Vulcano, Italy, September 13, 2017. Men’s national team coach Oleg Kiselev and women’s coach Dmitri Fedotov explain Russia’s rise in European Beach Volleyball after their country claimed all gold medals at stake at this year’s #EuroBeachVolleyU18, #EuroBeachVolleyU20, and #EuroBeachVolleyU22.
Six age-group men’s and women’s competitions – six gold medals. Russia’s record at the 2017 European under-age tournaments has been without doubt an impressive one.
For the first time in history, a single country claimed all six men’s and women’s gold medals in the same year.
“There is no doubt that it has been a great year for Russian Beach Volleyball. It is just amazing that we could celebrate another milestone for Beach Volleyball in Russia at the #EuroBeachVolleyU20, but most of all that some of the youngest athletes like Mariia Bocharova and Maria Voronina did not only earn their spurs in higher age groups, but were able to prevail too,” says men’s coach Oleg Kiselev.
Kiselev is convinced that the strong performance by the men’s squads at the Rio 2016 Olympics had an impact on the evolution of Beach Volleyball in Russia too. “I think the strong fourth place by Krasilnikov/Semenov and fifth place by Liamin/Barsuk at Rio 2016 fired the starting pistols for Beach Volleyball in Russia. They have become idols to look up to for the youngest Beach Volleyball generations. Now we are trying our best to build Russia’s Beach Volleyball stars of tomorrow.”
That is the reason why Oleg Kiselev and Dmitri Fedotov have already set sight on next year’s major international competitions and want to reach more milestones with the aspiring youngsters. “We will not rest on this year’s laurels. We want to complete a perfect sweep on all podiums, like we did at the #EuroBeachVolleyU18 in Kazan this year when our boys claimed gold, silver, and bronze,” explained Kiselev and added laughing. “But that is a secret.”
Kiselev even reveals what the big secret behind Russia’s latest milestones in Beach Volleyball is. “I think the reason for our success is hard work. Our athletes have worked very hard over the last years and have done everything in their power to improve every day. Now they reap the fruits of their labour. Because there is no way around hard work.”
Kiselev even reveals what the big secret behind Russia’s latest milestones in Beach Volleyball is. “I think the reason for our success is hard work. Our athletes have worked very hard over the last years and have done everything in their power to improve every day. Now they reap the fruits of their labour. Because there is no way around hard work.”
In order to inspire the rising stars of Russian Beach Volleyball, Oleg Kiselev and Dmitri Fedotov let the aspiring youngsters train with their idols. “In my opinion, it is important that our youngsters have the opportunity to train with our first teams. They can learn so much from them and learn to improve themselves in order to challenge the stars.”
Maybe soon the Russian youngsters will be able to challenge their idols at senior events too. Nevertheless, one thing is for sure: Russian Beach Volleyball fans can look forward to a bright future.