Russia’s 4 x 5 k relay congratulates anchor Yulia Tchekaleva, who lifted the team to third on Feb. 28 at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. (Photo: Fiemme2013)
It’s OK if Yulia Tchekaleva’s name doesn’t roll off your tongue. But you might as well get used to reading it.
The 29-year-old Russian has enjoyed a breakout season in more ways than one, notching two bronze medals at World Championships in back-to-back races (the 10-kilometer freestyle and 4×5 k relay) in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
Tchekaleva went on to place third in last weekend’s 30 k freestyle mass start at the Holmenkollen World Cup in Oslo, Norway. It was her fifth medal of the season, including her silver from the pre-Olympic World Cup skiathlon in Sochi, Russia, and bronze in the 5 k freestyle at the early-season World Cup mini tour in Kuusamo, Finland.
And all this came less than a year after having a baby. Before she gave birth to her son, who turned 1 on Jan. 9, Tchekaleva was more of an unknown. She didn’t have an individual World Cup medal and didn’t make the 2009 World Championships or 2010 Olympics, yet today, she’s Russia’s leading woman.
FasterSkier sat down with Tchekaleva, who spoke through a translator, after anchoring Russia to bronze in the 4×5 k at World Championships. She dedicated the medal to her son and her family.
Russia’s Yulia Tchekaleva en route to bronze in the 10 k freestyle at 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
FasterSkier:How difficult was it to return after having a child?
Yulia Tchekaleva: My husband is my private coach so I didn’t even imagine that everything would be so fast and easy to return back to skiing. The first five months after the baby was born, I was training at home, I was feeding baby with my milk, and I was training with my husband only.
FS:When did you start training with the national team again?
YT: From the beginning of June 2012. In two months after I started training with the national team, I felt even in two months very, very, strong and with the same physical shape and state as it was before. Even better.
FS:How much did you train during your pregnancy?
YT: Nothing at all. During pregnancy no training. The season of 2011 stopped and I finished training. When I understood that I am pregnant, I stopped training. I felt my body, my shape, I felt so tired after the season so I just wanted to have rest and to enjoy the pregnancy. So it was nine months of rest, it was a vacation, a holiday. When I gave birth to the baby, I just wanted to start training. It was a very, very strong feeling to start training again.
FS:What does the World Championships relay medal mean to you?
YT: When I got a medal in the individual, I didn’t feel as emotional. After [the relay] race I feel more emotions, more happiness, more everything, because we didn’t expect it until the last moment. So there’s much more happiness for the country.
All the girls are very, very happy because for most of them, probably some of them this will be the highest feeling and medal of their career. That is why they are really happy.
— Audrey Mangan contributed reporting
Russia’s 4 x 5 k relay congratulates anchor Yulia Tchekaleva, who lifted the team to third on Feb. 28 at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. (Photo: Fiemme2013)
Canadian Devon Kershaw pushing in the Alberta World Cup sprint qualifier on Dec. 15 in Canmore. He was 50th and failed to advance to the quarterfinals, one of the lower points of his season.
It would be generous to term Devon Kerhsaw’s 2013 season “up and down,” as the Canadian star has spent the duration well off his usual level. But when April rolls around and Kershaw looks back, February 1st could mark the turning point from a long stretch of down to what could still be a whole lot of up.
Kershaw skied to an eighth-place finish in the 1.8-kilometer World Cup freestyle sprint in Sochi, Russia, as skiers tested the Olympic course for the first time.
In leading a total of four Canadians into the heats, Kershaw posted his best result of the season, and is finally regaining the belief that he can still be in top form for World Championships.
“It’s coming around at a decent time,” Kershaw told FasterSkier in a post-race interview. “I still don’t have my usual gear changing ability, but I have three weeks to find that and at least now I am more confident that it will actually happen.”
After qualifying in 24th and advancing as a lucky loser in the quarterfinals, Kershaw was eliminated when he finished fourth in his semifinal heat, a round led by eventual winner Petter Northug (NOR).
“I played it tactically super well. In both my heats I was in absolutely the best position you could ever ask for,” Kershaw explained.
Each time, however, he was unable to respond to attacks over the top of the steep climb.
“I am doing everything I can but I just don’t have that gear, to change in to the really fast hop skate,” he said.
This has been the problem all season — the ability to kick it up a notch with the race on the line.
Even without the extra burst, Kershaw still reached the top 10, always impressive, but all the more so considering he was sick with food poisoning two weeks ago, missing the La Clusaz World Cup races and had not competed since the Tour de Ski.
