"I believe 95% in a split next season"

The next winter sports season will be Olympic, but it is still unclear how many Russians will be allowed to participate in the 2026 Games in Italy. There is still uncertainty about the skiers, one of whom, young Savely Korostelev, is already preparing for the 2025/26 season, which starts at the end of November. The 21-year-old athlete managed to win two gold medals at the Junior World Championships before being banned in February 2022, and at the adult level he has won several national championships in the last three seasons, competing with three-time Olympic champion Alexander Bolshunov. In an interview with Izvestia, Korostelev assessed the chances of Russians being admitted next season, talked about his goals if he got to the Olympics and explained how the opportunity to compete with Bolshunov contributes to his progress.

— How would you rate last season in your performance?

— Four points out of five. All that was missing was a personal victory in the Russian championship. It didn't work out.

— But are you generally satisfied with your results?

— Yes, I am absolutely satisfied. I'm making progress, and there's a little stability in the results. It remains to add only in racing, and then everything will be possible to claim even more.

— Do you follow the international news regarding the suspension of our skiers?

- of course.

— How much do you rate the budget for next season?

— By 95%.

— Why do you rate it that way?

— Inner feelings.

— So it's not related to the statements of world politicians, with some signals from international sports officials?

— No, it's not connected. I don't follow politics at all and I don't want to discuss it. I just intuitively feel that the chances of returning to the international stage next season are quite high. Therefore, I am optimistic about the future. And then we will see what decisions will be made.

— They say that Russia will have only one quota in men's skiing at the Olympics, and our federation will have to choose between you and Alexander Bolshunov.

— No, I don't agree with that. There are a lot of different opinions on this. We will wait for a decision from international organizations. Anything is possible, so I don't want to speculate on this in advance.

— After the breakup, if it takes place next season, how quickly will you be able to start fighting for serious places on the international stage?

— We need time to adapt. But I'm sure we'll be able to do it by the Olympics.

— Over the past three years since the ban, have internal competitions helped to keep the level up?

— I personally only progressed, because I had such a landmark as Sasha Bolshunov next to me. Thank him for running with us (laughs). It shows that he still has motivation. Therefore, I hope that we will return to international competitions together and be even stronger there than we were before.

— Bolshunov competed very hard in the winter, missed starts for health reasons, had a long streak without wins, but by the end of the season, closer to March, he got in shape and won one race after another again. Was it hard to fight for the first place with Alexander like that?

— No, it was possible to fight Sasha at the end of the season, when he started winning again. It's just that all of us, the other skiers, including me, had a certain fatigue at that moment, something wasn't working out. Therefore, difficulties arose. But Bolshunov is still well done for being able to return to his level. And it's great that we managed to run next to Sasha in his best condition. The question is whether it was his maximum at the end of the season. Maybe he hadn't reached his peak yet, maybe we were just catching up to him. I would like to think that the second thing is that it's all about us.

— Do you prefer to prepare for the upcoming season with the idea that there will be a chance to go to the Olympics?

— Yes, otherwise why go to the track at all if you don't believe in the best options. That's why I'm very actively preparing for the season, I even paid for the training camp in Austria on my own. I hope that there will be a chance to participate in international competitions and get to the Olympics. The Olympic Games are the main competition for every athlete. I want to perform there and win a medal. That's exactly what I'm aiming for, and I'm preparing for the season as seriously as possible.

— Did you follow the World Cup and the World Cup last season? Can you assess how we could perform there, which places to fight for?

— It's hard to say. I follow the international starts, I can roughly imagine the level of skiers at them. But you can't evaluate your chances without competing with them. There are different conditions, different tracks, sometimes different weather. Therefore, something can be said only when I participate in these competitions. I want to believe that I will be able to start competing for medals quickly. But we will be able to assess our chances only when we are allowed there.