Irina Kazakevich: “I accepted the fact that it is unlikely that in the next two or three years we will be able to participate in international competitions”

Biathlete Irina Kazakevich admits that in the coming years Russian athletes will not be allowed to participate in international competitions.

Russian and Belarusian biathletes have been suspended from competitions under the auspices of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) in spring 2022.

— I always plan my races and evaluate my results by thinking about what it would look like on an international start. And it turns out it’s more critical of yourself. Let’s say I won with three penalties in Sochi, but I can’t be happy about that. I understand that if this was an international debut, where would I be, even despite moving?

Well, if everything goes well, I’ll finish in the top thirty, but that’s if I run really fast there. In other words, you always project yourself, you compare yourself figuratively. And somewhere it bothers, because you live in something that, in principle, cannot happen. Because the situation today is very difficult and I have already, so to speak, accepted the fact that it is unlikely that we will be able to perform there in the next two or three years. And maybe this humility will help me to focus more on being the best here, and not think about how you would be there,” Kazakevich told .

All races of the stages of the Alfa-Bank Commonwealth Cup and the Russian Cup will be broadcast live on the channel, and broadcasts will also be available on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.