Not very fun starts: how Nepryaeva and Korostelev qualified for the Olympics

Fans and experts are actively commenting on the results of the first starts of Russian skiers at the World Cup in almost four years. On Saturday, the current National Cup winners Daria Nepryaeva and Savely Korostelev failed to reach the quarterfinals of the skate sprint. At the same time, both athletes completed the minimum task, earning two quotas for the 2026 Olympics for the country. Despite the fact that both of our athletes had not previously competed at the World Cup level, the expectations from their first appearance in the elite were high. And from this point of view, the result of the Russians in qualifying (Daria's 39th time and Savely's 52nd) can hardly be called heroic. However, they still managed to improve their results the next day. About what else these competitions were remembered for, see the Izvestia article.

Noticeably "lit up"

23-year-old Daria Nepryaeva, summing up the results of Saturday's race on social networks, noted that it was a difficult ordeal for her body.

"Happy World Cup debut to me! Today I really learned and felt what a real sprint is, and I liked it," Daria Nepryaeva emphasized. — Having arrived here the day before yesterday from Chusovoye and having gone out for a ride only once, without any special work (the last high-speed job was at a mass start in Tyumen), I noticeably "lit up" — it had never been so hard for me. The start at an altitude of 1600 meters, fast snow, strong competitors — everything is new and incredibly interesting. This is a huge growth and a real leap forward."

In fact, Nepryaeva was expected to at least reach the quarterfinals to a greater extent than Korostelev. Sprint skating is one of her favorite disciplines, in which Daria performs well on the domestic stage. On the other hand, this athlete is usually slow to enter the season, and her current form leaves much to be desired.

After the National Cup stage in the Murmansk region, she went to the Perm Region for some reason, awaiting a decision on neutral status. It was a mistake — Nepryaeva arrived at Davos exhausted and exhausted after four days on the road. In addition, I had to race on a high—altitude track from the wheels - it would be strange to expect to overtake the leaders of the World Cup in this situation.

Among the reasons for the Russians' not—so-great performance are possible problems with ski preparation (they are helped by only one servicer, Evgeny Uftikov, Korostelev's stepfather) and difficulties associated with the rejection of fluoride lubricants. In addition, of course, there is pressure, and not only from the Russian fans. Nepryaeva's rivals were Swedes Lynn Swan, Maya Dahlqvist and Emma Ribom, all of whom publicly spoke out harshly against the return of the Russians.

Yes, no one said outright nasty things to our athletes, but Norwegian journalists asked Savelia political questions, provoking him to make scandalous statements. The need to avoid words that violate the criteria of neutral status clearly does not help athletes focus on racing.

"It was shitty,— Korostelev said after the sprint. — For the audience, it looks like a two-minute race, which seems easy. But it was very difficult for me, especially in the last 30 seconds, when my legs were burning. But that's my level. Anyone who thinks I'm a sprinter obviously doesn't watch the race. There was no excitement, but it's a difficult adjustment to everything. It's just me, Daria Nepryaeva, and one service person here. But the atmosphere is exceptionally friendly. Everyone says hello, some come over to talk. There's no problem, although I'm a little shy."

The fact that Savely would get into the top 30 and Nepryaeva into the top 8 was a very optimistic forecast, said Egor Sorin, coach of Korostelev and Nepryaeva.

"If we analyze the track in Davos, the quality of Savely, then it was difficult for me as a coach to expect him to qualify for the sprint on this particular day," Sport24 quotes him as saying, "But that's okay. Of course, it takes time to adapt to the speeds available at the World Cup — on such snow, on such a fast and, most importantly, technically challenging lap. The task of showing results at the World Cup in Davos is not for the guys and for me as a coach. As it turns out, so it will turn out."

The fact that Korostelev lost in qualifying to rivals from Spain and China, and also barely beat the Australians, of course, cannot but be alarming. And here the question arises: was it worth it for the Russians to go to the start at all if they were not ready to fight for high places? The answer here is unequivocal: it was worth it. After all, it's not just about personal experiments, but also the Olympic quota for the country.

Despite the strange statements of the leadership of the Russian national team that the admission of our athletes to the 2026 Games guarantees their "frozen FIS rating", the reality is that for a minimum representation at the 2026 Olympics (in the "one man and one woman" format) both Korostelev and Nepryaeva needed to fit into the maximum limit of 300 points. Which was done.

Get into the top 20

In the 10 km freestyle, Korostelev was faced with the task of showing a better result, and he coped. Savely started at the beginning at number 16: it was necessary to demonstrate the maximum and set the pace, since the strongest competitors from Norway ran in the second and third groups.

The Russian showed the best preliminary time at the first mark, but at the 5 km cutoff he was already third, and finished the race with a score of 24:01.0. The race was not easy: after passing the finish line, Savely fell on his back to catch his breath.

As expected, the opponents showed the best time in the "stronger" groups, and Korostelev eventually dropped to 25th place, losing to the winner Einar Hedegaert 1 minute 20.3 seconds. The Norwegians took the entire podium: Harald Amundsen was second (+11.7), Mattis Stenshagen was third (+18.8). Five-time Olympic champion Johannes Klebo finished fourth (+24.1). And Savely won three more quotas for the Games in Italy — in the skiathlon, the split-start race and the marathon.

Nepryaeva also passed the race with a split very well. Daria looked confident on the ascent, but noticeably lost time on the descents.

Savely stayed to support his compatriot, kept track of her time and managed to convey important information during the race: "Dasha, you started well, third, +12, you win a second from Dahlqvist, be careful on the descent!"

The Russian woman reached the finish line at a good pace with a score of 27:45.1, which allowed her to take 20th place in the final protocol. Nepryaeva lost to the Norwegian Caroline Simpson-Larsen in 1 minute 10.2 seconds. The women's fight for the podium turned out to be extremely tight: Sweden's Moa Ilar was second with a 2.1—second gap, Norway's Astrid Eyre Slinn was third (+2.2).