Zots: We cannot count this race as an asset. The girls did not work on the first line

Senior coach Ukrainian women’s biathlon team Nikolay Zots commented on the performance of his players in the pursuit race at World Championship 2024 in the Czech Nove Mesto.

“Today we cannot count this race as an asset, of course. The girls didn’t work at the first stage. After zeroing the weapon, the wind picked up, the weather changed, and it was necessary to make two left turns, but they didn’t do that.”

“Rain—the flags are heavy, which athletes usually use to navigate. They got wet and it was hard to walk on them [ориентироваться]. This is not an excuse, but the first line did not work, we made two mistakes – and that’s it, the race, one might say, is over.”

“At Ira’s [Петренко] The periosteum is cramped, there are problems with the legs. In such contact races, as in relay races, you always need to be at the top. Especially, [проваленный] the first line always “nails” psychologically, as they say.”

“The absence of a result is also a result. If you draw the right conclusions, such races with a negative result sometimes provide more benefits for moving forward.”

Let us remind you that today at the 2024 World Cup the women’s pursuit race took place. The Frenchwoman Julia Simon won. The best of the Ukrainians, Kristina Dmitrenko, showed the 26th result. Her compatriots Yulia Dzhima, Anastasia Merkushina and Irina Petrenko took 35th, 36th and 45th places, respectively. Each of the Ukrainians made four mistakes during the race.

Today, February 11, the men’s pursuit race will take place at the 2024 World Cup. Its start is at 18:05 Kyiv time. Ukraine will be represented in this race by only two biathletes – Dmitry Pidruchny and Anton Dudchenko. At the same time, Artem Prima will miss this start. According to the coach of the Ukrainian men’s national team, Juraj Sanitra, this decision was made for strategic purposes.