After Harvey Stumbles, Kazakhs Eke Out First Team Win

Nathaniel HerzDecember 7, 20122
Kazakhstan’s Nikolay Chebotko (r) outlunges Alexey Petukhov of Russia at the finish of Friday’s World Cup team sprint in Quebec City.

QUEBEC CITY – How close was the finish of Friday’s World Cup team sprint?

Alexandr Batyaikin, Kazakhstan’s head coach, watched his anchor skier stretch for the line alongside Russia’s Alexey Petukhov.

He couldn’t tell who had won, and didn’t find out until he heard from his wife, who was following the race back home in Kazakhstan at 2 a.m.

“My wife called me and said: ‘You first!’” Batyaikin said.

By a manner of inches, the Kazakh pair of Denis Volotka and Nikolay Chebotko claimed their first-ever team podium on the World Cup, eking out a win over the Russians on Quebec City’s sinuous sprint course.

The result was not what the thousands of face-painted, flag-bearing local fans had shown up to see—they were here looking for a win from the Canadians, led by Alex Harvey, who grew up just down the St. Lawrence River in St.-Ferréol-les-Neiges.

But at the start of his last leg, Harvey stumbled over a fallen Swedish skier, taking the Canadians out of contention and leaving the door open for the rest of the lead group.

One of the men’s team sprint heats, with Chebotko (bib 22) in the center, and Alex Harvey (CAN) to his right.

“I knew right there it was done,” Harvey said. “When your hand touches the snow in sprint racing, the gap is just too big to make up.”

After the Kazakhs and Russians, the Norwegians were relegated to third place, with Anders Gloërsen and Eirik Brandsdal a full second back.

While they still made the podium, the Norwegians are not used to seeing the backs of their Eastern European competitors, which perhaps explained the attitude of coach Ulf Morten Aune after the race.

“In a way, we’re pleased with this—we managed a podium. But we’re not completely satisfied,” Aune told the Norwegian broadcaster NRK.  “There is a difference between third place and victory, and we had our sights on victory today.”

Kazakhstan is not new to cross-country success: seven-time Olympic medalist Vladimir Smirnov hails from there, and the nation has a budding star in 25-year-old Alexey Poltoranin. In the last decade, the country’s women threatened to crack several relay podiums, coming two seconds away in a team sprint in 2005.

“We have a good tradition in Kazakhstan, skiing,” Batyaikin said.

The Kazakh men, though, had never come close to a World Cup relay win. But their victory Friday did not shock U.S. Ski Team Head Coach Chris Grover, who had watched Poltoranin, Chebotko and Volotka sweep the podium at an early-season tune-up race in Finland in November in front of American Andy Newell.

“They’ve been on fire all year,” Grover said. “Those guys are incredible shape. Little bit surprised to see the whole program skiing so fast, but they’re good skiers.”

In a press conference, and in a rambling, broken-English interview after the race, Batyaikin credited his team’s rise to a new ski waxer, who hails from Russia, plus a longtime Kazakh coach, Vladimir Sachnov.

He said that Kazakh sports were on the rise after the London Olympic Games, where the country won seven gold medals.

Today’s result, he added, was “a very great podium.”

“I think in Kazakhstan, tomorrow, there will be a celebration,” Batyaikin said.

–Alex Matthews, Topher Sabot and Matthew Voisin contributed reporting

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Men’s results

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Nathaniel Herz

Nat Herz is an Alaska-based journalist who moonlights for FasterSkier as an occasional reporter and podcast host. He was FasterSkier's full-time reporter in 2010 and 2011.

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2 comments

  • caldxski

    December 7, 2012 at 6:36 pm

    It’s wonderful to see a new nation in the mix. Since the break-up of the USSR, some of the provinces have been working hard on developing good skiers, most of whom would have been skiing for USSR before. Vladimir Smirnov (no relation to the vodka as far as I know) has been a huge influence in helping his countrymen get on the map.
    So, congratulations to all the Kazakhs.

  • davord

    December 7, 2012 at 11:41 pm

    The Kazakhs also fell during that final, but some remarkable patience, confidence and super fitness saw them move up. I’ve never seen Brandsdal being passed with such easy skiing as Chebotko did on one of the final turns in the final lap of the race. Awesome moment for them and along with the US women, a real refreshing day for nordic skiing!!

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