Russia (bbabo.net), - The second competitive day of the Winter Olympics has ended in Beijing. Today was a significant day for the Russian team: thanks to the efforts of skier Alexander Bolshunov, the team earned the first gold medal.

Russians are insanely cool

"Bronze is good for the opening race, I even enjoyed it in the end. And as for the Russians, they are insanely cool," Finnish bronze medalist Iivo Niskanen commented on the results of the skiathlon.

Bolshunov showed an outstanding result: he was nine minutes ahead of three-time Olympic champion Johannes Klebo, who finished in 40th place. "Klebo disappointed us greatly. He was nine (!) minutes behind the magnificent Bolshunov. Alexander knocked out all his rivals and outstripped the nearest pursuer by more than a minute. Damn crazy race performed by the Russian," the Norwegian edition of Dagbladet admires Alexander's performance.

Bolshunov has long been one of the top skiers, but so far he has not won the gold of the Olympics: in Pyeongchang 2018, the Russian won three silvers and one bronze, and also became the world champion at the last world championship in skiathlon. Many expected that in Beijing Bolshunov would finally take the award of the highest standard. Fortunately, Alexander lived up to these expectations.

“These are unreal emotions. I ran the last lap, and I was in tears. I managed to win at the right moment and the right hour. I took away what athletes from all over the world have been training for years and trying to reach their peak form. There was a certainty that I I will take gold, although 3-4 days ago I did interval work. When I accelerated, I cried, because my speed was lower than the training one, "Bolshunov admitted in a conversation with reporters.

Second place in the skiathlon also went to our compatriot Denis Spitsov. “A medal is a medal. Of course, it’s more pleasant to stand on a podium with Sasha than with foreigners. For me, it doesn’t make much difference to whom to lose. Sasha and I still can’t believe it, as if this is some kind of dream. exactly where you need to be, we were together in the top three. I saw how he finished with the flag, how he ran to meet me. It was nice," Spitsov said.

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Sensation in freestyle

For the first time since 1994, a Russian woman won a medal in freestyle at the Olympic Games. The bronze medal in mogul was taken by 19-year-old Anastasia Smirnova, who participated in the Games for the first time in her career.

“I’m very happy with the medal, I didn’t want to return without it. We did everything possible to get it. When I realized that I would be among the winners, I didn’t feel anything inside, because I tuned in to this start not like for the Olympics, but like for a regular Cup For me, the Olympics stood out for the format, because I didn’t understand how to make three, not two, clean runs, and before that, also the qualification,” said Smirnova.

Following the results of the second day of the competition, Norway leads the overall medal standings with two gold medals and one bronze medal.

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