“To come out in a sprint and be top-10 after no racing for almost a month, I was very happy to feel better sensations,” Kershaw said.
He felt good in Thursday’s training and finds the long, hard course to his liking.
With times approaching four minutes, the event favors athletes with superior endurance, and as a strong distance skier, Kershaw can handle the extra effort.
Kershaw’s teammate Lenny Valjas, who skied to 20th, described the loop as “longest and toughest” course he as ever skied.
Valjas felt the long lay-off, not having raced since the Liberec sprint weekend and coming off a big training block Valjas said he “felt a little tired.”
In his quarterfinal, he came out of the downhill with good speed, but couldn’t get past American Andy Newell.
“When I went to pass on the flats Newell heard me coming and cut me off,” Valjas explained. “It forced me to stand up and slow down to sit behind him. I wasn’t able to re-accelerate to pass him in the final stretch.”
Valjas said the course is such that it is difficult to pass in the stadium and the key is getting good position on the last climb and holding on to the finish.
Alex Harvey did not race after dislocating his shoulder on Wednesday. On Friday, he went for a no-poles ski, but explained in an email that he wouldn’t return to racing until the Davos World Cup in two weekends.
“The mobility is pretty much 100% back now. Did some strenght test with our therapist here and this is back too,” Harvey wrote. “I think my shoulder is good now for intensity but the risk of crashing in both the mass start and the team-sprint are too great for me to take a chance…so next race will be Davos.”
Canadian head coach Justin Wadsworth agreed, and wrote in an email that Kershaw and Valjas are slated to start Sunday’s classic team sprint.
“Right now it’s Devon and Len, as I and our medical staff thinks racing would be risky, like season ending risky, if [Harvey] fell,” Wadsworth wrote.
Gaizova Season-Best Skate Sprint, Jones 18th
Dasha Gaiazova led the Canadian women with a season-best World Cup skate sprint result, advancing to the semi-finals and placing 12th.
Bouncing back from illness, she said she feels “90-percent healthy,” and took advantage of a big opportunity to advance in the quarterfinals.
When Finland’s Mona Lisa Malvalheto crashed on the stadiums final tight corner, Gaiazova, who was outside and avoided the carnage, moved up to second and a spot in the semis.
“I got lucky,” Gaiazova said simply. “I was just in a good place when everybody went down and I had a good shot…I’m happy that I was able to do a couple rounds on the course and get some impressions for next year.”
After getting sick just before traveling to Russia, Gaiazova spent four days in bed recovering, and was able to do some harder training yesterday in preparation for the race.
“Coming into the race today my goal was to learn as much as I can, and not try to think too much about having a great result,” she said.
Like Gaiazova, Jones was excited to race the Olympic course, but was left wanting more after being eliminated in the quarterfinals.
She got off to a slow start and was unable to close on leaders Celine Brun-Lie (NOR) and Hanna Kolb (GER) who had skied off the front.
“It was a little bit of learning there,” Jones said. “I still really need to work on my starts and think about positioning because even though the course seems like it’s really wide there’s really not a lot of chances to pass people.”
While the men’s course clocked in at close to four minutes, the women’s loop is significantly faster, with times in the area of 2:45.
Jones was happy to see the shorter distance, noting the increasing lengths of World Cup sprint courses, calling the Sochi race “an actual sprint.”
“I think it’s a challenging course because it’s short, but most of the work is done in the first minute, minute and a half,” she said. “I really like it because it is short and there’s a nice finishing stretch, and there’s a fun corner in there.”
She also pointed out that fresh snow slowed the tracks and that on a faster day it could ski as much as 20 seconds faster.
Gaiazova and Jones will pair up for the classic team sprint on Sunday, with both women looking forward to another opportunity to prepare for next year’s Olympic Games.
The final Canadian in the race, Chandra Crawford, placed 51st. Like Gaiazova, Crawford has been sick and was not in top form.
“I had two full days in bed and then rallied to race because it’s the Olympic course,” Crawford wrote in an email. “That’s it for me for the weekend now to get the health game back up to ‘A’ standards.”
Norway’s Petter Northug waves to the spectators after winning Sochi’s debut cross-country World Cup, a 1.8 k freestyle sprint, on Friday at the brand-new venue in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia.
The finish-line expressions pretty much said it all Friday at the 2014 Olympic cross-country venue in Krasnaya Polyana, about an hour’s drive from Sochi, Russia. Norwegian Petter Northug threw up his arms in celebration before crossing the line first, Dario Cologna of Switzerland had a blank look of dissatisfaction after and Italy’s David Hofer was ecstatic.
