Winter sports: Hase/Wolodine cheer on World Cup silver in the figure skating thriller

Minerva Hase and Nikita Wolodin accepted their silver medals after a nerve -wracking heartbeat final with a laugh. Then they proudly turned with a German flag and facilitated a round of honor on the ice rink of the TD Garden in Boston.

Although the Topduo only narrowly missed the title in the pairing competition at the Igfi skyding World Championship in the USA, Hase/Wolodin prevailed the joy over second place. Because the two of them could not be accused. “We gave 100 percent,” emphasized Hase.

0.71 points are missing from the world champions

The European champions once again stood in the enormous pressure in an important competition and showed a rousing freestyle in front of the two -time Olympic champion Katarina Witt, which would have been almost crowned with gold.

It would have been the first German World Cup title in seven years when Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot also triumphed in Milan. They have to wait for successors because Hase/Wolodin had to give up in a figure skating thriller by just 0.71 points to the victorious Japanese Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara.

“It’s a shame that it was very scarce,” said Hase, who, after the almost perfect performance, lay down completely with his back on the ice surface. “It was a mix of: the season is over, we put a great short,” said the 25-year-old. You could easily enjoy the moment.

With personal best for the second World Cup medal

With 219.08 points, the rabbit and Wolodine set up a personal best at the World Cup. After the two were still in third place after the short program, they showed the best freestyle of their lives in Boston and displaced the Italians Sara Conti/Niccolò Macii in third place. In order to overtake the competition from Japan, it was not quite enough. “We did everything we could,” said Wolodin.

For the duo, who is training in Berlin, the silver medal is the second World Cup precision after bronze last year. “The tendency goes up,” said Hase with a laugh. The focus in the coming season is not at the World Cup, but at the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. They want to deliver again.

Two Olympic quotas in the pair run

On the way to the Olympics, there is no hurdle on the way to the Olympics after the German ice skating union (DeU) has two quota places according to the World Cup results. In addition to the pair of success, the Deu will also plan Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel, who ended up in a disappointing 18th place in Boston.

But to be part of the Olympics, Hase/Wolodin has to solve a completely different problem. The German passport is missing from the Wolodine born in Russia. And it is necessary to be able to take part in the major event in just under ten months. So time is pushing.

German test as the biggest hurdle on the way to the Olympics

The biggest hurdle is the mandatory German test – similar to Massot before his Olympic victory with Savchenko 2018 in Pyeongchang. Hase/Wolodin would like to tick off the topic before the start of the Olympic season and then concentrate entirely on sport. “Nikita tries to learn German intensively,” said Hase. “It will definitely be better.”

He regularly proves that Wolodine can handle pressure on the ice surface. In summer he also has to do it away from it. And maybe Hase/Wolodin will be the successors of Savchenko/Massot – also in Milan in February, only at the Olympics and not at a World Cup.