I know I can win, but circumstances aren't with me. This answered to BGNES our best skier Albert Popov, who spoke to the media after the cancellation of the slalom from the World Cup in Bansko, a BGNES reporter said. Abby was 22nd out of 29 finished skiers when the race was suspended and then canceled due to poor weather conditions at the Bulgarian winter resort.
When asked if he had ever water-skied and how he would describe the situation on the track today, Albert said: "I have water-skied, yes, and the situation was very difficult today. Yes, in parts maybe luck would have been on my side in the second run to ride at the front and maybe I had chances to win too, looking at the last start in Chamonix, but then the win is not so sweet so I'm glad they canceled it. I just don't want to be that kind of winner. I'm very angry but obviously this season Sundays are cursed. My position wasn't bad at all for the second run - as they took three and a half seconds off me, I could have done the same in the second. But this terrain, this situation, there are injuries that can happen. It was tough and right from the second gate with no visibility, driving blind, we can be glad there were no injuries", he began and continued:
"At the very start we clean our glasses and everything is visible and it's great, but the moment you start, you hit the first gate - the snow splashes into your glasses and you're already driving blind, so you don't know where you are, maybe that's where the differences came from. Part of me is mad that the weather turned bad - the forecast was for rain between the two runs. These were not race conditions, the track was super prepared, we saw some great racing yesterday. It's just when the temperatures drop that much and along with the water, things get very complicated, we saw that everyone was going down according to their numbers, so there weren't many surprises today".
"I think it's been warm before, there have been mild winters. I'm not worried, I think Europe will have good winters soon. Now we have two starts in America - the situation is completely different there, as far as I hear. We just keep going to prepare in the same way and hope for harder terrains and a greater chance for good results," said our best male skier.
When asked by BGNES about what is ahead of him and what is his state of health, Abby said: "I am in great health, maybe that is why I am angry that we have such conditions, because I know that I can ewin, but circumstances aren't with me. What me and my team can do is grit our teeth, focus on the next starts and not dwell on the things that have gone by. We saw that at Palisades it worked for me - I've never been on this track. We're still waiting for my coach Ivaylo Borisov to order - I guess he'll be given a chance in America, either in the first start or the second, so things are looking good".
"Let's say that this season it was planned not to leave the top 10. I was not prepared for the first start, but then I entered the top ten. We had a fit with the skis. There were many things, at the moment we have aimed for everything, we just have to give ourselves the opportunity and I wish for no mistakes, because then I'm the fastest", added Popov.
When asked by BGNES about the support from the home crowd and his loved ones, Albert said: "The crowd was great. Thank you for staying in such terrible weather. I myself was wet to the thermal underwear, my underpants were wet, I immediately went home to dry off and was actually waiting for the review for the second run when I saw that the race was suspended and they were wondering if they were actually going to continue. I haven't even had lunch yet because I'm still in race mode so I'll need some time to switch off. Thanks to the organizers, to the crowd, they did a great job, it's just that we can't always fight the weather conditions", he concluded. /BGNES
