The international biathlon competition without the participation of Russians is not over and the interest of viewers is decreasing, the silver medalist of the European Championship 2022 told Petr Pashchenko .
In February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended preventing Russians from participating in international competitions. In January 2023, the IOC announced that it would consider the possibility of admitting Russian and Belarusian athletes to world starts in a neutral status, who did not actively support the SVO.
– It is difficult to judge our return. There are a lot of conversations, everything will depend on the situation in the world. As this year’s experience shows, suspension came quickly, but anything can happen in reverse the same way. You don’t have to guess, you have to try to show your level. We see what is happening in international competitions, we have to extract some advantages, pay attention to the preparation aspects and reach the world at a good level,” Pashchenko told a correspondent.
— Without the Russians in the international biathlon, right?
— Of course, the competition is not complete. I think the public does not have the same interest in biathlon. I myself started watching biathlon this year after Johannes Be started to dominate, it attracted me, interest arose. And so, I pretty much stopped watching biathlon after the suspension.
I don’t want to say what’s right and what’s not. Everyone says sport should be out of politics, but things are different here, everything has changed. So we have to rely on the conditions and the rules by which we play.
On Friday, Pashchenko took fifth place in the sprint race at the final stage of the Russian Cup in Chaikovsky (Perm Territory) and became fifth in the sprint standings after six stages.
The races of the final phase of the PARI Russian Cup will be broadcast live on the channel, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites. On Saturday, February 18, women’s and men’s pursuit races will take place, the broadcasts will start at 8:40 am and 11:40 am respectively (Moscow time).
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
