On four and five: Korostelev and Nepryaeva are approaching KM medals

Savely Korostelev was once again very close to winning medals at the World Cup, the next stage of which is taking place in Falun, Sweden. After failing to qualify for the sprint, the Russian imposed a stubborn struggle on the famous Norwegians in skiathlon. The skier was just a little short of getting into the top three for the first time. Daria Nepryaeva, who took fifth place, also performed well in the skiathlon.

Quarterfinals — maximum

Sprints were absolutely impossible for the Russians this season. Daria Nepryaeva managed to qualify for the World Cup only once (from 29th place). However, the Russian finished her performance in the quarterfinals. At the Olympics, it was unclear to the last whether the athlete would start in this discipline. Although Daria was not afraid, she could not show herself clearly, finishing only 36th.

Therefore, no one had much hope from the sprint at the World Cup in Falun. It is all the more surprising that Nepryaeva still got into the coveted top thirty. In qualifying, the Russian overcame 1.4 km in 3:07.6 minutes and took 29th place.

The winner of the first stage of the selection was Swedish athlete Lynn Swan, who showed a time of 2:54.3. At the Olympics, she won gold in the sprint. Nadine Fendrich from Switzerland and Johanna Hegström from Sweden also entered the top three in the preliminary round.

It was Svann Nepryaeva who had to fight in the quarterfinals. A Russian woman got into the "death race". In addition to the Swede, there were Yasmin Kakhara (Finland), Kristina Schistad and Lotta Weng (both from Norway). There was no sensation, none of the competitors could be bypassed: Daria came fifth and finished the performance.

Korostelev has the same situation with sprints at the World Cup this season: only one appearance in the quarterfinals in Goms, Switzerland, and immediately relegation. At the Olympics, too, everything ended back in qualifying: only 35th place.

In Sweden, the race didn't go well at all. Already in the middle of the race, the Russian was among the worst. Nothing changed dramatically over the remaining 700 m: only the 50th final place (out of 65) and 10.8 seconds behind Johannes Klebo.

"Someday, sprint and I will become friends, but not now," Savely ironically wrote on his Telegram channel after the race.

The Norwegian, who won all the gold medals at the last Games, continues to dominate. He ran the sprint qualification in 2:33.9 and beat the nearest pursuer by 2.5 seconds.

Getting closer to the first: Korostelev almost won his first World Cup medal

Our athlete was always 10 seconds away from the top three

In the elite

But Korostelev had enough time to prepare for skiathlon: it was in this discipline at the Games in Italy that he got as close to medals as possible, taking fourth place. The Russian looked great this time too.: Already on the seventh kilometer, he was among a small group of leaders who seriously broke away from all the other skiers. Next, the competition for medals was between four Norwegians, a Finn and a Russian.

However, Martin Nuenget, Andreas Reye, Harald Amundsen and Johannes Klebo lined up in a row, while Savely and Arsi Ruuskanen walked a little behind with a small gap. The usual arrangement changed just before the final ascents: the six split into two groups of three skiers each. The Yardarm fell off to the "lagging" Russians and Finns.

Korostelev was clearly not satisfied with this situation: he increased the pace as much as possible and almost caught up with the Norwegians, but these efforts were still not enough to reach the bronze. Once again, only fourth place, four seconds behind Klebo.

However, it is certainly encouraging that Savely "hacked" with such monsters to the very end. All the other skiers were almost a minute behind the top 6.

— This is no longer an accident, but a pattern. Savely is the elite of the world of skiing," Alexander Panzhinsky, the 2010 Olympic medalist, said in an interview with Izvestia. — Yes, today he is slightly behind the top three again, but everything is changing in sports. I'm sure we won't have long to wait for the day when Korostelev will be in the top three. It's a long way to Klebo, and the rest are well within reach.

For Johannes, gold in skiathlon was already the 11th at the World Cup stages this season. In the individual competition, he is the first with a margin of 441 points from the second place. But there were six more awards of the highest standard at the Olympics.

Daria Nepryaeva also performed well in skiathlon. The Russian woman became the fifth.

The race was won by Norwegian Heidi Weng, who covered the 20 km distance in 54:42.8. American Jessica Diggins took second place (0.1 seconds behind), and Swedish Frida Carlsson took third place (+0.9 seconds). Nepryaeva lost 15.3 seconds to the winner.

Ahead is the stage to Lahti. Sprints (March 7) and individual freestyle race (March 8) will be held in Finland. For Korostelev and Nepryaeva, this season was their first on the international stage. Moreover, it began only with the third stage in mid-December. Nevertheless, Savely is already in 13th place in the overall World Cup standings. Martin Nuenget, the 2026 Olympic champion, stands very close to him in the ranking. Daria is in 21st place in the overall standings.