MOSCOW, 17 Mar – Olympic champion of the Games in Beijing in the relay Veronika Stepanova said that she would not be able to take part in the opening races of the Russian cross-country skiing championship due to health problems.

Stepanova on March 4 after the finish of the 30 km race as part of the All-Russian competition “Champion Heights” fell and could not get up. She was given medical assistance, the head coach of the Russian national team Yegor Sorin called an ambulance to the scene. A little later, the athlete was carried away on a stretcher, but she did not need hospitalization. According to the doctor of the national team Roman Erlikhman, Stepanova suffered a muscle spasm.

The Russian cross-country skiing championship will be held in Tyumen from 18 to 26 March.