News and disappointments of the season in Russian biathlon, what is wrong with skiing, where did the sectarians come from why the International Biathlon Union (IBU) does not like Russia so much and the real prospects of missing four Olympics at once. Sports commentator Dmitry Guberniev — about the main results of the winter season for Sport.
Kaminsky is the best coach in Russian biathlon
The season was long, unusual, but very productive. Now we got a lemon, remembering Dale Carnegie. And we tried to make lemonade out of it. Athletes are great fellows, they competed honestly and were looking for motivation. The SBR did their best to see the competition on TV, to meet us halfway. At the same time, the season exposed a huge number of problems. Girls and boys are very far behind in the rate of fire. At the same time, they are all trying, we see the progress of Noskova, Kaplina. Lisa ran at the leader level for most of the season, but in the end she just got tired.Kazakevich pleased in the last race, but she performed poorly all year. An athlete of this level should be at the top. At the World Cup, she might not have made it to the main team at all, except maybe the sixth number. Irina is in great demand as an Olympic medalist. Natalia Shevchenko became the opening of the season. I will praise Shashilov, Zagursky and the husband of the athlete. Three golds at the Russian Championship is a huge achievement.
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However, it needs to be developed. But we are already regressing, the task is to minimize the risks. The coaches did a great job, and the best, in my opinion, was Yuri Mikhailovich Kaminsky. With all due respect to our other mentors, it was Kaminsky who showed that he is still a great master of preparation for the main competitions. His group, of course, has problems with shooting, but, nevertheless, people were very high.There is someone to sculpt a team. Legends are made up how Yemerkhonov flashed Khalili in one of the mass starts. Kaminsky is a ready contender for the position of head coach in Russian biathlon. It is striking that people prepared under unequal conditions. Shashilov's group, for example, has been in the mountains several times, but Katya Noskova has never been there. I don’t really understand why Shashilov did this, because we didn’t go anywhere anyway and won’t go anywhere in the near future.
I am very worried about Khalili, whom I treat with tenderness and sympathy. In fact, Karim is driving a wheelbarrow for the third consecutive season. Even winning the Cup of Russia happened largely due to the large number of races in which he participated, while others missed starts. Apparently, Karim is having a hard time accepting new coaches. I think he would not be mistaken with leaving Kaminsky, without detracting from the merits of the brilliant coaches Istomin and Noritsyn.I agree with Maigurov, who invites skiers to biathlon, let them have no doubts. Biathlon has a different level of popularity, media coverage and goodwill compared to skiing. Athletes and RBU officials understand the importance of media work. I have something to compare. The chief judge of the Russian Ski Championship in Tyumen said how well we lived without you. I clarified who he meant, and he replied that without television and biathlon when Noskova arrived.
Even if the IOC makes a decision softening the criteria for the admission of our athletes, the federations will decide for themselves. Surely there will be many boycotts that they will not be able to ignore. I do not really like the expression of the NATO countries, but it is they who will in every possible way prevent our return. At the same time, if a number of countries speak out against us in skiing and biathlon, then no one says anything about Russian players in the NHL. Where big uncles do business, everyone becomes champions in the «silent-silent» section. The same applies to Anna Vyakhireva, who quietly plays for a club from Norway.
Russia may miss four Olympics at once
We see that everything is very good in the IBU without Russia. Contact with them is minimal. Although I know that the athletes themselves are quite sympathetic towards us, I'm talking about Italians and Germans, in particular. As I understand it, they were not against the return of the Russians. In general, I'm afraid that we will have to miss not two, but four Olympics at once. I don't see any light at all.
Yes, we were admitted to taekwondo, fencing, but in general everything is very sad. Okay boxing, there is our president. In fencing countries refuse to hold competitions with our athletes. It was a demonstrative gesture, called putting on a good face for a bad game. It remains to try to stop the regression of Russian sports. Don't hope for the miracle that some people in biathlon and skiing talk about. It's funny to read such statements.
Traveling around Russia has its charms. We are organizing a big movement in biathlon. Of course, I miss the World Cups, but I do not grieve and develop in a variety of projects, not only sports ones. For me, this is also a time of challenges, I wish everyone to move forward.