MOSCOW, April 12, Svetlana Bonopartova. Three-time Olympic bronze medalist Games Eduard Latypov believes that Russian athletes in a couple of years will be able to get good equipment and will not depend on foreign companies.
In the 2022/23 season, Russian and Belarusian biathletes missed international starts due to the decision of the Congress of the International Biathlon Union (IBU). During the season, some biathletes complained about the difficulties with the equipment.
“We are experiencing difficulties with inventory, if there are domestic companies, it will be good. So far they do not reach the level of international companies, but there is already a prospect. I think that in a couple of years we will be able to get good inventory and not depend on anyone” , — said Latypov at a press conference at the MMPC MIA «Russia Today».
«At the beginning of the season, we were faced with the fact that some ski brands left our market and not all skiers of the national team received the necessary amount of equipment. We decided to try to cooperate with a domestic company. We purchased 550 pairs of skis, 10 for each region on test. The first pancake was not lumpy. But we still need to continue this work. The company sets itself the task that our skiers use their equipment. We have been discussing for a long time that it might be worth holding competitions on the same skis and on the same paraffin. This is very important in order to get objective information,» said the head of the Russian Biathlon Union Viktor Maigurov.