Natalia Nepryaeva missed a second medal at the Winter Olympics in Beijing by the most painful margin
Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva was desperately close to adding another medal to her picks at the Beijing Games before collapsing in despair and exhaustion after missing by the smallest possible margin.
Nepryaeva launched the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) this weekend when she took a brilliant silver medal in the ladies’ 15 km skiathlon, and also won a bronze four years ago at the PyeongChang Games.
The 26-year-old came within touching distance of picking up another bronze for these achievements at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center on Thursday.
After reversing an eight-second deficit to reach within touching distance of third place in the classic 10 km, Nepryaeva rushed towards the finish line in a desperate attempt to overcome the time set by Finnish Krista Parmakoski.
Nepryaeva stretched her right leg to cross the line and skied for a short while to look at the official position, only to see that she had finished a tummy 0.1 seconds behind the Finn.
Nepryaeva made a desperate outcome for a medal. Maddie Meyer / Getty Images
That was all that separated the pair over the 10 km long course when Nepryaeva clocked a time of 28: 37.9 to Parmakoski’s 28: 37.8.
Nepryaeva lay face down in the snow and breathed heavily before rolling on her back and then on her side.
The Russian was seen to be comforted by the Swedish competitor Ebba Andersson.
Nepryaeva was close to a second medal in Beijing. Patrick Smith / Getty Images
A Swedish rival had comfort for the Russian. Photo by AP / Alessandra Tarantino
The race was won by Norwegian Therese Johaug, who took her second gold in the Beijing Games after topping the podium in skiathlon.
Behind Johuag were the Finnish duo Kerttu Niskanen and Parmakoski, who took silver and bronze respectively.
Johaug took the time 28: 06.03 to win gold – just 0.4 seconds ahead of Niskanen. Parmakoski was just over 30 seconds back, followed by Nepryaeva.
Talking to Russia Matcha TVsaid a desperate Nepryaeva: “Everything felt good, and the skis worked brilliantly. I have nothing to say.”
Nepryaeva appeared on the verge of tears after missing. Photo by AP / Alessandra Tarantino
Russian cross-country ski manager Elena Vyalbe was more optimistic, saying: “It’s outrageous, but it’s not a tragedy.
“Natalia has at least three more races ahead of her [in Beijing]. She was four today, if it had been a three-second interval it would have been less outrageous than a tenth of a second.
“But it passes, tomorrow she will train again.”
Elsewhere in the field on Thursday’s race, ROC rider Yulia Stupak finished seventh, while Tatiana Sorina finished 10th and Lilia Vasilieva finished 15th.
(RT.com)
Source: sn.dk