Russia (bbabo.net), - Here is a well-known story: "an athlete could not get to the Olympics at all, but, despite all the difficulties, he performed and won a medal." Suitable for many. Only this is not a template or a standard scheme that gets boring and does not cause any response. Everyone has their own, special way to the pedestal. Trauma, drama, fear, tension, overcoming, awareness, work and sometimes luck are the stops along this route. Our freestyler Sergey Ridzik visited all of them - both before Pyeongchang-2018 and before Beijing-2022.

After bronze, the Russian went for gold. But the third place at the second Olympics in a row is a unique achievement. Ski cross entered the program of the Games not so long ago, in Vancouver 2010. And Ridzik has already entered his name in Olympic history. His own chronicle is also worthy of attention.

How to get up after a fall

The beginning of 2017, the World Cup in Italy. Sergei falls hard. He has several fractures, severe spinal pinching, and paralysis on the right side of his body. Everything? Can sports be done? No, Ridzik's safety margin turned out to be on the level. He went through rehabilitation and got back on the skis. He recovered three weeks before the Games.

Beginning of 2018. Olympics in Korea. Sergei Ridzik is one of the favorites in ski-cross, he confidently reaches the final, where the four strongest fight for medals. And there he is knocked down by an opponent - also, by the way, diving. The dispute for the first or second places passed without the Russian. But he was able to rise faster than the culprit of the blockage and reached the bronze. By the way, he keeps the ski, which was damaged in that incident, but fulfilled its mission, as a trophy along with a medal.

Filling out the medical card

After the success in Pyeongchang, health problems again began to interfere with showing results. It turned out that in Korea and at the remaining stages of the World Cup, Ridzik performed with a knee injury. A partial tear of the meniscus was found. We started with conservative treatment, but the operation still could not be avoided. It took six months to recover. But forcing rehabilitation only dragged her out for another couple of months. And this is not the last entry in Ridzik's medical record. We continue: a contusion of the femur, then a whole "bouquet" of sores - a ligament rupture of the shoulder joint, a rupture of the cartilage of the thoracic region, a wrist injury - after a fall on the home track in Miass, in the Chelyabinsk region.

Sergey Ridzik dedicated the medal to his wife, who gave him a daughter, Mira, during the Games

In ski-cross, where there are a lot of jumps, where there is a contact struggle and one should not be afraid to become impudent, fighting for a leading position, there are always a lot of injuries. But the first pandemic year gave Sergei time and the opportunity to receive medical treatment, rest, and be with his family. Although already on the eve of Beijing 2022, both the illness and the covid-related restrictions played against Ridzik. Yes, and other Russian athletes who, due to the lack of foreign vaccinations, were not allowed to participate in the World Cup stages in the USA and Canada. So the Olympic season turned out to be inferior.

Broken, but not broken

Sergey was born and raised in the small town of Monchegorsk on the Kola Peninsula. The atmosphere of the Far North, the difficult life beyond the Arctic Circle - probably, all this tempers the character. Ridzik looks like a healthy, strong man. And only relatives know that a broken athlete already has more moral strength than physical strength. Therefore, the first emotions, the first words were for them. Sergey dedicated the medal to his first coach - still in alpine skiing - Vladimir Shein, who turned 70 that day. To his mother, who brought her seven-year-old son to a ski school, and to her beloved wife, who gave him a daughter, Mira, while he fought for a medal in Beijing.

Sergey, after the finish, did you fall on the snow - from fatigue or from joy?

Sergei Ridzik: I really couldn't stand on my feet. Muscles are very acidic. But there was also joy. I was able to at least repeat the result of four years ago. Of course, I aspired to a gold medal, like all athletes who come to the Olympic Games. No one sets a goal just to go to the main start of a career. I can’t say that I am very happy or, on the contrary, very disappointed: probably 50/50. I wanted more. And we are content with what we have. Although this bronze is still history: for me, for the team, for the country.

Can you compare the two bronzes?

Sergey Ridzik: This medal was given to me much more difficult than in Pyeongchang. Everything was on some luck, euphoria. And here it’s good that he was able to qualify for Beijing at all. I had the only favorable result - the first place in the World Cup. And right here. The best performances were held in Beijing. I would like more stability. But I still have a medal.

In Pyeongchang there was a final with a fall. And in Beijing, what is the most difficult race?Sergey Ridzik: Probably the third race, when due to a mistake I left fourth. I had a certain feeling that these competitions were over for me. But there was more than a kilometer left to the finish line, so there were chances to break through, which I realized. In the fourth run or the big final, there were moments when I had to attack, defend the position, but I also made a mistake in the starting section, which did not allow me to take the lead in the future. It was hard, went to the moral-volitional.

For the second time you manage to get on the podium not thanks to, but in spite of ...

Sergey Ridzik: I don't know how I manage to perform so well at the Olympics. Looks like I'm conserving energy. Four years just went down the drain, and here in the most important season and start in my life, and of every athlete, everything worked out.

Number

The Russian freestyle team won three bronze medals and set its own record for the number of medals at one Olympic Games. The winners were Anastasia Smirnova (mogul), Ilya Burov (ski acrobatics), Sergey Ridzik (ski-cross). Previously, the best result was two medals in Lillehammer 1994 (silver and bronze) and in Pyeongchang 2018 (two bronze).

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