The super sprint in Tchaikovsky presented a sensation: Bektuganov took out all the leaders

Latypov crept up unnoticed, but gave the gold of the Russian Championship to the newcomer on the podium

The Russian Biathlon Championship is not all at once in one place. Some of the races are in winter, the rest are in spring. After the Commonwealth Cup in Raubichi, which staged an exciting showdown, Tchaikovsky began to intrigue. And he began the Russian Championship, intimidated by the cold, but not giving up, with a super sprint.

What do experts say about this discipline, which the World Cup organizers did not like to such an extent that they eliminated it? Supersprint is not easy; you have to prepare twice for the start, the prologue and the final part. But in terms of emotions and pleasure, the race is great. Let’s add: and the ability to quickly change the leader, giving the opportunity to get on the pedestal to those who usually do not claim it (but are mentally prepared). The athletes themselves also say that the race is fast, so everyone is trying new things – for example, shooting faster. The result, however, does not always meet desires.

There are biathletes who admit that this discipline is not a delight for the body. For example, Natalya Gerbulova (she only finished 17th in Tchaikovsky) says this: I don’t like the super sprint because “I get very sour.” And in general, here you need to “fall in” from the first meters, and this is difficult, not everyone can do it.

But it was given to someone. Tamara Derbusheva won the super sprint of the Russian Biathlon Championship in Tchaikovsky with three penalties. Very close to her at the finish line was Belarusian Anna Sola, and behind her at the same distance was Natalia Shevchenko.

Derbusheva did not lose her vigilance until the very last moment, she heard the athletes chasing her cheering her on, “I had to run away.” Sola admitted that the strong wind made it very difficult to shoot, so she decided not to aim, but to make up the gap with her legs. And the penalty loop in super sprint is not that big, so I deliberately took risks at the shooting range. Many female biathletes admitted this after the race, and the coaches did not hide the fact that they advised shooting quickly, you have to try different techniques.

In the men’s race, a sensation awaited everyone. Where did the fleet-footed Eduard Latypov end up? Behind the back is now the Russian champion Alexander Bektuganov. Who is he, why didn’t they know? Now we know. Alexander had two misses, Eduard had as many as seven, falling behind by 3.3 seconds. In third place is Alexander Kornev, who has already been on the podium this year.

It cannot be said that the winner Bektuganov was not psychologically prepared for gold and was simply in shock at what star biathletes he left behind. Firstly, as the champion himself said, he grew up in Tchaikovsky, trained every summer on this track, so for him “everything is familiar here.” And in general: I’ve already replayed some successful start in my head many times, and “here it finally happened.” Although… still running first – this, of course, is not so common. And the last lap generally floated “as if in a fog,” very difficult.

Eduard Latypov admitted that it was necessary to spend a minimum of time on shooting in the race. “I understood that I had to shoot well, but there was wind there, I had to take risks, I shot like I shot.” And if so, then we had to “sweat on the last lap.”

He explained the treachery of the weather in Tchaikovsky: an unpleasant and dense wind, and the race was fast, there was no time to rest. “You take a breath for half a second and choke. I had to try to shoot quickly and fight the wind in one breath.”

Alexander Kornev said respectfully about Latypov, who was sweating on the last lap: “Edik Latypov is strong, he has always been strong.” And he admitted: he didn’t expect that Latypov would be his pursuer before the finish line, he thought that he would have to deal with other rivals. But Latypov “crept up unnoticed and found where to beat me,” the last lap is his advantage.

In general, young and promising, according to smart coaches, biathlete Kornev admits: running and training with Latypov is a very valuable opportunity. “He teaches us a lot, thanks to this we are progressing and are slowly imposing competition on him.”

The latter, considering that the festive feasts have not yet been forgotten, sounds like a wonderful toast.