Cartridge problems and a successful experiment in the men's relay: how did the KM biathlon stage in Oberhof develop for Russia

Unsuccessful new cartridges and 21 miss in the mass start

At the last two stages of the World Cup, the Russian biathlon team invariably experienced any problems. In Annecy, before the New Year and Christmas holidays, it was a bad ski job, and in Oberhof, domestic athletes could not cope with shooting in a strong wind.

Competitions in Thuringia are traditionally unpredictable due to difficult weather conditions and strong winds. This year was no exception. Practically during all races, the flags at the shooting range almost broke the flagpoles, and everyone missed. However, the Russians sinned with inaccuracy beyond measure.

This is especially true for women. In Oberhof, it was possible to accurately shoot only once - Larisa Kuklina in the relay. All the others left a large number of targets unclosed. In the same relay, the Russians in the absence of sick Yekaterina Yurlova-Perkht used 14 additional cartridges and only miraculously did not go to the penalty circles. This did not allow the team to rise above seventh place.

The mass start was the apotheosis, in which Kuklina and Svetlana Mironova did not close the 21 targets for two and took the last two places. The reasons for such an unsuccessful shooting were told by the coach of the women's team Leonid Guryev. According to him, the new cartridges are to blame for everything.

“I immediately said that something was wrong with them, they did not“ hold ”the wind at all. But we chose the best of what was, and came out with these cartridges. We will somehow get out of this situation. Everyone expects a result from us, but this is just a major failure. When we check the cartridges, there are no wind indicators. I always explain with an airplane that weighs 55 tons. He enters the clouds at a height, and he begins to shake. And here is a bullet weighing 5-6 grams, ”the Match TV specialist quotes.

RBU President Vladimir Drachev noted that in the near future the situation could change for the better. Allegedly, at present, there is a development of bullets that will better "hold" the wind.

“Guryev talked about the Olympus cartridges that we are currently working with Rostec and TsNIITochmash, they have already provided us with several batches of completely new cartridges. We are now working on our own, which will have to replace the German ones, they "hold" the wind very well - the speed of the bullet is slightly lower, and due to the fact that its "tail" is not so large, it blows not so much. We have been working with TsNIITochmash for a year and a half, this year we got the first batch, shot them in Tyumen, everyone liked it. We hope that, if not this year, then in the next we will definitely switch to Russian cartridges, ”TASS quoted Drachev as saying.

It is hoped that soon the problem with ammunition will be resolved, and the Russians will already demonstrate much more successful shooting in Ruhpolding. However, there is no such strong wind there. And it cannot be said that domestic biathletes sin by poor shooting. In the same Annecy they did not have such problems. There are recognized shooters in our team, such as Kuklina, whose 11 misses in the mass start at Oberhof are especially shocking. So in all, apparently, it is really worth blaming a new batch of cartridges and especially a strong wind.

Indeed, in Oberhof, everyone made mistakes at the shooting range. For example, the leader of the World Cup overall classification and the current trophy winner Dorothea Wierer in the relay race went into two penalty laps. And Tarja Be at the last firing line of the mass start completely closed only one of the five targets.

Weak running and waiting for the grinder

But the problem with skiing, it seems, can only be solved with the purchase of a grinding machine. This means that in warm weather, Russians will still show extremely modest results. In Oberhof, the first races took place in heavy rain and in positive weather. The organizers even had to shorten the circle, because the usual configuration of the track did not have enough snow, which was melting before our eyes.

Under the current conditions, Russians turned out to be uncompetitive. In the sprint, their “legs” lag amounted to more than a minute. And on an unsuccessful note, Irina Starykh, who returned to the national team, lost almost two on the move. In the mass start, the situation has not improved. Mironova in skiing showed the 26th result among 30 participants (+1: 43.9), and Kuklina - 29th (+2: 11.3).

Men have a better situation. Moreover, the sprint race turned out to be rather optimistic, because Matvey Eliseev took the fourth place, and Alexander Loginov - the fifth. However, the very Matvey, who shot cleanly, let Emilien Jacqueline and Johannes Kun miss those who missed, and after the finish he got to his feet with great difficulty. The condition of the athlete was so poor that the coaching staff decided not to risk his health and did not put Eliseev in the relay. I missed it because of problems with my elbow and Login.

As regards the acquisition of a grinding machine, the head coach of the national team, Anatoly Khovantsev, said that this issue is being resolved, but it is not yet clear who will work on it. In turn, the vice president of the RBU Sergey Chepikov noted that such a specialist, trained in Italy, has already been hired.

Relay fourth and Khalili debut

If we talk about the positive moment of the stage for the Russian team, then it became the fourth place of the men's relay four, obtained in the experimental composition. The company, Eduard Latypov, who recently made his debut in the national team, was traditionally experiencing relay races, Yevgeny Garanichev, recent debutant Nikita Porshnev and 21-year-old Said Karimulla Khalili.

As a result, the national team not only failed, but until the very last fought for medals. Only a slip Latypova at the last frontier prevented the quartet from competing for bronze. But the team lost in the end only to recognized leaders: Norway, France and Germany. True, the whole three prize-winners ran two penalty laps. The Russians did without them and took only nine additional rounds, which in conditions of strong winds was an excellent result. Only Romanians who made eight misses were better shot.

It is gratifying that the absolute debutant and yesterday's junior Khalili did not get lost in the relay. A talented biathlete gradually went to participate in the World Cup, and this season began at the IBU Cup. But in January he was called to the main team. In the sprint, Karim showed only the 62nd result, and the very next day he was forced to run the baton, and he was put on the first stage.

Khalili was not at a loss and made only one mistake. True, the young athlete had problems with speed and he “brought” to Garanichev a relay gap of 22 seconds on the relay. However, Karima is still worth praising. His sports career is just beginning, and the men's team can get a strong biathlete for many years.