python said:
BullsFan22 said:
Rider said:
Legkov posted his annual training.
And apparently Nystad is one his coaches now?
his main coach is still kramer (my understanding) with trond supposedly slated to advise kramer on some tweaks to his training...
frankly, i think he is wasting his time and probably money on the norwegian. he should ask himself if his buddy and a former partner at team burgermeister/knaute ...ilya gasparin (aka chernusov
) made any progress under the full blooded norwegian coaching
ALL season ?
none. not even one podium in the wc races i recall. nor did the norwegian 'training gold standard' helped ilya into a single top 10 this year iirc.
there is nothing wrong with the norwegian expertise. the problem, seems to me, somewhere else. not sure what's going with ilya (perhaps lack of motivation after becoming a dad) but in the legkov case i think the issue is in his head. no, i dont think alex is stupid. rather, too much all over, kind of a scatter-brain...ran away from reto/knaute after scoring his best career wins under them (tds, olympic gold), then training with sprinters, then alone...i see all the signs of his moral and emotional charge for competing after the olympic gold running low. hence, the talk of business and even an intention of going into the politics..
too bad since he's an enormous talent and a very decent human.
I think Legkov's biggest mistake was breaking away from the Burgermeister/Knauthe group. Chernousov too, though frankly, he had little choice. Go back to the national team, which he broke away after 2010, or join a group like the one with
Bitnes (not sure that it's a group, as he trains alone most of the time, that can't be good either). They had career seasons while training together and also with Cologna, the German national team, with Northug at times, and with other Russian team members that would hop on and off of groups.
Not sure if there was a fallout or he simply wanted a change, but after so much success with one system, you'd think he would want to keep the momentum going. Even if he is lacking in motivation, he at least has familiarity with the system and can better adapt mentally. Perhaps he needed a change because of a lack of motivation. Who knows, really. Of course, opening up a store, starting a club, some injury issues...those all played in his lack of big results the last two seasons. This past season wasn't a disaster, as he did finish in the top 10 in the distance rankings, got a relay podium, and had some decent results, but no podiums for a guy like him must be in his mind, even with the lack of motivation. Last season (2014/2015) was pretty bad. He was injured, sick and had no results apart from Rybinsk. That seemed like a wasted season. If I was him, I would have stuck around with Burgermeister/Knauthe. He would have had more partners and strong athletes around him (Ustiugov, Belov, Volzhentsev). Chernousov probably would have stayed as well. Would have been one heck of a training group. The way Ustiugov skied this season and Belov last season, they would have driven each other to even better things.
Nystad helping him is not a great idea. Nystad was with the Americans for a few seasons and they had no significant results.
I think trying to instill the Norwegian school of thought is not gonna work in every place. The Americans are doing well now (well, the women any was) because of two things: the club system is improving and talent is there. This combination is what was lacking in previous years. The national team is there because it needs to be, but it's the individual clubs that are supplying strong athletes with top training. Essentially, Legkov would actually be better off going back to the Russian National Team than training with Nystad.
Chernousov is done, in my opinion. I think it's a shame what happened to him the last two seasons. Particularly this past season. I would seriously question Bitnes's knowledge on training. Of course, Chernousov marrying and him and Gasparin having a kid (congratulations to them on that, btw!!) and worrying about that is one part of it, but
Bitnes needs to go. He's had a horrible season and I wouldn't be shocked if he called it quits. He is three years younger than Legkov and really, he should be in his prime. After having break out seasons with the swiss group and potentially getting better as he's heading into his prime (late 20's early 30's) he's gotten worse. I don't think it's the Norwegian system, it's Bitnes's system that's hurting Chernousov. The Russians are wasting money and time on that guy.