HEROES
Christoph Zumann. In Ruhpolding, his bronze in the mass start went unnoticed. The Austrian led most of the race, although all the favorites breathed in the back: Bjoerndalen, Svendsen, Cherezov and Kruglov. At the finish line, the Norwegians, unlike the Russians, turned on their branded speed and easily ran away from competitors. The cunning Austrian did not try to catch them, concentrating on the struggle for bronze. In Pokljuka, Zumann did not betray himself: he shot accurately, ran after the leaders and waited for his chance. In a fleeting sprint, he was unlucky, but in the pursuit and mass start, the Austrian clung to medals. Yes, not for simple, but for gold! January 19, on the eve of his high-profile victories, Christophe celebrated his birthday. He was 31 years old.
For the first time this season, Alexander Wolf shot cleanly and ran the sprint so lightning fast that Bjorndalen and Andresen would envy. Opponents frankly saved before the Wolf charged to victory. If Alexander had stably maintained such a pace, he would have long ago pushed for the second roles of Grice and Fisher. The trouble is that the German biathlete is able to jump higher than his head once a year.
Oksana Khvostenko this season has already managed to be noted on the podium in Hochfilzen. After that, the results of the 29-year-old Ukrainian biathlete did not grow, but fell rapidly. Rough shooting failed, then inexpressive ski run. In Pokljuka, Oksana managed to go exactly (without penalty laps) the race with a common start and win her first career victory. However, at the finish she almost lost her 40-second advantage over Katie Wilhelm.
OUR
Tatyana Moiseeva. After the New Year, the most stable Russian biathlete went wrong shooting. Even my favorite sprint stopped working. Tatyana was released from participating in two relay races: she simply did not qualify for the starting lineup. There was no crisis. It’s just that Moses was slowly gaining shape. On the eve of the stage in Pokljuka, the coach of the women's team Valery Polkhovsky thought for a long time: to include a 25-year-old racer in the squad or to give her extra days of rest, like Anna Bulygina, Natalya Guseva and Anna Bogaliy-Titovets. Consulted with doctors and eventually allowed to go to the start. As a result, Tatyana fully justified the coaching trust and surprised the whole biathlon world. Two silver medals - in the sprint and the pursuit - the first medals at the stages of the World Cup for a young athlete born in Cheboksary. Prior to this, her best achievements were victories at the summer world championships and fourth place at the stage in Ostersund. “Tanya could be caught in the sprint for gold, but after it rolled Olofsson. The Swede missed once, but on the track, as always, she was magnificent, ”the trainers concluded.
Curiosity
Nikolay Kruglov mixed up the number of penalties. An unfortunate oversight happened with the absolute winner of the stage in Oberhof. In the pursuit race, Kruglov steadily stayed in the group of leaders, but in the final shooting from a standing position he made two misses. The result is not fatal, the rivals were far behind, and if Nikolay had run two penalty laps (300 meters), he would still have fought for the medal. However, Kruglov either did not notice the second uncovered target, or was carried away by the pursuit of the gutta-percha Austrian Christoph Zumann, or simply thought about something, but rewound only one of the two circles ... In punishment, the organizers after the race attributed to Nikolai two penalty minutes. The Russian rolled back in the final protocol from the top spot in the third dozen.
DEBUT
Svetlana Sleptsova. “She is well done, a very capable and hardworking girl. If she continues to work hard, then great success will surely come to her, ”Valery Polkhovsky lavished compliments on the young biathlete from Khanty-Mansiysk immediately after the 2005 World Junior Championships for her. Two years passed, Svetlana matured, gained the necessary experience at the stages of the European Cup and made her debut on the world stage. The first starts in the company of experienced biathletes did not bring good luck, but this is not the main thing. “I understood what to work on, what to strive for, how to fight with leaders ... Although no, it’s too early to compete with leaders,” said 20-year-old Sveta. In the sprint, Sleptsova was pleased with the shooting, having made only one mistake, but in the pursuit she could not cope with the excitement and missed as many as six times.
QUOTE
“Now we, athletes, are considered pawns, no one thinks about us. Since the summer, more than once or twice, they promised to give us contracts from Viessmann - and so what? Nothing ... Last season Tikhonov pulled us one by one and poured mud on Polkhovsky. Well, is that possible with the current head coach? In August, Tikhonov and I met. He said something about 4 million from Viessmann - they say, we will live better than before. And he talked about Audi, like not everyone, of course, by car, but there will be five cars per team. Where is all this? ”- Olympic champion Anna Bogaliy-Titovets told PRO Sport magazine what officials of the Russian Biathlon Union have blamed for the athletes.
NUMERAL
13 days left before the start of the world championship in Antholz. All leaders are already mentally there. However, some are not only mentally, but also real. The Norwegians, who sacrificed the stage in Pokljuka, settled in the Italian training camp and are trying to adapt painlessly to the local midlands (the height of Antholz above sea level is just over 1600 meters). Skating ski Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Halvard Hanevold and Lars Berger.