HEROES
Ekaterina Yuryeva. As People’s Commissar Voroshilov used to say, famous for his flawless shooting, "there are no bad weapons, there are bad arrows." Katya Yurieva in a brilliant performance this season proved the validity of this saying. She regularly hit targets in rain and snow, and even with strong winds. While our girls together signed in helplessness at the World Cup, Yurieva puffed out one for all: she competed with invincible Germans, formidable Swedes and Norwegians. Let's not forget that this is the first season of a young Russian woman in the company of the strongest biathletes. While she obviously lacks speed on the track, but Yuryeva is trying, she hears the advice of the coaches and runs faster and faster with each race. Shooting is still her signature trump card. In Holmenkollen, she masterfully worked out the sprint and mass start.
Magdalena Neuner is true to herself: she works as if on a ski track, shoots like God puts her soul on her and smiles with all thirty-two teeth when she gets into the telephoto lens. Genius has grown in Germany, and everyone is happy to admit it. In Holmenkollen, Magdalena enjoyed all the races: at first she generously presented Andrea Henkel with a victory in the sprint, then she surprisingly easily won her finish spurt in the pursuit, and in the mass start she missed twice, but still was not upset. Outrunning the blonde beauty Neuner is almost impossible today.
Rafael Poiret made two further feats: he won the individual race and finished second in the pursuit, despite three misses ... For the third miracle, Rafu did not have enough strength, but good luck. In the mass start, the photo finish treacherously discerned the microscopic advantage of Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, who had gained superform.
And Bjoerndalen , thank God, returned. Without it, it was a little boring on the snowy tracks. Watching how Ole-Lukoye of a modern biathlon runs faster than a fallow deer has long bored everyone. But it’s a real pleasure to watch how the five-time Olympic champion shoots with the speed of an automatic burst and does not smear at the same time. He will surely come to Khanty-Mansiysk for the final stage of the World Cup to scratch the Crystal Globe out of the hands of Grice and Poiret. Will wait…
OUR
Dmitry Yaroshenko and Ivan Cherezov demonstrated to the refined Norwegian public that they had not forgotten how to shoot accurately. But the distance speed in all races left much to be desired. It was “thanks to” slow-moving that Yaroshenko did not reach gold in the individual race, and Cherezov lost the argument for bronze in the mass start. However, after the hopeless stage in Lahti, the results of our men were encouraging.
SURPRISE
Simone Denkinger failed this season all the races in which she participated. It was painful for Uwe Mussigang to watch the Bundestrener when Henkel and Glagov went through the cup stages due to illness. He was forced out of hopelessness to trust Simone's place in the relay quartet and bite his elbows. In Holmenkollen, a girl with an Asian appearance and a German passport surprised me with fifth place in the race with a general start. At the finish, Denkinger did not beat anyone, but ... Katie Wilhelm.
QUOTE
“Wilhelm is not some kind of a racer from the top ten, she’s a fighter, and it’s difficult to compete with her, I’m not so strong as a chicken,” Ekaterina Yuryeva , winner of the World Cup stages, explained in an interview with Mayak radio station how difficult it was to fight the leader World Cup Pursuit.
NUMERAL
0.1 seconds shared at the finish of the mass start of Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and Rafael Poiret. This uncompromising race adorned not only the cup stage in Holmenkollen, but also the entire season, which was dictated by two illustrious debaters. It’s even a pity that next year we won’t see one of them - Poiret. Saying goodbye to a legend that unexpectedly gained a second wind is incredibly difficult. Maybe he still changes his mind to leave?