Biathlon finish

Biathlon season nearing its logical conclusion. This is a time traditionally used for the preliminary analysis of its results, which took and “Times”.

Olympic biathlon season finish. At Thursday, March 20, started the final, ninth World Cup, which takes place in Holmenkollen, Norway. Of course, the main start of four years, to some extent overshadowed the struggle of “shooting skiers” in the overall World Cup this season.

Nevertheless, almost all athletes after the Olympic Games in unison said that the plan to complete performance on a positive note. Especially in the international arena pleased with the successes Russian biathletes – Anton Shipulina Pokljuka and Olga Zaitseva Kontiolahti. Let a little belated, but still progress.

Russian Biathlon Union will summarize the performance team of our country at home Olympics in Sochi on May 20 report-election conference. However Games ended almost a month ago, and we, journalists and fans, to your untrained eye, can already give their own assessment completed as recently Biathlon Olympic cycle.

The past four years was not the easiest in the history of the national biathlon. Coaching permutations, transitions coaching athletes from one group to another, far from the ideal of the pre-Olympic World Cup in Novo Mesto, Czech, finally broke out a week before the Games doping scandal, which has not yet come to an end.

All of these shocks certainly affected the overall medal result. Frankly, in the home of the Russian Biathlon expected more. At least two gold medals, which has repeatedly said Mikhail Prokhorov, voicing medal preliminary plan.

Questions as to the coaching staff and the leadership has accumulated a great many. And they certainly will be asked. But before you ask them, we will try to look objectively at the sport that fascinates us and at the same time reveals the most painful point of all national sport.

Remember the Olympics. After all, what our girls were able to win silver in the women’s relay race in those conditions in which our team was ahead of the Olympics, should be considered as a miracle: the national team, in which 35-year-old Zaitsev is the undisputed leader, was able to beat the Norwegians and frisky, and young Germans, and rapid-Frenchwomen.

And our guys! They did not just become the first in Sochi, they won a landmark victory did in their native land. This gold, won in an incredibly high level of competition – the first in the history of post-Soviet Russia.

It is no secret that the medals have to wait long, in this case in 26 years, takes on special value. This victory also gives an understanding that the time when the Russian team for the men’s success was considered in the relay get at least some reward. Generational change in the men’s team is gone, and today our team can be proud of the guys.

What is it – the result of a natural evolution or invisible at first sight of a giant? Russian Biathlon Union, the last five years, led by Mikhail Prokhorov, made every effort to ensure that our athletes have been competitive in the international arena. In addition to the senior male and female coaches of teams with each individually biathlete has a team of professionals, ranging from personal trainers and psychologists and ending servismenam and masseurs.

Hardly any of the members of the Russian team can complain about the lack of full-fledged environment for training and competition: fees are held in the midlands and on flat terrain, abroad and in our vast country.

Biathletes provided the best on the market inventory and completely forgot about the flights to Europe with two or three docks because of the savings on tickets and scandals with the leadership of the RRF because carve sponsorship money. Ask those who are older: it all ten years ago it was taken for granted Russian biathlon.

If you can not just assume awards, and look a little deeper, we’ll realize that in the shadow of the Sochi 2014 there is an important process step by step, it is difficult and not without loss we return to the elite of world sports.

Today the Russian team perform mainly those guys who grew up in the dashing 90 when a good inventory dreamed because elementary were not always full. Disclose at this Olympics and won two silver medals Russian biathlete Olga Viluhina not shy to tell how difficult it was in his youth to train:

“When leaving the fees collected in the way everything: a thermos of tea, sandwiches, water, cookies. If traveling far, grilled chicken or patties. I’m madly in love mom’s pies, but then did not have enough money, sometimes even on the dough. So take that lying in the fridge. 90th – not the easiest years. Union only collapsed, a new country is not built yet.

We hesitated at first even to get food out of a backpack. Children, the poor, a lot of complexes … “

Remembering those days, Olga recognizes that a new generation of athletes will be more comfortable to build a professional career. Now with almost 100 percent certainty we can say that the consequences of dashing 90 overcome: Ministry of Sports tries to provide athletes for winning Olympic athletes receive the highest prize and expensive cars, RRF spends millions rubles for the development of children’s sports, donated equipment and transmitting rifle in a regional sports school. All together gives the result, and eventually we rejoice victory at the Olympic Games in Sochi.

In RRF say that the foundation is laid and the Sochi 2014 – is just the beginning. In 2018 Pyeongchang can already speak a new team of athletes who were born and grew up in the stability and comfort. Statements are not unfounded: the junior world championships in biathlon, which is less than a month ago was held in the United States, the Russian team won a landslide victory in the team standings, having to its credit 13 medals, four of which – the highest dignity.

After a couple of years, as you know, these guys are on the heels of our Olympic champions – Olga Zaitseva and Evgeny Ustyugov.

Not be denied that in working with the team applied a number of experiments, some of which were later found to be unsuccessful. But let’s judge objectively when we succeeded and that the first time, a wave of a magic wand? That’s right, by trial and error, we arrive at the truth. The main thing – do not tread on their own rakes and avoid mistakes of the past. SBR learned that lesson many years ahead.

While in Russia, analyze challenging Olympic cycle and hoarding unpleasant questions for coaches and management, colleagues from the International Biathlon Union, the third consecutive year evaluate the work of the RRF, handing the Russians at the annual prize summing IBU «For development.”

And the president of a major international biathlon organization calls his obvious successor executive director Sergei Kushchenko RRF, thanks to the work in which the IBU began to listen to the opinion of the Russian side. Maybe Europeans by seeing something more important than us?

Biathlon finish