The victory of Gerbulova and the "Small Globe" Kaplina: how did the women's sprint end at the decisive stage of the Russian Biathlon Cup

The biathlon season in Russia is coming to an end.

These days in Tchaikovsky the final of the Cup of the country is being held, within which the winners will be determined both in individual disciplines and in the overall standings.

For the first time in the domestic biathlon, crystal awards will be presented, similar to those received by the winners of the World Cup offsets.

The prizes were made at the Gus Crystal Factory and are balls with the contours of a map of Russia and the RRF logo.

The pedestal of the cup is made in the colors of the national flag.

By the way, one winner of the small cup this season was known even before the final stage.

They became Nikita Porshnev in the standings of individual races.

There were only two such starts in the calendar, and both have already passed.

For women, things are a little more complicated.

Due to the cancellation of races at the beginning of the season, they held only one “individual”, and according to the situation of the competition, this is not enough to award the cup in a separate discipline.

So this offset will now go to the Russian Championship race in Izhevsk, which will be held next week.

Then the winner will be awarded. 

Meanwhile, the program of the stage in Tchaikovsky opened on Thursday with the women's sprint.

Ekaterina Noskova (234 points), Elizaveta Kaplina (231) and Victoria Slivko (227) were considered the main contenders for the victory and the small cup.

Alas, the race did not work out for the leader Noskova: she made one miss on the first firing line, and left two targets uncovered on the second.

As a result, Ekaterina took only 11th place, which crossed out her hopes for the championship in the sprint standings.

Her partner in the coaching group Artyom Istomin - Kaplina, on the contrary, made a bid for victory from the first meters of the distance.

She showed the best move at the start and, having cleanly coped with prone shooting, led the race.

The counter failed Elizabeth, where she missed twice.

I had to correct the situation with my feet, and the biathlete coped with the task with dignity, having managed to squeeze out Slivko in the final protocol, who closed all 20 targets.

At the same time, Kaplina almost gnawed out the bronze, losing only 0.9 seconds to Anastasia Goreeva at the finish line.

But the fourth line in the end was enough to become the owner of a small cup.

Commenting on the victory, the athlete admitted that she does not intend to limit herself to one globe and will also compete for the prize in the pursuit and in the overall standings.

“Today's race will be estimated at four minus or three plus, because the last lap I didn't set a little.

I slowed down a little, and on the first two laps I felt good.

On the last climb, I gave up all my strength.

A second was not enough to reach third place.

While standing, I stood for a very long time and could not concentrate on the shot, making two unfortunate misses, ”Metaratings quotes Kaplina.

The victory in the race, to the delight of local fans, went to Natalia Gerbulova.

A native of Perm passed both firing lines cleanly and demonstrated excellent speed.

She started after the main rivals - Goreeva and Irina Kazakevich - and could focus on their results along the distance.

The coach of the athlete emphasized the steadfastness of the ward in the last kilometers of the distance.

Her finish time is 21:09.4.

“It's like a balm for the soul when Natalia wins the finishing laps.

Because often she does not cope tactically.

At the finish line it "falls off".

And today I had a good race, ”Match TV quotes Istomin.

The biathlete herself explained her success by the homely atmosphere, and also thanked the mentors. 

“Perm Territory, brother!

This is the first!

Second, I want to say a huge thank you to our team.

Now each of us has gold medals this season, ”Gerbulova said on Match TV.

Silver was won by Irina Kazakevich, who made one miss in prone shooting and lost 20.4 seconds to the winner.

Bronze, as noted above, went to Anastasia Goreeva with a lag of 27.7 seconds. 

As you know, these days Oberhof is hosting the World Championship, to which Russian athletes were not allowed.

So, if you look at the final protocol of the sprint, then you can say with confidence: domestic biathletes would fight at these competitions not just for the podium, but also for victory.

Newly crowned world champion Denise Herrman-Wick is 10.3 seconds behind Gerbulova's, though this certainly needs to be adjusted for differences in weather conditions and hard snow in the races.

But, one way or another, all the first four of the final stage of the Russian Cup performed at the level of World Cup medals. 

The competitions in Tchaikovsky were also marked by a significant event - the return to the ski track of the silver medalist of the Beijing Olympics Svetlana Mironova, who had not competed for most of the season.

She took the final 13th place, almost two minutes behind Gerbulova.

The athlete explained her long downtime with health problems that needed to be addressed.

“I didn’t run or train because I couldn’t do it physically.

That is, this is not the case when you can train and take care of your health.

No, there were no such options.

There was only an option to do nothing and recover, ”said the biathlete.