“Everything is fine with the preparation for the world championship, no major problems have arisen,” said Sandis Prusis. “Minor problems with the organization of equipment. However, real capitalism reigns here, and next to the track everything is arranged for spectators and live TV broadcasts, so that it looks good there, so there is not so much space for equipment on the territory of the St. Moritz track. But these are problems that concern to all participants.”
Even before the start of the season, Prusis had positioned that this would be a truly post-Olympic season, namely with an emphasis on development and gaining experience for the young pilots. The 27-year-old Emils Cipulis is also considered a young athlete in the big bobsled, besides, he also started practicing bobsled relatively recently, while Jēkabs Kalenda is still only 20 years old.
“Kalenda only started driving a four-wheeler this season, and he hasn’t raced in Saktmoritz yet,” Prusis said. “Cipuli has more experience, but it should also be taken into account that we are spending a training season, even half a season, because we did not go to the North American stages in the World Cup, instead competing in several stages of the European Cup.”
“Thus, I can’t ask our athletes for anything special now. Let’s fight and go for the best possible result,” continued the coach. “We are not favorites either, this time we have nothing to lose. I myself have specific expectations for our athletes. What exactly? Well, I will keep it to myself, there is no need to talk about anything unnecessarily before the competition,” he smiled.
Although Kalenda has so far only competed in nine races in foursomes (not only this season, but in his career as a whole), he has shown even more stable performance in this discipline than in twosomes, at least in terms of places. In three PK stages, he has never been lower than 12th place, as well as once entered the top ten. He is in the 13th place in the PK overall ranking, right behind Cipulis, while in the doubles he is in the 20th place.
“We already humorously called this very thing here, saying that Jēkab will be a real father of four,” Prusis laughed. “But that’s with humor. You can’t just look at dry places in the results table here, because there are still differences in the number of participants. If 30 crews will now compete in the WC in twos, and in fours, I think, 22, then it’s clear that, for example, it will be easier in the top twenty to get into the top four. That’s why I don’t just count the places, I have to look more broadly.”
Prusis described the St. Moritz track in Switzerland as pleasant to ride, but also difficult to ride very well: “Many bobsledders like this track because it’s nice to ride on it. But the track is also tight, and it’s hard to get a good ride on it.”
In WC bobsleigh for men’s doubles, the first two races are scheduled for Saturday, followed by the 3rd and 4th races on Sunday. On the other hand, the foursome will then go on the track on February 4 and 5.
