Although he believed that he would manage to get there until the last moment, Nikolaev received official information that, as the first under the line, he would not go to the Winter Olympics.
– Those who are behind me on the list, and who are going to the Olympics, are because they have a team, men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles. Let’s say, the Chinese guy behind me is going to the Olympics, because he has that team, and I don’t. Our sport has 106 competitors, and 105 qualified. And regardless, in my discipline, men’s single, there are already 25 competitors, and I would be 26. The IOC said no, the FIL as far as they were concerned said they could, and that’s the situation. The key thing was the races in America, where Kobayashi the Japanese scored a lot of points. He trains with the American team and that was his advantage in those races and that’s where he stood out for the Olympics. If I had managed to overtake him, I would have gone, Nikolajev tells us.
So for now, Nikolaev remains at one Olympic Games so far, and will have to wait for a new opportunity, in 2030 in the French Alps.
(Vijesti.ba)
