Second Leaders Incident
In the semi-final freestyle sprint of the fifth stage of the Cup of Russia in Krasnogorsk, Alexander Bolshunov and Sergey Ustyugov were in the lead and struggled for position, but collided as they entered a turn and fell.
Bolshunov at that moment was slightly ahead, but the gap with the opponent was minimal, and as a result, contact occurred in a difficult battle, in which both skiers fell.
Although the opponents stood up pretty quickly, it took some time for them to recover.
Ustyugov first looked in the direction of Bolshunov, who was still rising, and then went to the finish line. As for Alexander, it took longer for him. But he eventually made it to the finish line, and eventually even accelerated, showing the audience that everything was fine for him.
At the same time, Bolshunov’s nose bridge was cut after the fall. The athlete said how long he lost consciousness.
First meeting
This confrontation seems to be a continuation of the story that took place two days ago in the fight between Bolshunov and Ustyugov at the exit of the finish line.
As a result, Ustyugov lost his balance and lost not only the chance to win, but also the chance to win a medal, finishing fifth in the final. Bolshunov also finished the race, but allowed Alexander Terentyev to continue and took second place.
The main stars of Russian skiing were extremely annoyed with each other, but the jury investigating the incident declared Bolshunov guilty and showed him a warning and a yellow card.
Interestingly, Terentiev won the freestyle sprint, and Fedor Nazarov, who participated in the sensational semifinals, took the silver medal.
Who said what
Both sides in the conflict commented on the second incident. Bolshunov was the first to speak, looking wounded.
“Yeah, it’s all right, it seems like Seryoga alone can’t let go of the situation. On the descent, I got out first, then Serega seemed to be overtaking, but my skis went better. I started to pass him on the left and at that moment he deliberately started pushing with skis and then I fell, quoting the words of the owner of the “Championship” Large Crystal Globe.
– In fact, I understand that I lost some consciousness because I hit my head so hard. Everything was so boring. It took me a long time to make up my mind.”
Ustyugov also preferred not to increase the pressure, but in assessing what had happened, he did not agree with his opponent.
“Today I tried to work a little harder within the rules. I always took a long turn along a large radius. For the first time, when Alexander and I entered the turn, I tried to cheer him up a little with his leg to make him stand a little wider. But he didn’t understand me. I followed my own trajectory and it turned out that we were crashing. It turned out to be the theme of skis and maybe boots. At one point we passed the turn and had a blockage, said Ustyugov.
It happened so fast that I still don’t understand. We should watch a replay, ask Sanya. But he cursed me when we fell. I thought everything was within the rules. I don’t know. I hope that’s the case, because I didn’t mean to do it on purpose. I just wanted to do a little bit more today than other sprints. it didn’t work
I think if we get out of that corner then everything will be fine. It was necessary to take a slightly wider orbit. I always passed all my races here in a large radius, but then it turned out that Alexander was pushing me. I didn’t want to go directly to the inner radius as there was ice. But nothing can be changed. If the judges see my fault, it is. But it wasn’t intentional.”
race event
As for the referees, they resolved the situation fairly quickly by holding a meeting with the analysis of the crash video.
The incident was considered a work-related collision and none of the participants were found guilty. This is especially true for Bolshunov, who now has a card.
“The jury has already discussed the fall of Bolshunov and Ustyugov – all the materials have been studied. This is a common occurrence that resulted in both athletes falling, ”said Igor Belomestnov, technical delegate of the Russian Ski Racing Federation (FLGR).