“History repeats itself - there is no result again”: Zaitseva on the problems of Russian biathletes and the specifics of coaching

- One of your mentors before the Olympics in Sochi, Pavel Rostovtsev, said that now two or three biathletes have appeared in each team, able to perform at a decent level, and the speed-strength training of athletes as a whole has become so high that it allows all these athletes to powerfully roll and jump. He emphasized that the limiting factor in biathlon is the aerobic capabilities of the body and these opportunities are very high among the leaders, because they train a lot - more than you did.

- Rostovtsev said everything very correctly: you need to train. I look at foreign biathletes and really see that they are all very tight. I won’t talk about Czech girls - so far I have the impression that they simply got into shape extremely well for this World Cup, but look at the others: American, Italian, and Norwegian have noticeably added. We have to work hard - that’s the whole secret.

We used to train a lot with Wolfgang Pichler when he was the head coach of the women's team. But now, over the years, I can admit that I personally needed to train even more. Wolfgang was absolutely right when he said that you can plow on me, but I resisted. It is clear that the work was complicated by various factors of my personal life, but this does not change the main thing. Perhaps those girls who are in the team now also think that they train a lot.

- The position of the current head coach of the national team Anatoly Khovantsev, if I’m not mistaken, has always been to not over-train, not to sort out the load.

- Yes, it is, but I honestly do not really understand this position. I really would not like to offend one of the coaches with my comments, but the same Khovantsev already had an unpleasant experience in 2011, when he was removed from the post of head coach of the women's team right during the relay race at the World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk . Indeed, the team did not have a result there, although even before the start of the tournament, all the girls who were in the first team at that time constantly said that the load was insufficient and it was completely unclear how we would compete in such a basic work.

Now, it seems, history is repeating itself - there is no result again. But I would rather ask questions not to athletes, but to coaches. It can be seen that some nonsense is happening in the team. And such things always affect athletes. They are asked questions in the media, but what can they answer?

- Apparently, the same thing that the coaches said after the pursuit race. That everyone pulled up their moves, they perfectly run with their feet, and that if Ekaterina Yurlova-Perkht and Svetlana Mironova missed not three times, but less ...

- Yes, but the same Galina Kuklina lost her legs in that race for more than a minute. And in the individual breaks in speed for all were large, despite the fact that in this discipline no one runs fast, everyone focuses on shooting. It’s hard for me to give any marks, being outside the team and not knowing how the work is built, but when I was running myself, losing the leader for more than 30 seconds was considered a bad move. In addition, a state of good shape is always not only a run, but also indicators at the turn. In this regard, I do not see any form in girls.

- Perhaps the coaches emphasized returning the course after the functional pit into which the athletes fell after the New Year?

- Maybe.

But I’m not ready to believe that losing with your feet per minute is cool. Anterselva is a rather difficult place, but our athletes actually need to know how to run here, how to approach the line. The individual race, as I said, is a fairly calm discipline: you took a certain speed, and go yourself at a measured pace, concentrate on shooting at the turn.

- President of the RBU Vladimir Drachev said that he considers the main task of the coaches to bring the athletes to the main start. And everything else, that is, the results during the season, is secondary. Do you agree?

- Here, I think, there is no single recipe. For example, I needed to get in shape through the starts, although I know that not all coaches see the need for a large number of appearances. I do not deny that you can pinpoint a biathlete to peak form once a season, but it seems to me that only a very adult and experienced athlete is able to very clearly analyze his own work and train in conjunction with a very professional trainer. Practicing this in the current Russian team is too much risk.

- Why do you think so?

- First of all, due to the fact that there are not many really experienced trainers. In other words, there are no people whom athletes would absolutely trust - just as we ourselves trusted Wolfgang Pichler and Pavel Rostovtsev. But this is only my opinion.

- Starting to work with the Russian team, Pichler reasoned as follows: “In biathlon it is impossible to appear from nowhere and suddenly“ shoot ”at the main start. “First of all, we need to develop a basic level and ensure that the“ thickness ”of this average level allows us to start fighting for a victory in the Nations Cup.” And when you took that cup, it was absolutely logical.

- So now everything is logical. If the team is preparing for the main start, as the president of the RRF says, and the main start is, as you know, the Olympic Games, then everything probably goes according to plan: the world championship is an ongoing stage, the team continues to work and gain experience. On one of the starts, everyone will run fast, on the other - they will shoot well, then somehow they will put it all together ...

- Wait! That is, do you think that the president of the RRF, when talking about the main start, did not mean the current World Cup, but the Olympic Games-2022?

- And what else to consider if in Anterselva we see such results? ..