing some interval work. Has this experience given you any insight into what's going to happen anyway?
— There was an understanding that it was stronger and sharper in the mountains. But the training work is not monotonous, there are always moments of rest in it. The longest thing we did was 5-kilometer stretches. Moreover, in the format of a control workout, the task was to keep the pace at least ten. This is not a race, in any case, such activities do not simulate a full-fledged racing load.
— Can we say that it is very difficult to fully calculate the top ten in the mountains? That is, to clearly understand from the beginning how you will start and how you will end.
— Yes, and it's even harder on this lap in Davos.
"Two skiers and one servicer have neutral status"
— How was it with the service? Did Evgeny Uftikov make it?
— Zhenya arrived on Friday evening, and the sprint was on Saturday, also in the late afternoon. He had time to prepare, about half a day on Saturday. But what can one servicer do on his own with material that he has not worked with before? He doesn't have any proven options. It is clear that he asked other teams. Zhenya did everything that depended on him.
At the same time, Zhenya, in addition to the duties of a servicer, also has the representative functions of an official of the team. At the moment, only two athletes and one servicer have this status. Accordingly, either one of the athletes or he should represent the team. I showed up at the captains' meeting. But it took place online, so there were no special problems. Uftikov got the numbers before the start one day, and I got them the other day.
— What happened in the end with the choice of skis for the start?
— We wore our skis early in the morning to check for fluoride to see if they had been cleaned of it or not.
— You told me that you have fumes that are completely free of fluoride. But it turns out that you ran in Davos on a pair that was laundered?
- yes. Because she drove better.
— Was there any concern about whether it was completely washed or not?
— Zhenya was sure that he had cleaned the skis, and I trust him in this matter. As a result, there were no problems with fluoride, so now there are no concerns about this. And if fluorine had been found, then we would have had to get clean vapors, and the choice of options for the race would have been less.
"We will stay in Europe until the Olympics"
— Sergey Volkov was going to join you, has he arrived?
— Yes, he's already here.
— Are you preparing for the Tour de Ski?
— Yes, we are currently preparing for a multi-day race. We haven't planned any further yet. It is clear that the overall plan is being developed, but right now the focus is on the Tour de Ski.
— Has the application been sent yet?
— When we submitted the application forms for neutral status, we indicated the launches in which we want to participate. We have listed the entire World Cup and Olympic Games. Now the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) has released an update, we have created an online service for neutral athletes, and we can apply for any FIS starts, in addition to those that we indicated in the questionnaires, simply by adding a start in this service.
— When we talk about the Tour de Ski, as a rule, we are talking about the final stage, which is very different from all the others — the steep ascent of the Alpe Cermis mountain. What are your expectations and thoughts, regardless of places?
— I really hope that it will be easier for me than the one that was in Kirovsk.
— At the end of the last two seasons, in the Russian Cup in Kirovsk, the mountain was very difficult for you, as far as I remember.
— Especially in the second year it was harder. But the first year was also the most memorable.
— After the Tour de Ski, are you returning or staying in Europe?
— We continue to participate in the World Cup stages and prepare here. Right up to the Olympics.
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