Perfect shooting, hitting the mass start and being ready for the relay: how Khalili became the shadow hero of the Biathlon World Cup

The undisputed hero of the individual race was the Norwegian Sturla Legrade, who won his second gold medal at his debut World Championship.

But if his successes were quite expected, then the performance of Said Karimullah Khalili became an even greater sensation.

The 22-year-old Russian, who has also never competed at this level, finished sixth and showed the best result in the men's team.

Khalili started one of the last, under the 96th number, when the race was coming to an end and it was already difficult to expect significant changes in the top ten.

But the native of Sergiev Posad, near Moscow, managed to introduce intrigue.

He shot exactly at every firing line and climbed first to 18th place, then to sixth, and then to fourth.

As a result, he closed the first six and took part in an extended awards ceremony.

After the race, the athlete admitted that his good emotional state helped to perform this way.

“Good achievement.

At the European Championships, I also managed to shoot four zeros.

At the moment it's not bad for me - sixth place.

I rode three laps, generally blissed out.

Thanks to the Ukrainian team, I was sitting behind Artyom Prima, Dima Pidruchny.

Then the guys left, I had to stretch myself, and it became heavier.

When I came to the line, everything was so good emotionally that I managed to calmly shoot.

After each milestone I received information.

Probably only after the third no.

The coaches didn’t say the position, I understood: they didn’t want me to turn on, so that jitters appeared.

But I understood that I was in fifth or sixth positions and tried to treat it as a good training session, ”Khalili said on Match TV.

Except for Khalili, only four athletes managed to close all targets.

Legrade and the German Arnd Peiffer, such shooting brought gold and silver.

Swede Peppe Femling and Czech Milan Zemlichka with 20 hits were much lower than the Russian and did not make it into the top ten.

Khalili's move also did not shine and took 32nd place in net time at the distance, but he still turned out to be better than the leaders of the Russian national team Alexander Loginov and Matvey Eliseev, and 1.3 seconds lost to Evgeny Garanichev.

For Khalili, clean shooting at four firing lines is not something extraordinary.

He already shot all the targets last season in the Kontiolahti World Cup Pursuit.

Then it helped the young Russian to rise from 42nd place to 25th - before arriving in Pokljuka, this was the best result of a biathlete near Moscow in cup competitions.

This year, Khalili also got into the so-called "Zero Club" - an unspoken list of biathletes who did not allow a single miss in the race.

This happened at the European Championships in the Polish city of Duszniki-Zdroj, where he had to prove himself in order to get a trip to the main start of the season.

Khalili shot to zero in the individual race, which no one else could do except him.

True, as now, this did not help the 22-year-old athlete to rise to the podium.

He finished only fourth, losing 18 seconds in the bronze medal dispute to Norwegian Endre Strömschem, who had two penalties.

In the sprint, Khalili was also unmistakable and took second place.

Now Khalili has a chance to compete in the men's relay, where getting to the podium should be easier than in the individual race.

The 22-year-old biathlete already has relevant experience.

Last season, he was involved in the relay quartet and managed to prove himself from the best side.

In the competition in Oberhof, Khalili ran in the first stage and lost only 22 seconds with one penalty.

Then, in Nové Mesto, he did a little feat.

Khalili was entrusted with the role of the finisher, and he raised the team from sixth place to fourth.

At the same time, he never needed additional cartridges.

More recent examples of Khalili's performance in team races are also available, albeit not at the level of the World Cup.

At the IBU Cup stage and at the European Championships, he did not allow himself more than one mistake and tried to bring maximum benefit to the team.

Now, when the usual team starter Matvey Eliseev not only does not show high-quality shooting, but also loses a lot, Khalili claims this role much brighter.

In particular, the former coach of the Russian national team Anatoly Khovantsev agrees with this.

“Khalili can withstand the relay in a functional sense, he only had one race.

As a shooter, Karim is reliable.

Taking into account all the nuances, I would put Khalili in the second or third stage.

At the first stage, there will be a choice between Garanichev or Eliseev, choose between them.

Latypov and Loginov, of course.

Eduard, of course, to the last stage, "Khovantsev said to the Championship.

Even if the coaches prefer a more conservative line-up for the relay, the world championship is not over for Khalili.

He guaranteed himself participation in the mass start, showing the best result in personal races among the Russians.

The 22-year-old will be the youngest competitor since the overall start at the World Championships since 2019, when 20-year-old Swede Sebastian Samuelsson competed for the medal.

Khalili literally jumped into the last car of the departing train - out of 15 biathletes selected according to the results in personal races, he took fourth place from the end. For this he only had one race. Together with Khalili, Eliseev, Loginov and Latypov passed the selection - the Russian national team has not had such a representation in the mass start since 2013. It will be difficult to wait for a personal medal from a world championship debutant, but on Sunday he will have to run a shorter distance, so he will lose less on the move than in the individual race, and with accurate shooting he will be able to leave a good impression of himself again.