1. Old robbers
Experience in biathlon is much more important and more valuable than a good daring. In Hochfilzen, Sven Fischer, Rafael Poiret and Anna Karin Olofsson proved this once again.
The 35-year-old Fisher did not stay in biathlon for the sake of pleasure - the two-time winner of the Big Crystal Globe longs for victories. After the offseason that had not occurred due to illnesses, Fischer did not expect high results - even a famous veteran fan club accompanied him at the starts in Europe with a cute sign “Norr Fisch ” (“Gop, Fischer!”). Sven's time struck in Hochfilzen. In both sprints, he fought for medals. But if in the first race he failed in standing shooting (sixth place), then in the second - more agile rivals Michael Resh and Rafael Poiret prevented.
The Frenchman won the first victory of the season and rejoiced as if he had won the World Cup. It is understandable: since 2005, Poiret has only one victory (obtained here in Hochfilzen) and the Olympic “bronze” in the relay.
We will definitely take off our hat to the former skier Anna Karin Olofsson. The 33-year-old Swede raced at the speed of the train from the very beginning of the season, but did not reach victories. The villain-shooting failed: Anna Karin managed not to close the targets two or three times. The reason for optimism appeared in the sprint. For the first time this season, the Swede shot cleanly, confidently won and approached German Henkel, the leader of the World Cup overall standings.
2. Silver quartets of Russia
The relay teams of Russia are performing synchronously. A week ago they celebrated a golden double, this time a silver double. But our main rivals were not both German national teams, but French and Norwegians. The girls had noticeably harder, as they performed in the experimental composition. For the first time, Anna Bulygina and Tatyana Moiseeva took part in the relay. At the final stage, Natalya Guseva, whose shape is still far from optimal, could fight for first place, but in shooting standing she made more mistakes than Sandrine Bayi.
3. Ukrainian snipers
The loud sensation ended the individual race of 15 kilometers in women. Recognized leaders were forced to make room by two Ukrainians, who never belonged to the biathlon elite. 29-year-old Oksana Khvostenko only once in her career, in 1999, rose to the podium. Then - as it was cut off: Oksana habitually stayed in the thirties and forties, and nothing portended a breakthrough on the highway in Hochfilzen. Even perfect shooting and relatively high speed did not inspire hope. The Khvostenko bronze medal is the result of total misses at the firing lines of Germans, Russians and French women. While the favorites unitedly skanked with shooting, another Ukrainian squeezed into the top ten - Valentina Semerenko. The surprises of “Caliphs per Hour” continue.
4. Belarus is better than Russia
At least in the women's sprint race. The Russians in Hochfilzen caught the shooting virus and regularly scorched anywhere, but not in the target. As a result, neither in the individual race, nor in the sprint, our girls were not even in the top ten. Against the backdrop of unstable youth, Olympic champion Anna Bogaliy-Titovets showed the best results, but she lacks a stock of functional training. Anna started training later than the rest, and the peak of her results should come to the February World Championships in Antholz. Unfortunately, Anna Bulygina, Tatyana Moiseeva and Ekaterina Yuryeva are in no hurry to justify the advances made to them after the races in Ostersund. It got to the point that Belarusians, experiencing an equally painful change of generations, shoot more accurately and run faster. In the sprint, European champion Natalya Sokolova closed the top ten, and Olga Kudryashova showed the eighteenth result. By the way, both girls come from Russia. Sokolova - from Novouralsk, and Kudryashova - from Murmansk.
5. Miracles and Neuner compete with themselves
The results of Maxim Chudov still depend on the mood. If he is not, then wait for the loss of concentration, nervous shooting and a bouquet of misses. After an excellent debut in the relay race, which took place without all sorts of eccentricities, the Ufa man became the second in the sprint, losing a little more than three seconds to World Cup leader Michael Grice. But already in the next race Maxim started off in all serious ways: he missed three times, and the race turned into an empty formality for him.
For Magdalena Neuner, three misses in the sprint are nonsense, an everyday matter. Having passive laps or extra half a kilometer, the racer still falls into the top ten, or even on the podium, confirming the words of Anfisa Reztsova: "Inaccurate shooting is not an obstacle if you quickly run and finish briskly."
6. The effect of the midlands
Two weeks spent near the Tyrolean Alps - so far the most serious test that fell to the lot of biathletes. All leaders faced a shortage of oxygen, felt tired and complained of “cottony” legs. Katie Wilhelm set, having overcome both individual and sprint races with unusual tortoise speed. Outraged Michael Grice, who ran a sprint on autopilot. Even the swift-footed doe, like a doe, complained, Lars Berger, although he was not let down at all by altitude, but traditionally inexpressive shooting.
7. Norwegian hooliganism
In the absence of Linda Grubben and Tours Berger, the Norwegians frankly failed. Their performance was remembered only by Anna Ingstadborg's petty hooligan act in the sprint race. Winding up the penalty loop, she shamelessly cut the Latvian biathlete and, without turning around, dashed off further. Anna did not bother to lend a helping hand to her skiing colleague. Amazed Austrian directors for a long time to scroll through this episode, recalling: corporate ethics is the same for everyone.