The legendary Tour de Ski is dying before our eyes.
On January 7, the once legendary Tour de Ski race, which has recently turned into a dubious spectacle, ended.
Even foreign athletes openly declare that without rivals from Russia, the prestigious start will collapse.
Mass failures
Russian athletes missed the second Tour de Ski in a row due to suspension by the International Ski Federation (FIS). But this year, many other top skiers ignored the once prestigious series. Five-time Olympic champion Johannes Klebo refused to participate due to illness. Simen Kruger, Ivo Niskanen, Richard Jouve and others faced similar problems. It is clear that if we were talking about the World Championships or the Olympics, there would be no need to think about such a mass exodus of participants. In past years, stars treated the Tour de Ski in much the same way. But not now.
— I had a serious illness. I resumed training, but nothing works for me. I’m very tired, so everything is difficult. I have no idea what’s wrong with me. “I went to the doctor, and it’s not the flu or COVID-19, but I had all the possible symptoms that could be: headaches, stomach pains… It all exhausts me, and it’s very difficult for me to train and recover,” he was quoted as saying Juva Le Dauphine Libere.
Swedish skier Kalle Halfvarsson, who fell ill with coronavirus shortly before the first stage in Toblach, was also thinking about giving up.
— Unfortunately, I fell ill with Covid when I returned to Italy. I had to turn around and go home. Now I’ve started to recover again and I’m thinking about whether I should go to the Tour,” Halfvarsson told Expressen before the start of the stage race.
As a result, the three-time World Championships medalist finally made it to Italy. But as the multi-day race progressed, the organizers had to face another problem. Massive refusals led to the fact that more or less famous skiers could be counted on one hand. Refused to perform: Andrew Musgrave, Lotta Weng, Eva Urevc, Didrik Tønseth, Ebba Andersson and others. Halfvarsson could have been among them, but the Swede showed perseverance, although he only took 22nd place in the overall standings.
Kalle Halfvarsson / Photo: © Johanna Lundberg / Keystone Press Agency / Global Look Press
“This is a pretty shitty Tour.”
Naturally, the absence of top skiers greatly affected the entertainment value of the Tour de Ski. The same Halfvarsson honestly admitted to the Swedish press that the multi-day race is becoming more and more boring. The Swede is completely unhappy with the current concept. The athlete sees no prospects for the Tour if everything continues in the same spirit.
— I arrived at the Tour de Ski in incredibly bad shape and very tired, but during the entire Tour I was practically not tired. Unfortunately, this is a pretty shitty Tour. We can handle more than this,” SVT quoted the Swede as saying.
The athlete also spoke out about the absence of Russians.
— For me, this multi-day race is very boring, as for many others. There are no Russians here, and many of the best riders have withdrawn,” Calle said.
Viewership ratings have not yet been published, but there was hardly a crowd of fans who were interested in watching the battles of second-tier athletes during the legendary race.
After Halfvarsson’s words, senior coach of the Russian national team Yuri Borodavko expressed cautious optimism.
– This is just a personal opinion, we should not react to every word of foreign athletes. But yes, this is a voice from within the ski peloton. The topic is being discussed, it is not frozen. It’s nice that there are sensible thoughts, and people are starting to express them,” Borodavko told Match TV.
It is now obvious that world skiing is missing our athletes. And something tells us that over time there will be more and more speakers like Halfvarsson. After all, not everyone is ready to rush into the abyss under provocative Russophobic slogans.
2024-01-08 14:47:11
#Europe #crying #Russian #skiers #reached #Scandinavians
