Showdown on the last lap: Porshnev lost to Lazovsky, and Goreeva overtook Shevchenko in individual races in Izhevsk

The fight between Lazovsky and Porshnev

The fourth stage of the Russian Biathlon Cup started in Izhevsk with individual races.

The men were the first to start this time, having to overcome 20 km and four firing lines in not the most pleasant weather conditions: the thermometer needle showed -12°C, and a strong wind was blowing through the shooting range.

It would seem that the frost in Udmurtia was not so severe.

However, it has led to unexpected problems for athletes.

Thus, three-time Olympic 2022 medalist Eduard Latypov’s shutter froze for the first time in his career.

This is how he explained the three missed targets.

“Two mistakes on the stance is a lot, especially in a race where every mistake is decisive.

To be honest, this is the first time this has happened to me that the bolt froze and stuck to the rack after every shot.

I already knew that the same thing would happen at the fourth milestone, so I made adjustments.

The sliding is difficult, I tried to go through the second part of the circle as well as possible, it’s flat there, I need to work,” Latypov said on Match TV.

It should be noted that despite the problems that arose, Eduard managed to be in the top three thanks to his phenomenal speed on the track.

The biathlete lost only 56.2 seconds to the winner of the race, who finished with one penalty minute.

The gold of the competition went to Belarusian Dmitry Lazovsky, who, in the absence of the ill Anton Smolsky, became the real leader of his national team.

The athlete made his only mistake on the last stand.

However, only Nikita Porshnev tried to take advantage of his opponent’s misfire.

The 27-year-old Russian announced his retirement last December after an unsuccessful performance in the sprint at the National Cup stage, but after talking with his family, he still decided to stay.

And as the individual race showed, it was not in vain.

Like Lazovsky, he sent only one shot into the milk on the fourth line.

The biathlete left the track with a lag of only 0.3 seconds behind the leader.

Alas, he was unable to catch up with his opponent at a distance.

“I fought, gave all the strength I had.

I'm glad that I worked at the turn and fought on the last lap.

There is no resentment - I’m happy that I’m back and can fight.

I'm glad I can endure it, feel the taste of blood in my mouth from the struggle.

Thanks to the fans who came to support us,” said the athlete.

At the same time, Alexander Loginov, who watched the start from the stands, criticized Nikita.

In his opinion, the biathlete could win gold.

“Perhaps Porshnev will be offended by me or his coaches will be offended, but everything was decided on the descent.

It was necessary to work as hard as possible, but he rolled out and sat down literally like a bag.

Perhaps two or three repulses could solve everything,” Loginov said.

Alexander Kornev demonstrated good speed in the individual race.

The biathlete with three penalties became fourth, losing 26.8 seconds to Latypov, and in the race he was second - behind Eduard.

Evgeniy Garanichev also received a one-minute penalty.

As for the other representatives of the Russian national team, they made too many mistakes on Thursday.

Anton Babikov and Kirill Bazhin had six missed targets each, Alexander Povarinitsyn and Vasily Tomshin had four each, and Maxim Tsvetkov had three. 

The only athlete who did not make mistakes on the lines was Belarusian Pavel Belko, but he finished only seventh, losing more than two minutes to Lazovsky.

Goreeva's first victory

Kristina Reztsova decided to skip the Russian Cup stage in Izhevsk for women.

According to the athlete, who managed to win the mass start in December, she wants to better prepare for the Spartakiad of the Strongest.

However, even without an Olympic medalist, there were enough contenders for gold in the individual race in Udmurtia.

First of all, Anastasia Shevchenko, who entered the race as number 22, attracted attention.

However, the owner of the red jersey of the leader in the overall standings could not avoid a mistake in the third shooting range.

It was this misfire that did not allow the biathlete to win, since Anastasia Goreeva was faster than her on Thursday. 

The representative of Moscow did not clear two targets at once, but she left the last lap with a gap of 18.4 seconds behind Shevchenko and already at the 14.2 km cutoff she won by 3.6 seconds, and at the finish she even increased her advantage.

“Very happy with the result.

She won her first victory of the season.

Especially in such difficult weather conditions.

Made two misses due to blunders.

The wind during shooting was not strong.

I just hurried - I really wanted to win.

18 seconds behind on the last lap?

Psychologically this is a lot.

But the coach encouraged me.

Said I could do it.

After all, I had already played a lot before this.

And, fortunately, I was able to do it again,” Goreeva admitted.

Elizaveta Kaplina also traditionally demonstrated excellent speed.

Alas, three mistakes on the shooting range dropped her to third place, 25.0 seconds behind the winner.

Victoria Slivko tried to compete with the representative of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug: the biathlete went into the last lap with two penalties with a handicap of 7.9 seconds.

However, it was not possible to maintain the advantage; the European champion is only fourth.

According to Kaplina, she followed her opponent’s performance because she really wanted to be on the podium. 

“I couldn’t cope with the shooting a little, I only tuned in to the second stance and on the last lap it was already a very steep distance.

Finally had fun on the ski slopes.

Today I wanted to cheer myself up before further starts, because this is the most difficult race.

A medal is great, but a miss at the shooting range is a negative mark,” the biathlete admitted. 

Tamara Derbusheva unexpectedly showed the worst result of the season on Thursday.

For the first time, the athlete did not make it into the top 10, taking only 12th place.

Although she made three mistakes, like Kaplina.

But Irina Kazakevich was let down by shooting again: six minutes of penalty dropped Mikhail Shashilov’s team to the end of the second ten.

The first race after a long pause was finally held by the silver medalist of the 2022 Olympics, Svetlana Mironova.

She only finished 31st with six penalties, but was happy to just get back on the track.

“I have a lot of impressions from the race, they are positive.

I didn’t quite cope with the shooting, the move wasn’t the best, but I’m still happy.

I appreciate any attention.

Of course, I am grateful to the fans who support me even at a bad time in my career.

I don’t forget the haters either, thank you for giving me your energy,” Mironova said.

At the same time, not a single biathlete managed to hit all 20 targets in the individual race.