- You are the only one in Demino who represents the coaching staff of the national team: the teams of Yuri Kaminsky and Sergey Bashkirov did not come to the current competitions at all. In this regard, the question is: are there not too many starts this season, since the strongest start to miss them?
- Before the start of the season, we also asked the same question.
But when they began to count, they saw that this was not so.
The density of Russian starts is similar to the World Cup calendar, and this was obvious even before the frosts began, and in connection with this, competitions began to be canceled.
In any case, for our group, I don’t see any problems at all in performing in such a schedule.
Competitive practice, I think, is necessary for athletes in terms of the growth of sports results.
- But your team with Artyom Istomin did not arrive in Demino in full force?
There were objective reasons for that.
Daniil Serokhvostov performs at the same time at departmental competitions, which are more priority for him, Natalya Gerbulova has been ill and misses the start for health reasons.
When the capabilities of the body do not allow to withstand a long block of competitions, skipping some races is beneficial.
As for Sveta Mironova, she joined the team on January 9, now she is training in Raubichi.
She has certain health questions, but I do not think it is right to voice them before the athlete herself has done it.
- The girls of your group have greatly increased their speed, and everyone notices this. This is Ksenia Dovgaya, and Ekaterina Noskova, and Elizaveta Kaplina. For you, as a coach, is such progress natural, or has it exceeded expectations to some extent?
- There is no surprise about this.
Another issue is that before the start of the competitive season, we did not know how our athletes would look in comparison with other groups.
It is clear that during the preparatory period we monitor all the indicators, there are certain key points that allow us to see how effectively the load falls on the athlete, and it could be noted that girls are adding in each of the components.
And that means we need to get faster.
In terms of distance speed, Kaplina’s progress is most noticeable, Noskova is not in the best functional condition, but I personally am pleased with how she starts shooting while standing.
Nastya Goreeva is accelerating and is already showing good results in individual races.
Ksyusha Dovgaya was sick a lot this year, but in the sprint, nevertheless, she ended up in the prizes in Demino, and this pleases.
- Is there a division of functions in your team with Istomin?
- I have repeatedly said that we are biathlon coaches, not running or shooting coaches.
In European teams, as a rule, there is no division either: often the head coach stands at the turn during the competition, despite the fact that he also draws up the plan for the functional training of athletes.
And how can you decide whether you are a shooting coach or a functional one?
Istomin and I discuss all issues of preparation together in one way or another, it’s just that when complex trainings are going on, I am more often at the turn, and Artyom is on the track.
If the training has a shooting orientation, we are both standing at the turn.
And if necessary, they can replace each other in any aspect.
- Is there a division into senior and junior in your bunch?
“First of all, we are friends.
I certainly have more organizational experience, albeit not much, so Artyom sometimes comes to me for advice on some issues.
The final “product” of our discussions is launched by him as a head coach.
- You have been working in the national team for the eighth year. Which period gave you the most in terms of coaching development?
- In a certain sense, each of the stages was interesting for me, starting with the youth team.
But the most powerful in terms of growth were probably the first two years of independent work as a head coach of the women's team.
- If I'm not mistaken, is this the very period when you worked together with Pavel Lantsov?
- Yes.
I would especially note the 2017/18 season, which turned out to be a breakthrough for Pavel and me both in terms of coaching development and psychology, and in terms of communication with specialists from the analytical department - they then provided us with great help.
At the youthful level, we still mostly stewed in our own juice.
Adult teams are a completely different responsibility.
Another interesting period was when the leadership changed in the RRF and Anatoly Khovantsev came to the national team as a senior coach.
We have been working on his methods for almost two years.
“At that time, I had the exact opposite impression. That you did not come into conflict with Khovantsev, but worked to a greater extent according to your own methods.
— I won't say that we strongly deviated from Anatoly Nikolayevich's plan, although the second year was freer in all respects.
You understand what is the point here: you never know if this or that technique works, and how exactly it works, until you try it.
So it was a really good experience.
- Due to the fact that athletes have lost the opportunity to travel to international competitions, can we say that the season has become less interesting in terms of coaching? Or, on the contrary, did it open up space for experimentation?
- Let's start with the fact that the national team is not a very suitable place for experiments in principle.
- Even in the first season after the Olympics?
