"The decision was expected": IBU announced the postponement of sprint races at the stage of the CM on biathlon in Canmore

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) two hours before the men's sprint race in Canmore announced the reschedule of the competition.

"The Commission decided that the men's and women's sprint races today will not take place," - said in a statement on the official Twitter-account IBU.

At the moment, the IBU has not announced when the above starts will take place. Given the fact that the World Cup schedule is quite tight, it is possible that the races will have to be canceled. Expand the timing of the stage is extremely difficult, because already February 14, athletes have to go to the start of the sprint race in the American Salt Lake City.

The decision of the organizers was supported by the head coach of the national team of Norway, Siegfried Maze. According to him, the IBU did it for the sake of the athletes.

“The truly correct decision of the IBU to cancel today's races. It will protect the health of athletes. Sorry Canmore, who put a lot of effort to prepare this event. Canada, see you! ”Wrote Maze on his Twitter page.

As for the stage in Canmore, then it can already be called a contender for the title of the most problematic biathlon stage of the current season. In February, the Canadian city traditionally faces severe frosts, which could not but affect the competition.

From the very first days of the championship, the organizers were forced to make adjustments to the program. In particular, they had to conduct individual races in an abbreviated format: for men, the distance was 15 km (instead of 20 km), and for women - 12.5 km (instead of 15 km). However, this hardly helped the athletes, who were forced to desperately fight the cold. Some of them had to use hand warmers, others - to glue the face with a plaster.

But the main problems of the organizers were connected with the final rounds of the stage. Initially, it was planned to hold two mass starts, but subsequently the management decided to replace them with less extensive sprint races. It was planned that they would take place on Saturday, February 9, but due to severe frosts (the temperature in Canmore fell below -25 C) it was decided to postpone them on Sunday. But during the day, the situation did not change dramatically, so the organizer had to postpone the start again.

It is worth noting that in addition to difficult weather conditions, Russian athletes had to go through difficulties of a different nature. So, shooting skiers were forced to prepare for competitions without rifles. Due to problems with the permission to import weapons, they were temporarily detained in Los Angeles, and fell into the hands of athletes only a day before the individual race. However, this did not prevent them from performing quite successfully. Alexander Loginov, who won the bronze award, was especially distinguished.

"The transfer of sprint races tells about the level of organization"

According to the double Olympic champion in biathlon Dmitry Vasilyev, such slips at the World Cup stage speak about the level of organization of competitions. He also shared his opinion on the expediency of the visit to Canada of the leader of the men's Russian team Alexander Loginov, and expressed his opinion on how such difficulties may affect the form of the Norwegian Johannes Be.

- Transfer of sprint races of the World Cup stage in Canmore came as a surprise to you?

“Given the meteorologists' disappointing forecasts, this IBU decision was expected. The transfer of sprint races indicates the level of organization of the stage. She leaves much to be desired. Tournament management should know what the weather is like in Canmore in early February, and suggest moving this competition to a later period.

- There is a chance that the races will take place on Monday?

If the weather conditions allow to hold these races tomorrow, then everything is possible. But it is better to take care of athletes, because ahead of the world championship. Those who put these stages on the eve of the primacy of the planet absolutely do not think about athletes. Those risk of getting sick before the main start of the season.

- Is it advisable to organize the World Cup in North America just before the World Cup?

- Frankly, there is no need to carry out the North American stages in anticipation of the championship of the planet. It is worthwhile to develop biathlon in this region after the main start of the season. Competitions have been held there for many years, but no positive changes can be traced: everything is faint, inconspicuous. And fans are looking for it on the Internet. This is not the level of modern biathlon. Even the IBU Cup in Europe is organized on a larger scale.

- Given all the difficulties, was it worth Alexander Loginov to go to Canada?

- Loginov is fighting for the second position in the overall standings of the World Cup. Under these conditions, his trip to the Canmore stage is reasonable. In this case, long journeys, the need to get used to another time zone seriously affect the condition of the athlete. No wonder even Martin Fourcade did not go to Canada. But it is worth noting that the Russian team appeared at the tournament in the experimental structure. Therefore, there is no need to blame the coaches. Most of the leaders remained in Europe.

- The tournament in Canmore has already brought a lot of inconvenience to athletes. Should we expect that this may affect the state of the overall World Cup leader Johannes Bö?

- This season Johannes is unlikely to be able to interfere. It is evident that he is on the rise. When a biathlete is in great shape, he is not afraid of any difficulties. At such moments you run and enjoy. I think at the World Championships he will perform just as successfully. Now is his time.