Eliseev’s first medal, Kuklina’s progress and Malyshko’s failure: how Russian biathletes held the KM stage in Ostersund

Eliseev's breakthrough

Russian fans and experts waited with undisguised excitement for the start stage of the Biathlon World Cup, because it was extremely difficult to predict the state of the national team in Ostersund. The condition of the team leader Alexander Loginov, who had health problems before the start of the season, remained unknown. According to the athlete, 20 days before the first race, he could not push off his bed with his right hand due to severe pain.

And around the announcement of the composition of the women's national team of Russia, a scandal broke out at all. The thing is that Tamara Voronin did not get into him, who had an excellent qualifying start. But in the roster included not prepared with the team, but the experienced Irina Starykh. As a result, under pressure from the public, the composition was still changed, and the latter went to the IBU Cup, together with Ekaterina Glazyrina, who had served her suspension.

But for Voronina, the debut at the World Cup was extremely unsuccessful. She was immediately put on a supermix with Matvey Eliseev, and Tamara failed at the counter, earning four penalty laps. In the mixed relay, the Russians performed much more successfully. Ekaterina Yurlova-Percht and Svetlana Mironova did not go through their half of the race very well, but Loginov together with Dmitry Malyshko pulled the team to fourth position.

But the very first personal races in Ostersund showed that Russian biathletes are ready to fight for awards. Actually, in the sprint, Eliseev showed the third result, and Loginov was located in the final protocol after him. For the 26-year-old native of Zelenograd, everyone was especially happy, because already in the last season he showed good results, but before the awards he always lacked a little. And in the new he immediately won the long-awaited medal and demonstrated that he was ready to take on the burden of leadership in the team.

For men, not only Eliseev was pleased, but also Eduard Latypov. A native of Grodno had an excellent preparation for the season, and according to the coaches, he was ready to impose a competition on Loginov with Eliseev. In the first personal races, he could not prove it, taking 25th and 50th places, but in the relay he was pleased.

Latypov took the baton from Malyshko in the third stage, only eighth and a half minute behind the leader, but managed to create a miracle and returned the Russian team to the fight for medals, demonstrating along the way the strength of nerves. At the firing lines, Edward made only one mistake. The appearance of such a relay fighter in the team cannot but rejoice.

Kuklina's progress

A pleasant surprise in the person of Larisa Kuklina was presented by the women's team. Last season, the biathlete established herself as a good shooter, but not a very strong “runner”. In addition, she missed a lot of races due to illness and too much time, according to fans, devoted to social networks.

However, in Ostersund, Kuklina demonstrated that, like Latypov, she is perfectly ready for the season. If in the sprint she finished 18th with one miss, then she became fifth in the individual - this is the best result in personal KM races in her career.

And if Larisa’s excellent shooting was not a surprise, then the speed was pleasantly surprised. In this component, she lost only to the traditionally fastest team biathlete Svetlana Mironova.

Such results pushed the coaching staff to put Kuklina at the last stage of the relay, although he had previously been booked for by Ekaterina Yurlova-Perkht. Larisa did not disappoint even here, having made only one mistake and allowing the domestic quartet to gain a foothold in the top five.

Thus, the Russian team in Sweden proved to be an indisputably combat-ready unit. Eliseev won the first KM medal in his career, and Kuklin in the individual race from the victory was separated by only one miss. Loginov, despite health problems, twice hit the top 10 in personal races. This cannot but inspire confidence in anticipation of the second stage in Hochfilzen.

Missed chance of Babikov

However, there were some negative points for the team. Firstly, to put it mildly, experienced biathletes showed not the best readiness. In men, we are talking about Evgeny Garanichev and Dmitry Malyshko. Both failed to please the speed, and the latter also failed his stage in the men's relay race, drove into the penalty loop. In personal races Dmitry also did not win success - 58th and 39th places. Garanichev at least became the 11th in the individual, which inspired a certain optimism.

Unsuccessfully made in Ostersund and Anton Babikov, who still can’t get in the same form as three years ago, when he won the pursuit in the same Ostersund. This time, Anton received a quota for the stage only thanks to the victory in the IBU Cup, and did not take his chance.

In the sprint, the world champion took only 41st place, and in the individual race - a fairly high 14th. At the same time, Anton demonstrated perfect shooting, but missed Loginov and Garanichev forward, making two misses. After Babikov admitted his skiing “disgusting” and said that at such a speed “can not help” the team.

For women, the most experienced Yurlova-Perkht, who traditionally prepared for the season on her own, is far from ideal form. In Ostersund, she not only did not demonstrate high speed, but also made a large number of misses, especially on a problematic stand. However, Catherine knows very well how to gain perfect conditions, and therefore there is no doubt that in Hochfilzen she will look much better.

But Victoria Slivko, like Babikov who got to the KM thanks to the IBU Cup, is likely to set off to prepare for the Izhevsk rifle. The head coach of the women's team Vitaly Noritsyn said that the athlete should not be "buried" in this state. In the sprint, she became only 61st and then did not go to the start.

So far, young Nikita Porshnev and Kristina Reztsova have not pleased either. But both are likely to get a chance in Hochfilzen, especially since the first last season won the World Championship in the relay four. Surely Voronin will also remain in the main team, which not only debuted in the relay, but also quite successfully performed in personal races (29th in the sprint and 14th in the individual).