MOSCOW, April 1, Vasily Bogdanov.Four-time Olympic champion in biathlon Alexander Tikhonov, in a conversation with, criticized the president of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) Viktor Maigurov for the idea to invite the Norwegian Ole Einar Bjorndalen to work in the Russian team. situation, the idea had to be abandoned. «Talents are not made, but born. It is not so often that athletes of the level of Bjoerndalen, Marten Fourcade and even Tikhonov appear. 56 countries are engaged in biathlon, but we observe competition among three or four. There were times when the Germans or Norwegians failed , we have been in the lead for many years, we have won the relay six Olympics in a row, but the talents are gone, and for 14 years it has been a failure, only one gold medal for Alexander Loginov, and at the same time I do not hear a single balanced proposal on how to overcome this crisis. I've been tormented by the media all season asking for my opinion on this or that statement.Why did all these problems happen? we are because of sanctions and doping, why were we driven from everywhere? Apparently, they are simply not able to lead biathlon,» Tikhonov said. «Before making such a statement, it would be worth asking Bjoerndalen himself if he is ready to do this. In no case do I take credit for myself, but there were no stars in my team, and we still achieved results. Now, with such a large amount of infrastructure, there is nothing like it — four or five Belarusians come to us and everyone wins, with which I congratulate them. And ours should be ashamed! Even if you call Bjoerndalen, even though Fourcade, we don’t have competitive athletes now. Maybe they want to divert attention in this way. What can I say, if the work of Mikhail Shashilov is recognized as satisfactory, this is not a normal phenomenon. We have 14 universities where coaches should be trained, but we don't see them. In all sports, we invite foreigners, and the state continues to spend money,» the source added.