For those three, that was about right for their respective 1-2-3 placing in Sochi’s debut nordic World Cup. It didn’t matter how hilly or slow or long the course was (with two massive climbs, heaps of fresh, wet snow and 1.8 kilometers that took close to four minutes to complete), Northug knew how to conquer it.
What was more, he wanted to prove that he could do so on the future Olympic course.
At times it seemed questionable. In the final, the 27-year-old Norwegian favorite dropped as far back as fourth with a sizable gap between him and the three leaders. But Friday’s freestyle sprint was all about tactics on the rollercoaster-like course, and Northug repeatedly chose to turn on the jets as needed.
Just as he did in the semifinal, Northug charged up the last hill in the final, but once again wasn’t the first to the top. Right behind Hofer in first coming into the stadium, Northug outpaced both the 29-year-old Italian and Cologna, who caught the draft in third but was unable to catch his rival.
David Hofer soaking up his first World Cup podium after placing third in the Sochi World Cup 1.8 k skate sprint on Friday.
After qualifying in 16th, Northug finished first, 0.57 seconds ahead of Cologna in second. Hofer was third, 0.81 seconds back, for his first World Cup podium. A great day for him, an affirmation for Northug, and oh-so-close result for Cologna, who won the qualifier by 1.1 seconds.
“In the prologue … the body was not playing on the same team,” Northug told NRK, according to a translation. “But beyond that it really is just easier, and I know I’m starting to have the gear I want. It was a good confirmation.”
Northug won both his quarterfinal and semifinal en route to the victory, edging Russians in each to do so.
In the quarter, he tried to set the pace early, but Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov overruled that and skied ahead. American Andy Newell also gave Northug a run up the last long climb, but in the end, it was Northug that pushed hardest up and over, beating Ustiugov by 0.2 seconds to the finish. Newell was third in the heat, which wasn’t quite fast enough to advance him to the semis.
In Northug’s semifinal, Russian Nikita Kriukov took a line from his teammate’s game plan, putting Northug to the test early. Canada’s Devon Kershaw and Russia’s Ilia Chernousov also got ahead of Northug on the first hill, but the Norwegian was right back in it for the second ascent. Heading down into the stadium in second, he trailed Chernousov by about five to ten meters, but slingshot past him on and held off both Kriukov and Chernousov, respectively, for the win.
In the final, Ustiugov went on to place fourth, 1.26 behind Northug. Kriukov was fifth (+6.92) and Petukhov placed sixth (+13.53).
Beating those Russians on their home turf meant a lot to Northug, who was issued a written reprimand for unsportsmanlike behavior in the quarterfinals.
“It feels great to win here, especially with three Russians in the final,” Northug told FIS after the race. “It was perhaps the toughest sprint course I’ve tried. … For me it is the only opportunity to test the trails here in Sochi. I have to store them in my head before I programmed the conclusion of training in the summer and fall.”
It was also Northug’s fourth individual World Cup victory of the season. He’s currently third in the overall World Cup standings, six points behind Russian Alexander Legkov in second, who skipped the race. Cologna is first with 898 points, 33 ahead of Legkov.
“It was a good day,” Cologna said at a press conference. “I was fast in the qualification and also in the heats. I feel my shape is going up. Second place today is also a good sign for the next year.”
Cologna set the fastest qualifying time on the unusually long course in 3:47.92. Russia swept the next four spots, with Kriukov qualifying in second, Chernousov in third, Mikhail Kuklin in fourth and Ustiugov in fifth. Newell qualified in sixth and Hofer was seventh.
For Hofer, the day got even better. He went on to place second in his quarterfinal to Russian Alexey Petukhov, and advanced in fourth as the lucky loser in the semifinal behind Cologna, Ustiugov and Petukhov, respectively.
At a press conference, Hofer called his first individual podium a “great success.”
“It has given me motivation for further training and hopes,” he said. “I like free technique. At the Olympics sprint is in skating and also 50 km. We will see what the result will be.”
![Russia's 4 x 5 k relay congratulates anchor Yulia Tchekaleva, who lifted the team to third on Thursday at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. (Photo: Fiemme2013)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/02/3353F9585DF64F3492B44FE80D16B15D.jpg")
![Russia's Yulia Tchekaleva en route to bronze in the 10 k freestyle at 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/02/IMG_8953.jpg")
![Russia's 4 x 5 k relay congratulates anchor Yulia Tchekaleva, who lifted the team to third on Thursday at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. (Photo: Fiemme2013)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/02/2F419BFA725A46A59DD2D839EA6EAAA7.jpg")
