The coach of the Ukrainian national freestyle skiing team Enver Ablaev and the mentor of the newly-made vice-champion of the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing Alexander Abramenko shared their emotions after the superfinal in ski acrobatics.
In a comment to ICTV Facts, Ablaev spoke about unfulfilled expectations in Beijing, the coronavirus outbreak and Abramenko's jump.
– Extraordinary emotions. At the beginning of all competitions here we had great difficulties. We were unable to compete in team competitions – for us it was a big blow. All these four years I have been gathering and preparing the team for team competitions. It is very important for me to win the first team competition at the Olympics. But, unfortunately, Covid has brought its own adjustments.
We flew from the training camp to Beijing from the red zone to the green one. We were all healthy. The first five days all had negative tests. And then, just one after another, positive tests began, and we could not field a team.
We brought five competitive athletes who really could fight for more than just a medal. Every day I lived with the thought to win gold in competitions. But we couldn't take part because we didn't have enough athletes.
The guys were released from quarantine on the day of the competition. They ran here for training. Sasha Okipnyuk – well done, qualified. And today he was supposed to be in the superfinal , because jumping back/double full-double full-full into the legs with a small error is, according to all calculations, at least 125-124 points. But they let him down. Unfortunately, you can't argue with the judges, let it be on their conscience. Then we'll play.
– Did your heart stop when Abramenko had 116 points?
– Very frozen. That is, I had such a 50/50 feeling that there would be a medal. I understood that this is not very much. Absolutely, given the points with which they reached the final and the superfinal. I think our team performed well at these Olympic Games. Not everything went the way we wanted, but I think we did 9 out of 10 points.
– At the Games in Pyeongchang, you staged a jump that had not been performed before. Was it here too?
– Yes, we have not performed it at competitions before. It was very difficult for Sasha, we worked hard on it. He already wanted to give up, and I told him: Sasha, come on, you have to jump. I told him that even if you don't have to do it, he will help you make easier jumps. You will become more confident.
We've jumped it enough already. We fixed it at the last control and training camp in the USA. And they began to try it literally at the control camp before the Olympic Games. He jumped it for 2-3 days. There was not a single landing (successful. – Ed. ). And he showed two landings only today: the first in training, and during the competition. It was a little deep landing, but it worked out. I believe that the judges correctly assessed him – it could have been 118 or 117, but yes.
Photo: Getty Images
What is the name of this jump?
– Triple somersault with three screws.
– There were many patients with coronavirus in the team, how did you manage to save Abramenko?
– You know, the only one who did not get sick in our team is Abramenko, our doctor and me. But Sasha is our horse, the strongest and strongest. The disease did not take him. I also had some kind of weakness, dryness in my throat, but I understood that if I also got sick, it would be very bad in general. I told myself that I had no right to get sick. Thank God, everything worked out.
— You left Ukraine in December last year. It turns out that you gave the family and the whole country a wonderful New Year's gift?
– We did it together. This is an award for the whole team, the whole country. This is a huge support and emotion. We have always felt them.
