MOSCOW, January 17, Oleg Bogatov. Two-time bronze medalist of the European Bobsleigh Championship pilot Rostislav Gaytyukevich said that the pre-launch training in St. Moritz was not very successful, but the crews managed to give their best and show decent results at the competition. The athlete for the first time became the owner of two awards of the tournament. The European Bobsleigh and Skeleton Championship, combined with the final stage of the World Cup, was held in Switzerland on January 15-17.
"We are very happy to win two medals, — said Gaytyukevich. — Before the European Championships, we had only the most daring assumptions that we could fight for prizes. In training in St. Moritz, we were generally destroyed. Canadians, for example, brought us a second per race. I didn't even know what to think. Passing along the track did not work out very well, because we had a small roll on it. I don’t think that we could have risen higher, we have surpassed ourselves on this track".
The interlocutor of the agency noted that he was glad to gain a foothold in the elite of the world bobsleigh and hopes to successfully perform at the Beijing Olympics. The games will be held on February 4-20 .. «I think that I am already in the top 8 pilots in the world,» the athlete continued. «I try not to leave him, even on difficult tracks for us. We can say that we have already reached the peak of form «We'll rest a little before the Olympic Games and we should be even better prepared before the start. I feel confident in myself to fight for medals. But the Olympics are completely different competitions, this is not the European Championship and not the World Cup stages. And I have no experience of playing at Games, behind only one world championship. A lot will depend on luck and a number of other factors. But I think that in Beijing we will compete for medals.»