Not everything works out for Alexander Bolshunov in the next ski season. Sometimes, due to failures, a titled athlete succumbs to unnecessary emotions. But at the Russian Cup stage in Kazan, the three-time Olympic champion was not enraged even by the fact that his opponent cut him off at the finish line, seemingly depriving him of his chances of reaching the next round.

Alexander reacted to the unpleasant episode with a smile.

Successes of Tatarstan

On Saturday, January 17, in Kazan, as part of the sixth stage of the PhosAgro Russian Cup, a men’s classic sprint race was held. Local fans had the right to expect the triumph of the athletes representing Tatarstan, because they climbed to the podium at each of the previous stages. The intrigue was, perhaps, only in how many prizes the regional team would receive and who exactly would finish the race with awards.

According to the results of qualifying, the best time was indeed shown by the representative of Tatarstan, but not the titled Alexander Bolshunov, not the leader of the sprint competition Sergei Ardashev, and not even the winner of the sprint race of the previous stage in Kirovo-Chepetsk Ivan Gorbunov. The best time was shown by Vladislav Osipov, who had previously reached the final races, but not the medals.

In the quarterfinals, representatives of Tatarstan continued to fight confidently. Osipov, Ardashev, Denis Filimonov and Vladislav Afanasyev qualified for the semi-finals. But their teammate Alexander Bolshunov initially did not succeed, taking only third place in his race. And the most annoying thing was that the titled athlete lost, not exactly in fair competition: at the finish line he was cut off and inadvertently pushed by his opponent Sergei Zabaluev, who, by the way, also represented the Volga republic.

Emotions under control

Bolshunov, having given the lead to Alexander Terentyev, picked up speed before the finish and had every chance to finish the quarterfinal race in second place. But Zabaluev, having the opportunity to see his opponent with peripheral vision, for some reason moved and created an obstacle for his colleague.

Considering certain episodes this season, one could have expected that Alexander would lose his temper and act unsportingly, but he took control of his emotions and just smiled. Perhaps he understood that the truth was on his side and the judges would not ignore the moment. Zabaluev also understood that he had done wrong and went to apologize to his opponent and teammate.

“I was a little ahead, I couldn’t see the ends of the skis, I started to change lanes. It turns out that Alexander was there. At first I thought it was Nikita Rodionov, he approached him and asked – no. “I approached Alexander and apologized,” Zabaluev explained his action on Match TV.

Alexander Bolshunov / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Maxim Bogodvid

Bolshunov without ending

Later, the judges decided to punish Sergei, moving him to last place in the race, and Bolshunov eventually qualified for the semi-finals. True, he was not very successful there. In his race, Alexander managed to get ahead of only Alexey Chervotkin, and four opponents at once were higher. Here it was not even possible to claim the status of a lucky loser.

Alexander Terentyev / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexander Vilf

Four skiers from Bolshunov’s race reached the finals, but only Sergei Ardashev, who took silver, managed to snag a medal. By the way, he became the only representative of Tatarstan who reached the podium in the men’s sprint at the home stage. The victory was snatched by Alexander Terentyev, who competes for the Tyumen region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Bronze was taken by Konstantin Tiunov from Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, who lost second place to Ardashev in the round.

Watch the live broadcast of the stages of the Russian Cup in cross-country skiing on the TV channels “Match TV”, “Match! Arena” and “Match! Planet”, as well as the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.