The Russian Biathlon Championships conclude this week with a men's and women's marathon. Many fans may think this is a new discipline. However, in fact, such competitions have been held within the framework of the national championship for a long time, although they are not included in the program of the international calendar. At the stages of the World Cup, for the sake of ratings and entertainment, preference is given to more dynamic types and even the "classics" of biathlon - an individual race for 20 kilometers - is held only a few times a season.
The distance and rules of the marathon changed over time. And this year, men had to overcome 40 kilometers (women - 30) and go to 8 firing lines. For each miss, the biathlete had to pass a penalty lap, which is two times shorter than usual - 75 meters. After the fourth shooting, athletes were given the opportunity to change skis and clips.
On Wednesday, men tested themselves for strength. According to the rules, up to 60 people can participate in the race, but only 37 came to the start. At the same time, many leaders of the Russian national team preferred to skip the competition and finish the season earlier. So, Daniil Serokhvostov, Eduard Latypov and Maxim Tsvetkov did not go to Uvat.
At the same time, for some participants this type of program was a novelty. So, before the start, Anton Babikov admitted that it was a mystery to him how the marathon would go.
"Probably, for a long time we will stay in a large group, and then after 10-15 kilometers the gaps will begin, and it all depends on the state of health," the biathlete suggested on the air of Match TV.
The world champion was largely right. Until the third shooting, the athletes held together, but after lying down, Nikita Porshnev and Alexander Povarnitsyn broke forward: both made two mistakes on the first firing lines, but managed to stay among the leaders. Evgeny Garanichev was 14 seconds away, while Karim Khalili and Babikov were half a minute behind.
In the second half of the distance, Porshnev went alone. Nikita was accurate, while Povarnitsyn missed twice and eventually joined the group of pursuers. The leader decided to take advantage of the situation and increased the pace, but none of the catchers could not stand.
As a result, on the lap in front of the stand, the gap of the representative of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug was already 58 seconds. And then it only continued to grow, because the athlete practically did not make mistakes on shooting: of the 20 remaining targets, he did not close only one. On the last lap, the biathlete left with a margin of one minute and 44 seconds.
Although Porshnev showed good speed, the five-kilometer distance to the stadium was not easy for him because of the plus temperature and loose snow.
"The track was not easy – a kilometer in two. At the end, my arms and legs began to converge, I did not get movements, I just walked, tried to turn on the muscles as little as possible. The state of health allowed, the strength was there, but the muscles did not want to push. Although this distance was even easier for me than some races.
As for the firing lines, I always feel confident when there is no wind. Without the wind, nothing prevents me from shooting, I disconnect. When the wind is my weak point, I make mistakes, and we need to work on this," Porshnev said on Match TV.
And if the winner of the race became clear long before the finish, then the struggle for the rest of the awards turned out to be fierce. Povarnitsyn, Kirill Bazhin and Khalili arrived together to the final frontier. Karim was the most accurate. And while the opponents passed the penalty circles, he created a reserve of 16 seconds, which was enough for the second place. As the biathlete admitted, it was this moment that became the key in the marathon.
"All the favorites came to the shooting together, except for Nikita Porshnev. He's really well prepared now. When he accelerated in the first half of the race, I watched, no one sat down behind him. It was obvious that he had a high pace, he left and that was it. I was counting on eight zeros, but something went wrong. Lying down, I made a mistake, and standing I was already trying to maintain concentration. In this weather, skis play a big role, they worked well for me, thanks to the service team, "said Khalili.
Povarnitsyn and Babikov competed for bronze. For a long time they went together, but 500 meters before the finish Anton left the opponent and became the third.
"The most difficult thing was to adapt to the gliding, the condition of the track, to abstract that someone's skis go better. Personally, it knocked me out morally, each time I tried to rehabilitate myself through shooting, but each time I made offensive mistakes. There was no need to pay attention to the move of others, because on the track there is still nothing to do about it, "explained Babikov, who made seven mistakes on the borders, in an interview with Metaratings.
At the same time, not everyone reached the finish line, only 23 participants out of 37. As the head of the RBU Viktor Maigurov noted, these athletes are real "biathlon monsters". "You can take your hat off to the guys, 40 km with a rifle - at least 50 without it," the specialist said.