HEROES
Michael Grice became the owner of the large Crystal Globe and small - in the sprint classification. Nevertheless, this season the German is unlikely to bring himself into an asset. After three Olympic victories in Turin, Mickey frankly did not zealous. The measure of his real strength was not even numerous cup points, but gold in the mass start at the World Cup. What is Grice hungry for success - an explosive mixture of distance speed, accurate shooting and fantastic perseverance - everyone saw in Anterselva.
Andrea Henkel , like her compatriot, will now study geography across the large Crystal Globe. To do this, she had to try pretty hard at the final stage in Khanty-Mansiysk. Anna-Karin Olofsson and Katie Wilhelm were literally on the heels, but luck eventually smiled at Henkel. Its separation from rivals can be measured with a microscope (7 points), but this is also considered. In women, unlike men, no one was able to pass the tournament marathon exactly. Before the World Cup, Olofsson and Linda Grubben shone, then Henkel, Martina Glagov and Magdalena Neuner came.
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen chased two hares - with and without a rifle. So far, with a weapon in the hands of the Norwegian it turns out much better. At the World Ski Championships, which the five-time Olympic champion dreams of winning a good half of his career, he was unlucky again. Even Lars Berger, the useless shooter and sprinter in the mood, wiped Björndalen’s nose with an unexpected victory on the “tag” by free wheeling. Ole Lukoye did not get into the baton, at the biathlon championship he was content with two gold awards and a small Crystal globe in the mass start. For him - this is a real trifle. However, this season did not open new rivals for Bjoerndalen, except for himself. He is still the strongest of all - when in good shape and does not dream of success in skiing.
Anna-Karin Olofsson on April Fool's Day will not only have fun, but will also think about the future. On April 1, she will turn 34 years old, by biathlon standards - a real veteran age. Youth props up, and before the Olympics in Vancouver three more years. But Olofsson is in no hurry to leave and does the right thing. Last season, the Swede once again proved that she has something to strive for. In particular, she won the gold in the mixed relay and the small crystal globe in the sprint.
Katie Wilhelm in her most controversial season won two small Crystal Globes - in the pursuit and mass start. This year was marked for her by the absence of victories. Fatal bad luck disappeared only in the relay at the World Cup, but in general, the three-time Olympic champion chose to remain in the shadows. Is it worth it to blame? God forbid! Katie simply spent the post-Olympic season for pleasure.
Dmitry Yaroshenko is the only Russian to become the owner of a small Crystal Globe - in pursuit. At the same time - a paradox! - never won a single race. However, we will not forget that this is the first season of a biathlete from Kamchatka in the elite of the world biathlon. Yaroshenko won his main medal in the relay at the World Cup, passing the third stage brilliantly.
OUR
Nikolay Kruglov triumphantly opened a sports year for Russia. In the presence of the bride, he easily furnished Bjoerndalen at the most prestigious stage in the German Oberhof. Kruglov won everything there: sprint, pursuit and brightly, in splendid isolation, finished with the Russian flag in the relay. It is a pity that after those victories, Nikolai somehow quietly stepped into the shadows. Only at the World Championships in the relay he again reminded of himself.
Ekaterina Yuryeva became a bright spot against the backdrop of the disastrous performance of the Russian women's team. In the first race at the stage in Ostersund, she closed the five, and then, up to Oberhof, did not remind herself of anything. What happened on the German track is better not to stir up in memory. This story has long become a parable. Katya made her debut in the relay, screwed up shooting, frustrated with frustration and mixed up the finish gate. Yuryev passed the psychological test "excellently" and already in Anterselva she fought on equal terms with Wilhelm, Grubben and Henkel. She would still have to tighten speed and endurance ... The first victories came to Yurieva at the end of the season - in Lahti and Holmenkollen.
Maxim Chudov progressed - and this is the main optimistic conclusion of the season. He still can not knock out a single target and run ahead of the engine. But in most cases, Maxim tried to approach the shooting rationally, at the optimum heart rate. At the World Cup, he won two medals - silver in the pursuit and gold in the relay. The latest award is compensation for the mistrust of coaches in Olympic Turin. Then Miracles greatly worried that he had not been selected for the quartet.
OPENING
Magdalena Neuner is the main star of modern biathlon. Her smile and spontaneity returned thousands of men who had long experienced the departure of another Liv-Grete Poiret prima to the television screens and stands. Bundestrener Uwe Mussigang, like everyone else, did not expect such agility from his ward: “I thought Magdalena would declare herself, but that way ... Honestly, he did not believe. And now I don’t believe it. ” Neuner celebrated Anterselva's 20th birthday. At such a tender age, no one made such a bright debut: three gold at the World Cup and five victories in Oberhof, Holmenkollen and Khanty-Mansiysk.
DISAPPOINTMENT
The Russian women's team in the absence of Olympic champions Albina Akhatova, Svetlana Ishmuratova and Olga Zaitseva, who recently had a son, was unable to present significant trump cards to Germans, French women, Norwegians and even Chinese women. The composition, assembled from the country on a string, turned out to be experimental - in both senses of the word. You can recall, of course, the success of Irina Malgina in Ostersund, the relay victories in Hochfilzen and Ruhpolding, but for some reason, failures at the World Cup, especially in the mixed relay, were stuck in my memory. In addition to the bronze of Natalia Guseva in the sprint, there is simply nothing to remember.
EVENT
Rafael Poiret and Ricco Gross completed their careers. Gone are the people who personified the biathlon of the 90s. Nostalgia - that’s what feeling will seize us at the start of next season. Low bow to veterans. Gross dreamed of reaching the World Cup and kept his promise, winning the bronze medal in the relay. Poiret gave a grand finishing touch, which included victories in Anterselva, Lahti and Holmenkollen.
TREND
The victorious tread of the Germans was not so noticeable until the New Year, when from time to time the reins of government took Olofsson and Grubben in their hands. But at the World Cup and until the end of the season on snowy tracks reigned exclusively wards Uwe Mussiganga. The old wolf did not fail, he led the team in a crazy form to the climax of the season, revealed Neuner to the world and psychologically reanimated after injuries Henkel and Glagov.
STAGE OF THE YEAR
Oberhof was the triumph of the Russian men's biathlon. What happened was what Vladimir Alikin had long dreamed of, who led the team on the eve of the season. If the Russians all year performed as brilliantly as on German tracks in the presence of 80 thousand spectators, then no Bjoerndalen would not have stood by.
RACE OF THE YEAR
Men's relay at the World Cup shed a balm for the soul of Russian biathlon lovers. Our guys won for the first time in seven years. If you do not take into account the victory in Lahti-2000, at the World Cup stage, where the relay race from the Norwegian Holmenkollen was transferred, then we did not know the big victories for eleven years.
QUOTE OF THE YEAR
“Alikin is our source of energy, like Red Bull. In past years, the team had a completely different atmosphere. Each has its own vector, and if they suddenly intersected, then conflicts arose immediately ... Alikin is an open and honest person, he will never do a dirty trick. He never complained that they did not pay him money, but that he received some 6,000 rubles. I ran cross-country with us ... Before, it happened, you go out to training with one thought: so that it ends soon. Everything is different with Alikin, ”world champion Dmitry Yaroshenko in an interview with PROport magazine revealed the methods of work of the head coach of the men's team Vladimir Alikin.
FIGURE OF THE YEAR
110 days - from November to March - the international season lasted. During this time, biathletes participated in nine stages of the World Cup and the World Cup, ran a total of 26 individual races and four relay races, wound more than 350 kilometers, crossed about a hundred firing lines and spent more than five hundred rounds on them.