Alexander Dolgov: “The team is ready to fight for the medals in three disciplines – Aerials, Mogul and Ski Cross”

The first ever combined Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships gets underway on January 14 in Kreischberg, Austria. The tournament will start with Aerials. In an interview with the ROC Information Service Sports Director of the Russian Freestyle Federation (FFR) and acting head coach of the Russian national team Alexander Dolgov commented on the prospects of the Russian team.

“We expect our rivals to face strong competition from out team in all six disciplines. In three of them – Aerials, Mogul and Ski Cross – our team is ready to fight for the medals. We have real chances to achieve the set goals. Environment in the team is really positive. Everyone is looking forward with optimism to the start of the competition.”

A total of  12 sets of medals will be contested  by freestylers in Ski Aerials, Moguls, Dual Moguls, Ski Cross, Halfpipe and Slopestyle. Ilya Burov, Pavel Krotov, Timofey Slivets, Lyubov Nikitina and Veronica Korsunova will represent the Russian team in the Aerials competition.

“In general, our Aerials team has a great chance of success – R-Sport agency quoted Korsunova. – Despite the fact that Lubov Nikitina is only 15 years old and she has just made her debut in the main team, she is doing really great. She has no problems neither with the complexity of jumps nor with the technique. Our guys are also well prepared. Hopefully, here the men’s team will perform no worse than they did at the World Champioships in China (silver and bronze). They sure can press the Chinese on the podium.”

“Nikitina is a young athlete. Performance at this World Championships is first and foremost an invaluable experience, – emphasized Alexander Dolgov. – Her program is not yet strong enough to go to fight for the medal. However, in this sport you can never be 100% sure in anything. If she will compete on equal terms with eminent rivals it will be a good result.

As for Veronica Korsunova, according to herself, there are some problems with the landing, but this is a purely psychological moment. I just have to ward off unwanted thoughts and overcome myself. She aims for a medal. And we are seriously counting on our guys – Ilya Burov, Paul and Timothy Slivtsa Krotov – as well”, – said Alexander Dolgov.