Biathletes of Russia and Belarus started in Sochi

Our biathlon is entering a difficult season. What are the conditions included? The ones you don’t wish on anyone. The International Biathlon Union has just clearly stated its position: athletes from Russia and Belarus will not be allowed to start. The IBU Executive Committee has recommended to the congress, which will be held in Salzburg on September 15-18, to extend the sanctions against Russian and Belarusian athletes “until further notice”.

The Executive Committee also wants Congress to confirm the decision to extend the removal of officials from Russia and Belarus. And, of course, he recommended to the congress of the organization to extend the suspension of the membership of the Russian Biathlon Union and the Belarusian Biathlon Federation until the conditions are met, proposals for which will be submitted to the congress for approval.

And the conditions surpassed all previous ones from other federations: the RRF and the BSE must “clearly distance themselves” from the special operation in Ukraine and guarantee that none of the officials or athletes “will take any part in it.” That is, the biathlon family put forward absolutely political demands.

The IBU executive committee also insists on suspending the membership of Russia and Belarus until their federations demonstrate “full commitment to the goals and principles of the IBU.” Comments, as they say, are unnecessary. SBR responded with an appeal. He stated that “the recommendations of the IBU executive committee regarding the athletes of Russia and Belarus are just as hypocritical and politicized, they also contradict the IBU constitution and are just as harmful to world biathlon as the March decisions.”

In general, our biathletes will spend the season at home. And there are plenty of problems at home too. Not so global, but still. Yes, and globalization is determined by the situation. If, for example, in such a serious international situation, the RRF still has to decide on the president, is this serious or not?

And the starting stage of the Commonwealth Cup will take place in a situation where the position of the president of the federation has not been officially divided between two candidates for the post. The current president is Viktor Maigurov, but there is also a contender Alexei Nuzhdov, and the elections, as you know, are awaiting a second round. At the end of June, at the reporting and election conference in Moscow, Maigurov lacked one vote to win. A new extraordinary conference of the RRF was supposed to take place at the end of August, but the calendar suggests that this was not accurate.

At the IBU congress in September, we will be allowed to speak with a “response”. It is difficult to hope that this word will reach the hearts of officials. Or rather, it’s pointless. Yes, and any internal work with the officials of the international federation, apparently, is suspended today. So the main task remains internal: to sort out the household. And the main target today is inside. Both in terms of starts and tasks.

The first stage of the Commonwealth Cup will be held in Sochi from 23 to 29 August, the races will start on 25 August. Now there are 68 men and 56 women in the application for the performance. The competitions will take place on the track of the Laura ski and biathlon complex, where the only modern high-altitude biathlon training center in Russia is located today. There will be six races in total: two sprints, two pursuits and two mass starts.

It was in Sochi that the group of coach Sergei Bashkirov was preparing for the first stage of the Cup: Alexander Loginov, Anton Babikov, Kirill Bazhin, Mikhail Burundukov, Vyacheslav Maleev, Alexander Povarnitsyn, Vasily Tomshin, Maxim Tsvetkov. Mikhail Shashilov’s group also worked there: Irina Kazakevich, Alina Kudisova, Vladislav Gavrilova, Anna Grigorieva, Polina Plyusnina, Anna Starovoitova, Anastasia Shevchenko, Natalia Shevchenko, Anastasia Batmanova, Tamara Derbusheva.

Sergey Bashkirov says that two-time Olympic medalist and world champion Alexander Loginov will perform after his illness. Even at the beginning of the training camp, he missed a few days, then it was necessary to recover. But for all athletes, starting at the Commonwealth Cup is an opportunity to appreciate the work that biathletes have done. Possibility and adjustments.

The group of coach Yuri Kaminsky only on Tuesday (August 23) completed the training camp at the Seminsky Pass in Altai. So Eduard Latypov, Evgeny Emerkhonov, Roman Eremin, Alexander Kornev, Ilnaz Mukhamedzyanov, Mikhail Pervushin will run the sprint straight after the move.

Athletes training under the guidance of Artem Istomin and Vitaly Noritsyn, as Istomin himself said, were left without training in the mountains in the summer. The reason is the late application for accommodation: there are many teams, all are in Russia, and priority is given to those who booked accommodation in advance. The group that finished the training camp in Tyumen a few days ago includes Natalya Gerbulova, Anastasia Goreeva, Ksenia Dovgaya, Elizaveta Kaplina, Larisa Kuklina, Svetlana Mironova, Ekaterina Noskova, Kristina Reztsova, Daniil Serokhvostov, Karim Khalili.

Coach Istomin claims that if the athletes had been trained at altitude, it would, of course, be easier for them to start at the Commonwealth Cup. But, since it happened, we continued the basic work. And the first stage of the Cup for the majority of athletes will be a lead-in. “Let’s meet, we’ll get competitive practice, we haven’t had it for a long time, the Europeans have already started, and it’s time for us.”

Of the main losses of the tournament – Kristina Reztsova, who will miss the second stage. The Olympic medalist explains the situation without much specifics: there are health issues that need to be addressed now so that there are no problems in the future. Ulyana Nigmatullina and Evgenia Burtasova will also not perform.

By the way, Yevgeny Garanichev, who is preparing outside the national team, will perform in Sochi. The biathlete decided to continue his career, although many sent him after the last, terrifying season, to a “well-deserved rest”. Interesting, surprise or not?

Anna Sola and Irina Leshchenko (Krivko) will not come as part of the Belarusian national team. Personal reasons, which they promise to talk about later. But there will be Anton Smolsky and Dinara Alimbekova, Dmitry Lazovsky, Maxim Vorobey, Stepan Danilov, Alexander Koshin, Alina Pilchuk, Daria Kudaeva, Adelina Sabitova.

Olympic medalist Eduard Latypov is happy about the competition, he believes that the training went well in the summer, now it’s time to look at the result. He says that he will perform at the first two stages of the Cup, because it is necessary to check the preparation: how the first part of the season went. You also need to look at yourself in comparison to others. “Such control starts help to keep fit. It is very good that there will be healthy competition. We need to make sure that we are ready for admission to international competitions.” Optimistic.

… And the information tapes flew around the words of congratulations from coach Mikhail Shashilov, addressed to the silver medalist of the 2020 World Junior Championship Alina Kudisova, she turned 23 at the training camp. The coach’s speech was shown on his RBU channel. “I want to congratulate you on your new year. Health, happiness, love, sun. Achieve all goals. All in your hands. The main thing in this life is not to be mongrels. I wish this didn’t happen. We will be thoroughbred ladies, know our worth.

Maybe it’s funny to some, but the words are beautiful. Philosophy is not only sports.