– This is killing the sport. Without the world’s best skier Aleksandr Bolshunov and reigning World Cup winner Natalja Nepraijeva, the level is very low. And geographically and for the public’s interest, it is not good. Right now, the World Cup is a local competition, believes Russian commentator star Dmitry Guberniyev. In this year’s WC, Norway and Sweden took 22 out of 24 individual medals, and won all the relays. And at the same time as the world elite in cross-country skiing are competing for gold in the World Cup, the Russians are racing against teammates and Belarusian athletes. – To me, it seems that our competitions are much more interesting than the WC. To be honest, I don’t even know who became world champions. Every day we have our own interesting races, says the Russian cross-country president Jelena Välbe to Championat. Russian athletes are banned by the International Ski Federation (FIS) due to the war in Ukraine. Therefore, they organize their own championship, in which only Russian and Belarusian athletes participate. The local championship runs parallel to the world championship in Planica, but the Russians believe that the most interesting takes place in their own country. – The real world championship is here, one hundred percent, claims Välbe. – The whole world is here Aleksandr Bolshunov has won four golds and a silver in the local races in Malinkova. After the team sprint, there was little doubt that he has the same opinion as Välbe: – There is only one championship, and it’s here, Bolsjunov said, and was challenged by the journalist: – Don’t you think it’s self-delusion? The Norwegians don’t come here. We will have to return the World Cup. – I don’t care what happens in the World Cup and the WC. I have already said that. DON’T CARE: Aleksandr Bolshunov, here from the victory in the five thousand in Kollen in 2020, claims he doesn’t care about what happens in the WC. Photo: Vidar Ruud / Vidar Ruud – The whole world is there, while we have two countries. – The whole world is here, I would say. – Two countries, Sasja (Bolshunov’s nickname, journal note). – There are two countries now, then there will be more. It always happens that way, and then our time will come, Bolshunov claimed, according to Sport Express. – They are wrong Commentator star Dmitry Gubernijev does not agree with his compatriots. – They are wrong! Of course. The real WC is in Planica. In Malinkova there is a local competition, exclaims the profile when news confronts him with the statements. Gubernijev goes by the nickname “the voice of biathlon” and comments on both that and cross-country skiing for MatchTV, as well as taking on assignments as presenter and acting as an adviser to the director of the state media channel. Almost 700,000 follow the TV profile on Instagram. Despite the fact that he disagrees with the statements of Välbe and Bolshunov, he agrees that the WC has been uninteresting. – It has definitely been boring! This makes cross-country skiing uninteresting for audiences worldwide. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and other Norwegian and Swedish athletes are real world champions, without a doubt. But unfortunately, without Russian athletes it’s a local competition, says Gubernijev. He claims that the Russian public does not care about this year’s Ski World Cup, and also does not understand why Norwegian and Swedish viewers should care. – I don’t know what Norwegian and Swedish spectators think about it. If Norwegian and Swedish people want to win all the medals, no problem. But without Russian athletes, I don’t understand why. They should fight against all the best in the world, not just the local ones, says Gubernijev. Swedish commentator believes the WC is predictable Tomas Pettersson, commentator in Swedish Expressen, believes that Russia’s absence is a “small disaster” for the FIS. “LITEN DISASTER”: This is how Tomas Pettersson describes the Russians’ absence from the World Cup. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB scanpix He is therefore certain that the Russians will be invited back into good company next season, simply because the sport cannot stand the lack of competition and drama. Pettersson is clear that Russia should not be allowed to participate in the World Cup, but believes that the Norwegian-Swedish dominance pushes forward some unpleasant questions. – Without Bolshunov and co. the men’s races in Planica are extremely predictable. So far, the excitement has been guessing which Norwegian will win, writes the Swede.
ttn-69
– This is killing the sport – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
