Biathlete Ekaterina Noskova in an interview with , she told how the coach Artem Istomine reacted to his defeat at the finish line of the pursuit race at the third stage of the Russian Cup in Tyumen.
In the pursuit race of the third stage of the Russian Cup, which took place in December 2022 in Tyumen, Noskova was in the lead at the finish line, began to celebrate the victory before crossing the line and, at that time, turned around from behind her Dinara Alimbekova finally winning the photo-finish.
– There was a curious moment in Tyumen – your photo-finish with Dinara Alimbekova. When you seem to have already won, but it turns out that you didn’t. What did this moment teach you? What reaction from the coaches did you hear after the finish and what conclusions did you draw from that for yourself?
– It’s such a double situation. At first I was happy, then I realized that I hadn’t won, which upset me. Again, she was happy that four “zeros” fired for the first time in her life. There were such emotional swings after the end: she seemed content, happy, but there was a fly in the ointment in a jar of honey.
After the race I went to the wax cabin, saw the coaches and thought they were going to congratulate me now. But Artem Evgenievich is like this: “And what was it?” She replied, “Thank you for the congratulations.” Somehow I was a little offended that at first he didn’t congratulate me, but wasn’t happy with my finish. I understand that, of course. After all, it’s a stupid mistake on my part – I didn’t finish it to the end, I started rejoicing early, I raised my hands and Dinara rolled at that moment.
It taught me to always fight to the finish line unless I look back and see the opponents are really far away. I didn’t, I looked with peripheral vision and didn’t see her less than a meter behind me. I thought, well, maybe that’s it, I won. And there were only a few more pushes to do.
– If you imagine that you are running the fourth leg of the relay, and you are offered to take the flag, will you take it or push it to the finish line?
“We still have to assess the distance. The mistake was that I didn’t look back and look, I trusted my feelings. As for the flag, if there is a big gap, I will definitely take it.
– How is the rivalry with the Belarusian team built? Everyone is in the same boat now, everyone is in a difficult situation, while the Belarusians are performing very well here: they are winning and taking points.
– Yes, Belarus has a strong team, they proved it at the World Cup. In general, for me and for everyone who is racing now, in the current situation, it is very good that Dinara is playing with us. She is one of the best biathletes in the World Cup and we can sail alongside her. A strong athlete, stronger than us in many components.
This is particularly striking at the shooting range: Dinara shoots faster and more accurately, in this component she definitely surpasses us. However, I won’t say she is head and shoulders above us, we can compete with her. Probably, inside you understand that you can fight with an athlete of the highest level in the World Cup. It brings great satisfaction,” Noskova told .
Source : MatchTV
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