MOSCOW, January 22, Pavel Levkovich. The Russian women's biathlon team should not allow penalty circles in the relay race, at the Olympics, opponents of such mistakes as those made at the World Cup stage in Antholz will not be forgiven, said two-time Olympic champion Dmitry Vasiliev. On Saturday, the Russian team consisting of Valeria Vasnetsova, Kristina Reztsova, Irina Kazakevich and Ulyana Nigmatullina took second place in the relay in Antholz. The Russians used 12 extra rounds. At the third stage, Kazakevich, who was in the lead in the race, left for three additional laps after shooting from a standing position. «There is nothing to do at the Olympics with such a penalty as Kazakevich had. Opponents will no longer give such gifts, they simply will not forgive. We will assume that that we were forgiven. My opinion on Irina was voiced even at the qualifying starts. Then she performed completely ugly, but they took her to the World Cup stages and still carry her. But I really sympathize with Kazakevich, she is a capable athlete, she needs to be trained correctly. If she was taken to the Olympics, so something needs to be done about it. The main thing is not to let Shashilov place the athletes on the relay himself. It's time for the management to get involved,» Vasiliev said. He noted that silver with so many penalties for the Russian team is a phenomenal result . “Silver with such a catastrophic fine should be entered in the record book. I don’t remember that with such a position the team won silver. Moreover, the gap from the first place is not so big. But it’s all thanks to Kristina Reztsova and Uliana Nigmatullina, they went through their stages perfectly «, — concluded Vasiliev.
