Do as I do

Sergei Platonov, a European cross-country championship medallist and multiple winner of the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House prizes, will this season lock horns on the course with his own students

Today, May 7th, the embankment of the Dubrovenka River in Mogilev will become a magnet for cross-country runners from across Belarus. Once again, it will host a four-in-one event: the athletics cross-country race for the prizes of the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House, the Belarus Open Cup in cross-country, the national relay race in memory of honoured coach Aleksandr Kitsenko, and the National Universiade. Sergei Platonov is also planning to take part in the competition. It is hard even to recall how many times he has lined up for the start of the Belarus Segodnya cross-country race — as Sergei himself says, either 18 or 19 times. This year, watching him will be especially intriguing. The multiple winner of our event has retrained as a coach, but has decided not to break with tradition and will open the summer season with a run by the Dubrovenka, “What attracts me to cross-country is the difficulty of the course. We run over rough terrain, and the competitions often take place in bad weather — so there is mud and water on the course. Hardships always invigorate me, which is why cross-country is one of my favourite disciplines.”
He now works as a middle- and long-distance running coach (from 800m to the marathon) at the Mogilev Regional Olympic Reserve Centre for Athletics and Team Sports, and is modest when he says he is ‘doing moderately well’. Sergei’s students have already won the cross-country race for the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House prizes and the Belarus cross-country championships. One such athlete is Kristina Gorbulina. Two years ago, she won the junior women’s competition, and last season, having just moved up to the senior age category, she finished fourth. This time, several of Sergei Platonov’s trainees will compete in the races by the Dubrovenka. The young men will run in the older age group, meaning they will be battling it out on the course against their own coach. When asked which result matters more — his own or that of his protégés — Sergei answers without hesitation, “The most important thing is for the guys to achieve a good result. We started preparing for the cross-country well ahead of the start — about two months beforehand. Of course, I give them advice on how to tackle the course properly and what to focus on. Last year, our team — representing Mogilev Region — came first in the team standings, and I want to help it continue that winning tradition.”

By Tatiana Pastushenko