Domestic competitions will compensate Russian biathletes for lack of international starts next season if they are not admitted to World Cup and International Biathlon Union (IBU) Cup, coach says from one of the groups of the Russian national team at Match on TV Sergei Bashkirov .
On Monday, Bashkirov’s group held an open training session in Toksovo (Leningrad region).
– They wanted to make the training open, so that the services work under psychological stress. Did the idea work?
– Judging by the fact that the guys were a little nervous, it went well. This is difficult to achieve during a regular training session when there are no fans.
And there are so many people here. I thought there would be fewer viewers considering it’s a Monday morning. But in the end there were a lot of fans, plus the sports groups involved in the Toksovo base, came and supported the guys,” Bashkirov told .
– How do you judge the preparation of the group for the season, given that it will be without international competitions?
– In any case, athletes need to train and, above all, to develop their qualities and their competitiveness. Nothing has changed in this regard. Yes, for the moment the season will be without international departures. At the start of the school year, you still have to be competitive. And if we stand still and do not work on ourselves, it will be difficult to do so. At the moment there are no complaints against any of the guys – everyone is working very purposefully. According to the current schedule of departures, we will have enough, no less than on the international stage. I think we will switch to the internal calendar quite easily.
– I can’t help but ask about Malinovsky. His death, according to the sensations, stirred everyone in biathlon, and not only in Russia.
– It’s fair to say that we are a biathlon family. And although we compete on the tracks, in everyday life we have relatively friendly relations with almost all the athletes, everyone communicates. Well done colleagues, who supported, responded. I really want to support Igor’s family – it’s really a very heavy blow.
In March, the IBU announced the suspension of Russian and Belarusian athletes from competitions under the auspices of the organization due to the situation in Ukraine. Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) chief Viktor Maigurov admitted in April that the Russians are set to miss the international season. In May, the Commonwealth Cup was announced – a series of competitions with the participation of biathletes from Russia and Belarus, the stages of which will be held in two countries.
Source : MatchTV
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