The visit of the doping officers to Kuklina and the inclusion of Khalili in the relay: what happened on the day of rest at the Biathlon World Cup

This weekend, the Biathlon World Championships will end with relay races and mass starts.

The coaching staff announced the lineups for the team races.

The women did not have any surprises, and the same four who mined gold at the KM stage in Anterselva will perform: Evgenia Pavlova, Tatyana Akimova, Svetlana Mironova and Ulyana Kaisheva.

The fans' questions were raised only by the choice in favor of Pavlova, who on Thursday directly stated that her physical condition was not the best.

But the senior coach of the women's national team, Mikhail Shashilov, assured that the athlete did not complain about anything.

“Pavlova said that she feels fine, she will fight.

If an athlete feels insecure, then he can refuse, but if he does not, then he must go out and fight.

They are fighting for Russia, not for themselves, ”Shashilov said.

But in the composition of the men's four in comparison with Anterselva, there was one replacement.

The place of the experienced Anton Babikov, who failed the sprint and pursuit, was taken by the young debutant of the World Cup Karim Khalili, who came sixth in an individual.

He will be accompanied by Matvey Eliseev, Alexander Loginov and Eduard Latypov. 

Experts made this decision of the coaching staff ambiguously.

So, two-time Olympic champion Dmitry Vasiliev considered him a mistake and stressed that it was necessary to put Babikov. 

“You never know that he ran 20 km, in terms of dynamics it is a completely different race: calm, verified, there is no contact struggle.

Just because a person ran 20 km well, putting him on the baton, of course, is a mistake.

Yes, maybe Babikov is not in his best shape now, but it is important to put a reliable shooter here, and Anton does a good job at the first stage, so he had to be put in.

Since our coaches look back at public opinion, they are afraid that they will be criticized there.

If this is really so, then these specialists, in principle, do not need to lead anything, but to sit quietly in the region and train, best of all, children, for which no one will criticize them at all ", - quotes Vasilyev Sport-Express ...

In turn, the former head coach of the Russian national team Anatoly Khovantsev called the composition of the team for the men's relay optimal.

“As for Khalili at the first stage, I don't think it's risky.

He must cope with shooting.

The first stage will not be crazy in speed, everyone will start working on a bench, 100%, they will go moderately, and after the rack they will go to sort it out.

As for the composition of the women's team, I have a question about Pavlova, because she walked weakly on Thursday.

Where she was supposed to shoot, she didn't.

But here it will be necessary not only to shoot, but also to run, since the segments are longer.

In this situation, I think that Larisa Kuklina could be put on the first stage, Larisa shoots well.

But in general, the women's team is not so much fun with the first stage now, ”Sport24 quotes Khovantsev.

Meanwhile, for Kuklina, who did not get into the relay, the day was not set from the very beginning.

At six in the morning, doping officers came to her room.

“Where do you think I am again?

Last time it was seven in the morning, today they came at six.

Have a nice day and good mood everyone.

And I wanted so much to sleep ... But the doping control had other plans for my sleep, ”the athlete said in her Instagram.

And Svetlana Mironova and Irina Kazakevich now do not live with the team at all.

The first to announce this was the commentator and journalist Dmitry Guberniev.

According to him, they moved from the Pokljuka mountains to a lower altitude in Bled at their own expense.

Later, the head coach of the national team Valery Polkhovsky confirmed this.

“Mironova and Kazakevich moved to another place, now they are based not at a height, but a little lower.

They decided with Mikhail Shashilov that it would be better this way.

Everything has been agreed with the IBU, since they need to be notified of relocations in connection with the situation with the coronavirus, ”the R-Sport specialist quotes.

And if the RBU does not need to bear the expenses for the accommodation of biathletes in another place, then the costs of € 300 (about 27 thousand rubles) for the production of a neutral flag will still have to be compensated.

The banner is located at the stadium in Pokljuka next to the flags of other countries participating in the world championship.