ANTHOLTS (Italy), January 20, Alexander Govorov. Russian biathlete Karim Khalili called third place in the individual race at the seventh World Cup in Antholz one of the best results in his career. Khalili, who is 23 years old, took the podium in an individual race at the World Cup for the first time in his career. The victory was won by his compatriot Anton Babikov, who did not allow a single miss on four firing lines and covered a distance of 20 kilometers in 49 minutes 46.8 seconds. Khalili lost 48.5 seconds to Babikov with one miss. Second place went to the Norwegian Tarja Boe (2 misses, +9.7 seconds). «Based on the result, this race is perhaps the best in my career. And, as far as I understand, it will be the only one in Antholz for me. Then I begin full preparation to the Olympics. In principle, I have already started it. The day before yesterday I had a strength training session, after which everything hurts terribly. As expected, today I felt «heavy». But I thought that due to fatigue I would lose much more than I managed to run and cope with the shooting,” Khalili told reporters. “During the prone there was a strong gust of wind, but I managed it. And when it passed, I made a mistake with the last shot on the third line. it was very unpleasant because of this. As for the general condition, somewhere after the third lap I felt heaviness in the muscles, which occurs just in such an acclimatization period. On the last lap, I ran well, I managed to endure, but in the middle I covered it. and Tarja Boe shot, then I basically understood how the situation was. Well, the coaches also suggested it,» the Russian biathlete added. Khalili also congratulated Babikov on his victory. «Of course, I'm happy for Anton. He shot four milestones to zero, won. Cool result. What's next for coaches? You should ask them about it,» Khalili said.
