Amazing zigzags of the fate of a famous skier who refuses to play for his country's national team
The 33-year-old Chernousov will now play for Switzerland. TASS reported that the International Ski Federation (FIS) has already approved the transfer. Ilya is the pride of Russian skis. Bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in Sochi and the 2011 World Championship. However, today there is absolutely nothing terrible about his current transfer to another national team. Moreover, this solution was obvious.
A strange story with a passenger car
Chernousov is one of the most mysterious Russian skiers. It is unlikely that you will find his interview after Sochi 2014. And there are a lot of questions to Ilya. They were especially relevant when the whole crazy doping story about the home Olympics began to spin. Recall that based on the testimony of Grigory Rodchenkov, Alexander Legkov and Maxim Vylegzhanin, the winner and silver medalist of the Olympic marathon, were accused. If they were stripped of their medals, the gold medal would go to Chernousov.
Many in Russia then expected him to say words of support to Legkov. The man with whom, under the guidance of coaches Knaut and Burgermeister, he prepared side by side for Sochi 2014. With whom they lived in the same room for months at the training camp and plowed endlessly. Who-who, but Ilya knew perfectly well at what price the triumph at home Games was actually given to the Lightweight.
But at the moment when Alexander was going through the most difficult moment in his life, Chernousov decided to distance himself from the situation. It's hard to say why. Someone else's soul is dark. Maybe Ilya himself was shocked by what was happening, maybe he was guided by some of his own motives. All attempts to contact them were unsuccessful, so we can only assume. Someone even called him a traitor. Although not a single person from the world of skiing who was well acquainted with Ilya, I have not heard a single bad word about his human qualities.
Anyway, it is obvious that at some point Chernousov decided to sever ties with Russia. At least with sports Russia. Gasparin didn't even invite Legkov to his wedding with Swiss biathlete Selina. And after the 2015 World Cup, where he arrived, but never performed, never appeared in the national team again and never even tried to qualify there.
In Russia , he would hardly have made his way into the squad
After marrying Gasparin Chernousov settled in Switzerland. It is not difficult to understand it. The standard of living there is one of the highest in the world, a passport makes it possible to travel freely around the world, and there are Alps on the territory of the country, where you can train almost all year round.
Ilya has not competed at the World Cup for five years, focusing on commercial marathons. In 2018, he won the most prestigious "Marchalonga". This is really a huge achievement.
After that, however, he was not so successful. But now Ilya has a new motivation. Ahead, perhaps, the World Cup, the World Cup and even the Olympic Games. There is such competition in Russia now that Chernousov would hardly have any chance of getting into the national team. And in Switzerland, in this sense, it is much easier for him. Let's hope he succeeds — and he qualifies for the upcoming World Cup in Oberstdorf.
And already there he will give a big interview to "SE", in which, finally, he will tell about his life and thoughts after the Sochi Olympics.
In February 2006, the 19-year-old Chernousov achieved his first big one – he took silver in skiathlon at the Junior World Championships in Slovenia, ahead of Kolonia and Canadian Alex Harvey, and ahead of only Northug.
In the autumn of the same year, Chernousov made his debut at the Adult World Cup. There were no big victories in the personal races of the debut season, but two relay races as part of the second Russian team looked optimistic.
Chernousov got into the first relay four in February 2007 at the stage in Davos – the team won, and Ilya became one of the best in the third segment. So the 20-year-old Chernousov made his way to the World Championship in Sapporo.
The first World Championship for young Chernousov did not work out – only the 31st place in skiathlon. But a couple of weeks later, he lit up again at the World Youth Championship: silver in the cutting, 4th place in the skiathlon (both races were won by Cologna) and 5th place in the non-core sprint.
The following season-2007/08 Chernousov started at the base, performing at almost all stages of the World Cup. In January, in Nova Mesto, he entered the top ten for the first time, and in February he took another silver at the Youth World Championship – now in the 30 km freestyle mass start (again behind the Column).
The transition to adults was not without a decline – there were no results at the autumn stages of the 2008/09 World Cup and Chernousov dropped out of the national team without qualifying for the World Cup in Liberec.
The next season didn't work out either – only silver in the relay in Beitostolen. In the passive – places in the third and fourth ten individual races and torment on the Tour de Ski.
Chernousov finished the 2010/11 season with a personal victory in the World Cup, winning the classic cutting in Falun, and by the following winter he had made noticeable progress, regularly getting into the top ten at the World Cup stages.
Despite working separately from the national team, Chernousov received good feedback from the coaching staff and became an important element in the team.
The 2012/13 season was the best in Chernousov's career. He took 5th place in the mini-tour in Kuusamo, 10th in the multi-day Tour de Ski, finished second in the skiathlon at the pre-Olympic week in Sochi and staked out a place at the final stage in the relay – first in the second team, then in the first.
Chernousov proved himself an excellent finisher – for example, in the relay at the Yellivar stage, his breakthrough in a tight fight with the national teams of Norway and Sweden brought the team third place. It seemed that Chernousov had reached a new level and finally straddled luck.
But something went wrong. At the stage in La Cluse, Russia gave out one of the best relays in recent years – Belov, Vylegzhanin and Legkov clung to the Norwegians and Swedes for three stages, but at the finish line of the fourth Chernousov fell, leaving the team in 4th place.
