Gold in the sprint and bronze in the pursuit race not only made Alexander Loginov the most successful biathlete at the world championship in Anterselva at the moment, but also provided another opportunity for ill-wishers to recall his past, in which there is a two-year suspension for violating anti-doping rules.

However, if some still criticize Loginov for that episode in his career, while others prefer to remain silent (for example, Martin Fourcade, who was angry three years ago with a Russian for not wanting to shake his hand), then still others sincerely support the Russian. So, German Denise Herrmann, convicted of using a prohibited drug in 2007, said that she perfectly understands Alexander. She hoped that he had learned a lesson from the mistakes of the past.

“Loginov had a great sprint and was the best in this race. His gold medal is the achievement of the present, not the past. Yes, Alexander has an unpleasant story behind him: in my opinion, he returned to sports after disqualification just in that year, when I went to biathlon. I know for myself how difficult it is to pursue a career when you know what you have done in the past, ”Herrmann said in an interview with Match TV.

There is an opposite point of view. After the triumph of Loginov in the first individual race at the World Cup, several foreigners at once, including the Boe brothers and the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson, said that Loginov had no place in the World Cup.

However, it is worth noting that subsequently the opinion of some of them softened. Johannes Boe explained that under pressure from media representatives, an athlete sometimes speaks too sharply on a particular acute topic. In his opinion, the Russian sprint rightfully got the gold of the sprint, since he successfully acted both on the track and at the firing lines.

“Now it’s hard for him, because (like all other athletes) he is clean, but when he wins, everyone thinks about doping. I believe that Alexander is a good athlete and, if he didn’t have this story, he could be number one in the world, which he showed, ”quoted TASS, Jr.

Nevertheless, many in Russia were outraged by unjustified criticism of the newly minted champion. Well-known commentator Dmitry Guberniev admitted that he was upset by such statements. He called on sports officials and journalists who deliberately foster a negative atmosphere around Russia to pay attention to their own problems.

“This suggests that the Norwegians do not know how to hold the blow. We will take them warm. Let them hate us, and we will defeat them in the relay. Loginov should not be at the world championship? Who decided this at all? Johannes or Tarja? Hello Tarja! Sasha has two personal medals, and so far you have only overall success in the mixed relay race, ”Guberniev wrote on his blog.

In turn, the vice-president of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) Valery Polkhovsky expressed confidence that attacks from opponents would not affect Loginov’s mood. According to him, the athlete has a strong character and is able to abstract from negativity.

“Before the World Cup in the men's biathlon, there was such a situation that the two teams - the Norwegians and the French, which dominate - already shared the medals among themselves. But Loginov intervenes, who adjusted the preparation. First of all, it was emotions. Now we see a completely different attitude, ”quoted Match Polkhovsky as quoted by Polkhovsky.

Simple fans also stood up to protect Loginov. Several biathletes immediately admitted that they regularly receive negative comments in their address from Russian-speaking users of social networks. According to Samuelsson, he even had to close the comments in his account.

“The Russians think that I’m attacking Loginov, and he deserves to be here and compete like the others. They write that Loginov is the best, and I am the worst. Have I been threatened? Russian is a very complex language, but from what I saw, I can’t call anything a serious threat, ”the Championship quotes Samuelsson.

The senior noted that such a situation has become familiar to them. According to him, because of their statements, Norwegian biathletes are especially popular in Russia.

“We saw a lot of comments on Instagram. But it's just great. In the end, this is only part of the game. We work in the entertainment industry. We also need to protect our interests. Comments do not affect me. Peter Northug (Norwegian skier. - RT ) was also called a pig, and he answered very well. We can also answer, ”said Tarje.

His younger brother expressed a similar position.

"Nothing new. To some extent, this goes to the personal level, but, as public people, we must defend our point of view. Of course, the Russians support their own. They need to be allowed to do this. They are free to write comments on social networks, ”added Johannes.

The words of the Norwegian team partners were also confirmed by Vetle Szostad Kristiansen, who, however, “gets it” for a different reason. In 2018, he jokingly published on Instagram his photo in a T-shirt with the image of Vladimir Putin.

“Once I put on a T-shirt with a portrait of Putin as a joke - they really didn’t like it. Then I received hundreds of threatening emails. In a sense, we are already accustomed to this, we perceive it with the right amount of irony. Russia in this sense is no different from Norway - we also have a lot of “trolls” on the Internet, ”Kristiansen told the Dagbladet portal.

Unlike the Boe brothers, Christiansen refrained from criticizing Loginov. In his opinion, the Russian deservedly received the sprint gold medal.