There is no rivalry between Russian and Belarusian biathletes, in Belarus fans support athletes from both countries, says three-time Olympic medalist Edward Latypov .
On Saturday, Latypov won the Commonwealth Cup pursuit in Belarus. The Belarusian took second place Dmitri Lazovsky third – Russian Vasily Tomshin .
— Did your Belarusian parents come to encourage you?
– Not now. But they have to go to the second stage in Raubichi, – the correspondent reports the words of Latypov.
– Do you feel the support from the stands here?
– Of course, the stands are full, there are a lot of people on the track. I don’t remember that once in Belarus there were few biathlon fans. There is always a full stadium here, which is very nice. The locals are cheering on their fans and they’re happy for us too. The stadium is very warm in this regard, everyone is happy with each other, there is no rivalry between Russian and Belarusian biathletes.
– Here you have a whole group of fans who support you with a flag on which you are represented. How do you perceive it?
– I saw them, I know, it’s not the first time we meet them in competitions. Long-time fans made a very interesting flag, many guys liked it. It is very nice that there are people who sincerely care, support me, I thank them very much.
– At this stage, the men’s race has been moved from Thursday to Friday. Turns out the men have three races in a row with no rest days. Does this affect the results?
We have never run three races in a row in a season. First we have to run away, then we’ll see if it’s back or not. In such weather conditions it is difficult to run three races in a row, but what can you do, all in the same conditions. We will have to recover, endure, fight on morale and willpower. Nothing else. It’s not the first time for us, we’ve run more than three races in a row.
— You have just completed mountain training. How is the state now?
– The state is floating, every day it changes, sometimes better, sometimes worse. We monitor this moment, look at the indicators, how well-being is changing.
– Do you still have the strength for the mass start?
– I think so.
On January 22, the Commonwealth Cup will host the women’s and men’s mass starts. The races will be broadcast live on the channel, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru sites. The start of the women’s mass start broadcast is scheduled for 10:40 a.m. (Moscow time), the men will start at 1:50 p.m. (Moscow time).
Source : MatchTV
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