Double Olympic champion Dmitry Vasiliev told that after Russian biathletes withdrew from international starts, he stopped watching these races, as they are dominated by Norwegians, whose “purity” is questioned.
The 2023 World Championship will be held in Oberhof, Germany from February 8-19. The executive committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in February recommended that international federations prevent Russians and Belarusians from participating in international competitions because of the situation in Ukraine. Many federations have followed these recommendations and suspended athletes from both countries. The International Biathlon Union (IBU) in September extended the suspension of Russian biathletes from international competitions.
– I won’t watch the World Cup at all, I don’t even watch the World Cup stages. When our athletes competed, I followed them too. And now what, should I follow the Norwegians on steroids? It’s not at all interesting, the professional side takes second place here.
When you want to watch an interesting event, you wait, but now everything is known in advance. A striking example is that of skiers, and biathlon is moving towards the same. And the Norwegians opened a direct path to the use of doping in good looks, – said Vasiliev “”.
Is it interesting to watch national competitions?
– Yes. They take place at the highest level. For a long time it did not happen that all the best athletes ran and shot inside the country. I think they will tour for a year and the format will be even more interesting next season.
In my time, the prestige of home warm-ups was colossal. It was more honorable to win all-Union competitions than the World Cup stage. It was easier to win a prize place than on the USSR Cup.
Source : MatchTV
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