Titled Latypov and Smolsky could not cope with the “ordinary” Sidorov: now not a criminal

One of the biathlon races in Zlatoust finally solved a mystery from the rather distant past. Evgeniy Sidorov from the Krasnoyarsk Territory won the men’s individual biathlete race. The same Sidorov who was talked about with bewilderment several years ago when they saw him on the list of candidates for participation in the 2022 Olympics: who is he, why don’t we know how he got there?

In the individual race, the athlete, who is 15th in the overall RBU ranking, showed that he can shoot well and run fast. Without making a single mistake, Evgeniy left behind everyone: Anton Smolsky (by 27.7 seconds, although Anton also distinguished himself with clean shooting), and Vasily Tomshin, who became third, and Daniil Serokhvostov, and the already two-time Spartakiad champion Eduard Latypov, who turned out to be fifth overall.

Anton Smolsky performs at the Spartakiad after illness and missing starts. He admitted that he was pleased with the shooting, and the progress was already better than in previous races. True, he believes that the weather helps a little: when it’s warmer, the body works better, and the skis roll softer. He says that there is progress, but still it does not allow him to “twist himself as much as possible and give everything he has.” He lives in hope that everyone will still see him in maximum combat readiness when he gives battle to Latypov.

But for now, Evgeniy Sidorov gave the fight, or rather, took his toll in the individual race. Nobody asks who he is anymore; they asked plenty of questions when his name suddenly appeared on those same lists. In general, back then I felt frankly sorry for the athlete. Firstly, all these conjectures fell on his head: whose matchmaker, brother and protégé is he? Those with all-knowing fingers pointed to the then president of the Russian Biathlon Union, Vladimir Drachev. True, the official said simply: we are working for the future, preparing for the future. Secondly, “Sidorov himself should not have spoken or assumed, but shown the results. And there were problems with this.

Five years ago, his debut at the international level ended with 99th place at the IBU Cup. A year later, based on the selection results, he again found himself in the IBU Cup, but in the sprint he opened the fifth ten athletes, and in other races he was in the sixth ten.

Personal trainer Olga Skosyreva protected him then as best she could. Look, she said: here – Evgeniy is one of the leaders at the top of the climb, and after descending and reaching the line he is already losing by 45 seconds. What do you think is the matter? Thanks to the oilers, they tried their best, but the skis themselves were not enough. Whether on the road or at the Russian Championship…

She also said that Evgeniy’s dilatation was rather late. No, of course, there are biathletes like the Be brothers who have been running, winning, since juniors. But this is not given to everyone. Yes, maybe it’s not so good if you mow down everyone in the juniors, and then you no longer have the strength. And she emphasized: Sidorov has a huge functional reserve.

Evgeniy himself, by the way, says that he is happy to train for 15 years with Olga Skosyreva. Because I got into the national team and trained there, but a lot is achieved during the course and in shooting under the guidance of a personal trainer.

And yet, when the international competitions ended for our athletes, Evgeniy could not boast of anything: victory at the Izhevsk Rifle in the sprint, silver at the All-Russian Winter Universiade 2020 in the individual race, and bronze at the Russian Championship in the relay as part of the North-Western FO.

But today, the gold medalist of the Spartakiad of the Strongest, Evgeniy Sidorov, who sensationally left behind all the leaders, can already safely say that he has no family ties with Drachev: “it is completely untrue that I am his son, there were such rumors.” And tell me that it took a long time to reach victory. Specifically, the current season started well, preparations were being made for the Spartakiad.

And his words are confirmed by his successes: silver in the sprint at the Russian Cup stage in Khanty-Mansiysk in December, finishing in the top 6 twice and in the top 10 three times. Now Evgeniy says that he has a lot of emotions, but the main thing is that everything worked out as it should. And the most important thing after the victory is to “digest all this and show the same results in the remaining races.”

Sidorov admits that it is difficult to fight with leaders at a distance, so he relied on good shooting performance. I didn’t plan anything golden, I just felt good and decided that this training was bearing fruit. The snow didn’t scare him, but the search for the right pair of skis for such weather took a long time, thanks to the service team, which contributed to the victory.

…Yes, but in the golden individual race, an incident almost happened: Evgeniy Sidorov almost confused prone and stand-up. “For some reason I rode the whole circle and thought how I could work out the second prone just as quickly and clearly. It stuck in my head, I forgot that I had to shoot while standing.”

Zlatoust

Men

Individual race

1. Evgeniy Sidorov – 54.10.9 (0)

2. Anton Smolsky (Belarus) – 27.7 (0)

3. Vasily Tomshin – 29.3 (1)

4. Daniil Serokhvostov – 33.9 (2)

5. Eduard Latypov – 50.7 (3)

6. Ilnaz Mukhamedzyanov – 1.19.8 (2)

7. Alexander Povarnitsyn – 1.22.2 (1)

8. Karim Khalili – 1.22.5 (2)

9 Anton Babikov – 1.43.9 (2)

10. Maxim Tsvetkov – 1.57.9 (2)