Evgeny Demetiev: There are a lot of different roller ski tracks in Khanty-Mansiysk

Today, on August 30, a press-conference dedicated to the start of the FIS Roller Ski World Cup 2018 took place in the Regional information center “Ugra”. The speakers of the press-conference were acting Director of the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of Ugra Sofia Konukh, executive director of the third leg of FIS Roller Ski World Cup 2018 Valeriy Radchenko, vice-president of the Ugra Ski Federation Sergey Kriyanin, Olympic champion, participant of the FIS Roller Ski World Cup 2018 Evgeny Demetiev and FIS technical delegate Martins Niklass.

“We work with all-Russian public organizations and International Federations, the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation. When bids from the above-mentioned organizations are received, we evaluate their effectiveness and a popularization effect for the people of our region. This proposals for holding the events are submitted to the Organizing Committee for the preparation and holding of all-Russian and international competitions in Ugra, where decisions are taken to hold large-scale competitions in the region”, – told the acting Director of the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of Ugra Sofia Konukh about working on drawing major international tournaments in Ugra.

Executive director of the third leg of FIS Roller Ski World Cup 2018 Valeriy Radchenko shared some facts about athletes and special preparations for the event: “78 athletes have officially confirmed their participation. There are 108 people including coaches and servicemen from eight countries worldwide – Denmark, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Italy, Sweden, Norway and Russia. 46 referees will be involved in this competition. As for preparations, this process is more or less the same in any sport. However this time we have a new feature – some races will be held right on the city streets. What is more the first race in the city will be on September 1. It will be a sprint race. I would like to thank the city’s administration and personally its head Maxim Ryashin for the fact that together we were able to organize an event of this scale”.

“It is an honor for Khanty-Mansiysk to host competitions of such high level. The difficulties that Russia faces fighting for the right to host any international starts are well known. Russian Ski Federation supports every region that has a desire and a capability to conduct competitions on the highest level. Ugra has an absolute support of the RSF because we have an experience in hosting Russian Ski Championships and other big events. Still some countries have their worries about upcoming World Cup leg, as it takes place in Khanty-Mansiysk for the first time. We hope that everything will go well and the number of participants in the ski races in Ugra will only increase in the future”, – pointed the vice-president of the Ugra Ski Federation Sergey Kriyanin

FIS technical delegate Martins Niklass spoke about his role in this event: “The main goal of my presence here as a FIS technical delegate is to make sure that the competition will go strictly under the FIS rules. This World Cup is going to be some kind of a test for Khanty-Mansiysk. We are highly interested in expansion of the World Cup’s geography and enlargement of the number of the participants. Our duty is to conduct this sport event on the highest level so that athletes go back home and make a good advertisement for Khanty-Mansiysk. I don’t want to make any assumptions before the World Cup but I definitely can see you are having all the necessary conditions and a professional team to make this event a huge success”.

Olympic champion, participant of the FIS Roller Ski World Cup 2018 Evgeny Demetiev who is currently place seventh in the Overall Cup standing shared his expectations: “There are a lot of different roller ski tracks in Khanty-Mansiysk. For example the terrain of the city allows to conduct an uphill race. I hope it will only get better in the future. I’d like to express some wishes to the city: it would be perfect if the tracks are more favorable for our athletes. For instance,  an uphill before the finish line. Truth to be told, I am stronger in uphill finishes than the flat ones. Roller Ski is an entertaining kind of sport gaining popularity lately. Roller ski is more than a way to prepare yourself before the winter season now. It grows to become a complete separate kind of sport. Roller ski races have more dynamic because there is more speed. The fact that we compete in the city makes it easier for sport to become popular. All city dwellers become a part of the sport event. Sure the risk of getting hurt is much higher than in cross-country. But it just adds some extra excitement. The only protection we have is a helmet. Otherwise, the athlete is not protected and could get significantly injured and scratched failing”.

It is to be reminded that the program of the FIS Rolles Ski World Cup 2018 will consist of three disciplines – interval start race, sprint and mass-start which will take place on August’31, September’01 and September’02. Two races will be held on the city streets, while the third one will be held in Alexander Filipenko Winter Sports Center.