On Monday evening, the main characters of the shooting world championship in Zagreb flew to Sheremetyevo. Natalia Paderina, Artem Hadzhibekov and Lyubov Galkina brought their gold medals with them.
Zagreb flight arrived three of the six medals won by our gunners in personal exercises. Championship bronze medalists Vladimir Isakov and Vladimir Goncharov returned to Moscow earlier, and the owner of yet another “bronze” Sergey Alifirenko will arrive today.
While the arrows are waiting for the baggage claim, those who meet will watch them using the monitor. Representatives of the city administration of Domodedovo unfold the poster "Luba, congratulations!" “We constantly meet Lyubov Galkina when she returns from the competition,” says one of the seven delegates from Domodedovo. “She has been living in our city for about five years, and we consider her our own, although Luba is from the Sverdlovsk region.” Head of the trap shooting team Alexander Mishin looks concerned: “I am day and night at the airport. Today I escorted the women's team to the monastery, tomorrow their rifles will fly with an escort. ” The father of Ilya Guryev, speaking in the junior team, is much more calm: “My son has this first international competition. Anyway, the first trip abroad. Of course, he was confused ... "
In the luggage room, Alexey Alipov is talking on the phone. Maybe he is informed about the victory of his comrade Vitaly Fokeev. This is the second world championship after the Olympics triumphant for Alexei - and again he was out of luck. He can’t get into the finals, as if someone had jinxed him.
After receiving the luggage, the arrows are sent to a special rack for reconciliation of weapons numbers. By chance or not, the champions are the first in line. As always, Natalia Paderina modestly smiles. She hopes to get control soon. From the airport, one of the shooters will go to the Olympic base in Novogorsk, some (Muscovites) will go home, and some will go to another airport or train station to fly or go on. In Yekaterinburg, the champion is waiting for parents, husband and son. “I did not think about places and medals, I just worked for my pleasure. - Natasha speaks on the move, hurrying to the bus. “If anything was annoying, it was very hot.” It was impossible to hide from her anywhere. ” The gold medal of the Pistolina Paderina was the first in the piggy bank of the Russians. Team victories pleased, but wanted more. And this award is a double surprise, because she received her debutant of the world forum. “It is a pity that in the foreseeable future we can’t afford to beat the Chinese. We are constantly thinking about how to learn how to defeat them, but we still cannot figure out the secret of this box, ”Paderina admits.
Head coach Oleg Lapkin, remaining in Zagreb until the end of the championship, said that Artem Hadzhibekov seemed to foresee Paderina's victory. Although the champion himself does not agree with him. He slowly puts down the case and the rifle: “I did my usual work, I performed with dignity in both exercises. Shooting from a small-caliber rifle in a prone position, in which the medal went to the opponent, is a lottery exercise in itself. That day it was not me who pulled out the lucky ticket. The result seems to be not bad, but I did not get to the final. There is very intense competition. And on the standard, when physical fitness is good, as a rule, you go to the finals and fight for medals. ” The time when Khadzhibekov was most interested in prize money was long behind, and indeed - did he have such a time? He only regrets that his relatives and friends had to follow the results on the Internet - for television this world championship simply did not exist.
However, they know their heroes in Russia. The champion of the Olympics and the world, Lyubov Galkina, is also the champion in the number of interviews. Answering television questions, Galkina laughed and raised her eyebrows: “Why do you say that you expected more from me? I think that I and the team as a whole looked decent. Where we did not have personal medals, there were team medals. At the championship, I slept peacefully, I was completely satisfied with everything. So write. ” She is merry, Galkina.