Ex-biathlete of the Russian national team Olga Podchufarova in an interview with , she explained what the various financial possibilities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation end in providing equipment for athletes.
– Your words about the inequality of Russian regions: “Let’s come to the conclusion that whoever is richest will win.” What did they mean?
– I am going to give you an example. The Commonwealth Cup is an open competition where regional athletes can also apply. But far from everyone comes, because participation is associated with high costs. The next moment: even the Moscow Federation, for which I played, had problems with the supply of equipment. On the first two stages of the Russian Cup last year, in which I participated, I spent one without a coach. She ran around the waxing cabins, trying to find someone to help pull and get the skis ready. This is Moscow, but what about small regions?
Whoever can buy a sufficient number of good skis and test them with high quality will be in the “tops”. It is not indicated in the protocol, there is only a last name and a result. In fact, someone’s strongest pair can be worse than their weakest opponent. Some work with unprepared material, others do not arrive on stage at all for lack of funds. Athletes discuss it among themselves, the public remains in the dark.
– Is it the same image with cartridges and weapons?
More or less. Again, last year there was a situation: I received a rifle in Moscow, which behaved strangely during training, came to the Russian championship in Rybinsk, and only there the shooting coach Pasha Spiridonov (he later worked with the junior team) explained that the trigger needs to be completely changed, it does not work as it should. It was impossible to do it quickly, I had to flee with these weapons. Then she solved the problem with acquaintances, since she had acquired connections over the years in biathlon.
Does this affect the result? Certainly. And if there are many such nuances, it leads to lag minutes. I know that the FRR has a program to support the regions, but what is a million in modern times? Enough for one athlete, not for the whole regional team. In addition, there were difficulties with a good inventory. Still reaches Russia, but it’s not enough.
– And what to do?
— It is difficult to find funding, sponsors, patrons, anything else. If there was an unambiguous answer to your question, it would have been put into practice long ago. Perhaps it is worth standardizing skis and weapons at the national level, let the organizers of the competition issue them to the participants at the expense of a unified budget. But I guess there will be a lot of inconsistencies, especially with a large number of participants.
Podchufarova’s best result in her career was the 2017 World Cup bronze in the mixed relay. From 2019 to 2021, the biathlete tried to become a Slovenian citizen, but was refused and sent back to Russia. She announced her retirement last year.
Watch all the races of the PARI stages of the Commonwealth Cup and the Russian Biathlon Championship on the television channels of the holding, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites.
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.
