Nordic Skiingthe interview
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The World Cup closes on Saturday and Sunday in the Engadine with two distance races. The Aosta Valley is third but with little margin, yesterday he talked about many issues in a conference organized by the FIS.
Friday 12 March 2021 6 minutes reading time
An even more bitter end of the World Cup, after not having collected that medal expected between the two sprint races, with the whole national team returning home from Oberstdorf after the positivity within the blue staff.
Now Federico Pellegrino will lead the Italfondo in the final weekend of the World Cup, scheduled between Saturday and Sunday on the slopes of the Engadine, with the men's 15 km in classic (mass start) followed by the 50 km in pursuit of Sunday, to complete a season that sees the Aosta Valley champion, already winner of his second sprint cup, fighting for third place in the general classification, where behind Bolshunov and Yakimushkin, "Chicco" defends 25 points on Manificat and 27 on a '' another Russian couple, the one made up of Belov and Melnichenko.
"It will be very difficult, even if the podium now becomes a goal - Pellegrino's words about it, during the virtual press conference organized yesterday by the FIS - With the original program in Oslo, that is a sprint and the 50 km mass start, it would be been different and I would have bet, but I'll do my best anyway ”.
The 30-year-old from Nus went through a season full of satisfactions, even if it began with the injury he remedied in the summer: "It wasn't exactly the best time to get hurt, but I'm proud of how we handled this problem and all the rest, or the whole situation linked to Covid, knowing that everything could change from one day to the next.
It was hard and also the fact of always wearing a mask and respecting the social distancing even with teammates and technicians, is not easy as well as not being able to spend a few days with the family. I said goodbye to her at the end of September and since then I haven't seen her again ”.
Pellegrino admits, speaking of his sprint World Cup: “It has a little less value, because I know I'm not the best athlete in the specialty, but someone had to compete and win something and I did it. Competing without Klaebo led me to change tactics: less waiting during the heats and until the final, I can say that I have always had good feelings and I needed them to start thinking about the Beijing Olympics, where the sprint will be in skating and I will try to be the best ".
The goal, in fact, is Olympic gold: "As soon as it became clear in December that the Norwegians would not compete, my mind was fixed on the 2022 Olympics, focusing on sprinting in skating and for this I am proud of what has been done. Like in 2016 when Northug told me he wanted to win the sprint cup because he never did and I won it, so Bolshunov told me several times that he wanted to take it home, then his fall in Falun I think changed. the things.
Yes, my maximum goal is Olympic gold, I have won many times in the World Cup and two sprint crystal balls, I have a world gold and a silver and that silver from PyeongChang. Only the title is missing in skating and I think I'm not that young anymore, but that Hattestad himself took gold in Sochi when he was 32 years old. And the sprint team could also be an opportunity, with De Fabiani we took home the medal in Seefeld in classic, we are not bad in that format. I still have to plan the preparation for next season, but compatibly with the situation linked to Covid, I will still ski for several weeks after these races in the Engadine ”.
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