President of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) Viktor Maygurov summarized the results of the Russian Cup and also said that the national team will be updated for the next Olympics in 2026.
Anastasia Goreeva and Karim Khalili became the overall winners of the Russian Cup. The next Winter Olympics will be held in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in February 2026. Currently, Russian athletes are suspended from participation in international competitions by decision of the IOC.
– There is no evil without good. We do not participate in international competitions, but all our strongest biathletes gathered at the Country Cup. It was an exciting fight, the plot was preserved to the end. In the women’s category, two athletes scored an equal number of points overall. Anastasia Goreeva was ahead of Victoria Slivko in terms of additional indicators – a greater number of first places. And in men, clarity came almost only at the very end.
Is Karim Khalili’s victory a sign of stability? After all, he won two small crystal globes – according to the results of the sprint and pursuit races, and in the mass start standings he became second.
– Khalili constantly performed under the leader’s yellow jersey. However, on the last day of the competition, there was still a possibility that if he failed, he would lose first place in the overall standings to Alexander Povarnitsyn.
– Eduard Latypov won both the 10 kilometer race and the pursuit at Tchaikovsky with a big advantage. Daniil Serokhvostov even called him our Johannes Boe. But in the mass start, Latypov was feverish again on the last shot. Not enough nervous system stability?
– Perhaps, the accumulating psychological fatigue affects. At Tchaikovsky, Latypov won the first two races with an excellent shot. Maybe he needs to learn to be calmer in his leadership. He is a powerful athlete who has an advantage over his rivals in terms of speed. In the general classification, Latypov became third, but missed a few starts in the Russian Cup.
– Do you agree with his opinion that the Russians could compete for medals at the World Championships, which took place on the same days in Oberhof?
– Without a doubt. Russian biathlon is absolutely competitive. Last year at the Olympics we competed for medals in every race.
– What was the objective of organizing the final phase of the Cup at the same time as the World Cup?
“Our strategic goal is the 2026 Olympics. Therefore, for all coaches, the task has been set to bring the athletes to the top of their game by February, the month in which they will take place.
— Will the Russian Championship be the main start of the season for our biathletes?
– I would say that we have two main starts – Tchaikovsky’s and the national championship, which will be held at the end of March in Khanty-Mansiysk. We will evaluate the results collectively.
– The winners of the Russian Cup are young: Khalili is 24, Goreeva is 23. At the same time, no new faces were seen among the best.
– By the 2026 Games, one way or another, the team will be updated. In addition, we are developing a training program for 2030 and will start from this year to train in a targeted and systematic way the young men and women who should form the backbone of the national team in seven years.
— How did the idea of awarding Crystal Globes, young and old, come about?
– At the Country Cup, the general classification was always summarized, but the prize giving was quite relaxed. We discussed it and came to the conclusion that the athletes would be delighted to receive beautiful prizes as a souvenir,” the ROC press service quoted Maygurov as saying.
The first stage of the Russian Championship will take place in Izhevsk from February 23 to 26. Watch live broadcasts of the races on the channel, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru And sportbox.ru.
Official website of the ROC
Source : MatchTV
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