- I agree that the responsibility for the result in such seasons falls a little.
But still I would not talk about experiments.
Rather, about some point innovations that we somehow introduce into our work every year.
Basically it concerns the functional part.
In this regard, you can learn a lot from the same athletics, from power sports.
For example, in terms of their methods for developing muscle strength.
- To do this, you need to be able to contact other teams. And what kind of contacts can there be when biathletes are sitting in Uvat or on the Seminsky Pass?
- Nevertheless.
Recently, for example, we spoke with one of the athletics specialists on the topic of ankle work.
They were interested in how exactly the work should be arranged so that the ankle becomes more rigid and springy.
The same kinesiotherapists can tell a lot of useful things about the human body.
It is clear that such intersections with representatives of other sports disciplines happen infrequently, but we ourselves are looking for such opportunities, because we are interested in them.
And this is not some kind of our know-how.
I know that the athletics coach is constantly working with the same Norwegians.
He teaches biathletes the running technique, the correct position of the foot.
— In terms of development, what gave you the time that you spent in Bulgaria? Or is it two years thrown out of life?
- In no case.
In the adult team, we had two athletes capable of showing high results, a young guy became the winner of the European Junior Championship, and for Bulgaria this is a very significant achievement.
The most interesting thing for me in that situation was not only my own coaching freedom, but also the fact that we trained mostly at European biathlon bases.
The same Germans often turned out to be nearby, you could see a lot of things.
This season, by the way, returning to your question, is interesting because, finally, all Russian athletes gather at the same competitions.
If earlier there were talks that the selection principles are not always fair, since some score points by starting at the World Cup stages, while others within the country, now there are no such talks in principle: everyone is on an equal footing from December to March.
- Is it possible to draw some parallels with the results shown by foreign rivals in the World Cup?
- Absolutely not.
Therefore, we focus on what is happening in Russia within the same tournaments.
- How long does it take to bring the average athlete to a noticeable level?
- It happens differently.
Now, for example, the Frenchwoman Sophie Chauveau performs well at the World Cup, although last season she was not among the best in terms of speed even at the IBU Cup.
Now she is confidently holding her feet in the top 10 and is among the best moves in the World Cup.
Yes, and in our country a year ago no one thought that Liza Kaplina would beat her rivals for a minute with her feet.
But only a person did a great job, and the whole load was completely assimilated.
- What prevented you from achieving such progress in running before?
- A lot depends on the athletes.
And it's always a cumulative process.
- Do you mean athletes as “material”?
- Well, yes.
This is true both in Russia and in other countries.
For example, Lisa Vitozzi and Dorothea Wierer appeared in Italy, because for a very long time the Italians could not find at least two more athletes to pair with them in order to make up a more or less strong relay race.
Although it would seem: if two have been raised, is it really impossible to train others?
It turns out that this is not always possible.
- Do you watch the World Cup stages?
- Necessarily.
— What do you pay attention to?
- I look at who is moving, I study analytical data.
I note for myself such things as the time of passing the line, the time before the first shot, the time of clean shooting.
If you look at the picture in parallel, you get a complete picture of how biathlon is developing and where it is heading.
I look at what trends appear in technology.
I see that some teams study this issue very carefully: they build the technique so that it is as economical and rational as possible from the point of view of biomechanics.
That is, it becomes possible to understand what kind of move under what conditions is most effective.
For example, ten years ago, the technique of running uphill looked completely different for most people.
If you superimpose a modern picture on the old one, you can see the difference.
And she's really big.
- Do your athletes have the concept of the main start this season?
- Officially, we have allocated the main start - the final of the Russian Cup in Chaikovsky and Izhevsk.
These competitions will be held approximately at the same time as the World Championships, but in fact, we consider our main task not to be any specific result, but the ability of athletes to maintain a high level throughout the season.
So that at any competition they get into the top 6, top 3.
- By the way, are you not worried about the fact that in a mixed team, athletes inevitably begin to break up in pairs?
- Not.
In this regard, my work in Bulgaria taught me a lot.
Milena Todorova and Vladimir Iliev have been a couple for a long time, they live together at the training camp, and this did not create difficulties for either him or her.
It all comes down to the level of professionalism.
The main thing is that love does not interfere with work.
- And if it starts to interfere?
“So someone is going to get in trouble.”