The situation with the coronavirus pandemic somehow affected all sports, and biathlon was no exception. The honored trainer of Russia and the first mentor of Alexander Loginov, Ekaterina Khaliullina, was hospitalized in Saratov due to suspected COVID-19. Together with her, her daughter, the world champion among juniors Anastasia Khaliullina, got to the hospital. However, the diagnosis was not confirmed.
According to the expert, two weeks ago the athlete with her young man returned from the cup competitions in Austria and immediately went to quarantine so as not to put others at risk. They were in the same apartment with their mother, so both had to take tests.
“We honestly self-isolated in one apartment and called the clinic. We complied with the quarantine, as it should be - three bags of garbage on the balcony as a proof, we even could not stand it. I bought food, then something else friends brought to us under the door, ”Haliullina quotes as“ Glance-info ”.
The first tests did not give a definite result, then a decision was made about hospitalization. A second test was taken at the hospital, which gave a negative result.
Later, the biathlete herself reported that she was in the hospital by mistake.
“In connection with the current situation, I inform you: I am not sick with the coronavirus! Due to the carelessness of the doctor, they took me to the hospital on suspicion. But the tests came in negative, ”wrote Khaliullina.
Information about the hospitalization of Khaliullina was confirmed by the president of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) Vladimir Drachev. He said that in accordance with the decree of the authorities, after arriving from Austria, the whole team went to quarantine until March 31. In this case, the symptoms of the disease appeared only in Khaliullina. She had a sore throat and fever, which, however, subsequently subsided.
Nevertheless, the SBR does not plan to conduct additional surveys of the remaining members of the team.
“They are in different places, so there is nothing to be afraid of. There are four more days, we are waiting for the quarantine to end, and then we will take some necessary measures if someone else falls ill, ”TASS quotes Dracheva.
The adult team, which has returned to Russia after the final stage of the World Cup from the Finnish Kontiolahti, is currently in quarantine. Athletes continue to train, go jogging, while observing safety precautions. The President of the RRF emphasized that biathletes are monitored by doctors and measure temperature twice a day.
At the same time, he did not rule out that soon they still have to resort to isolation and, accordingly, switch to the self-training mode.
“In connection with the coronavirus, everything can change. A month ago there was one situation, now it’s different. It is not even clear whether there will be the April training camp, which we would like to hold before the athletes go on vacation. It is not clear how to carry them out. Maybe everyone will go to self-training and everyone will work at home. There are more questions than answers, ”Drachev explained.
The vice-president of the RBU, Valery Polkhovsky, also expressed doubt that the team training will be held on time. He said that the organization’s representatives are constantly in touch with both athletes and their mentors.
“There are such advanced guys who, without leaving home, can work in the gym. Loginov, for example. Evgeny Garanichev also does this. In general, we are talking with all athletes about keeping fit, so that at least some kind of activity is conducted. Of course, maybe someone is violating. But most athletes, I think, comply with all requirements. There is no need to joke with this matter, ”RIA Novosti quoted Polkhovsky as saying.
Due to the situation with coronavirus, the financial component of many sports also suffers, many teams are going to reduce salaries. However, the SBR assured that they would do everything possible to deal with this problem.
“Still, the main salaries of athletes and coaches are financed by the Ministry of Sports, the Center for Sports Training and the regions, so everything can affect only specialists who receive salaries in the RRF. There are not so many of them, so we will try to ensure that everything remains in the same direction, ”added Drachev.
Following the example of colleagues from other sports, some biathletes urge fans to be careful about their own health and not violate the instructions of the authorities and doctors. So, Anton Shipulin showed by his example that even in quarantine it is important to play sports, and Olga Podchufarovala complained about the irresponsible attitude of fellow citizens to the epidemic.
View this Instagram post
Posted by Anton Shipulin (@anton_shipulin) Mar 24, 2020 at 2:22 am PDT
“Today there were more people than on any average Sunday. It feels like everyone goes out to breathe "for the last time." Even yesterday’s ban does not stop some citizens. On the one hand, they can be understood, on the other hand, such a lack of civic responsibility, obviously, will spill out in a week into something more serious: there is a dumb feeling that the week of “holidays” will end up with the announcement of an emergency, ”the biathlete wrote on Instagram.