Andrey Padin: “If we had done what we are doing today twenty years ago, we would have no equal”

The coach of the Russian biathlon team, Andrei Padin, said in an interview with that the Norwegians and Germans adopted the modern training model much earlier and were ahead of the Russians.

Padin joined Mikhail Shachilov’s headquarters last year. In the 2021/22 season, the specialist worked in the Belarusian national team.

— Are you changing as a coach? Are the Andrei Padin of today and the Andrei Padin of ten years ago different people?

– Certainly. Everything changed. New methods and studies are emerging on how the body perceives the load of certain physical activities. The training program changes from year to year. What we do today, we did not do ten years ago.

— Would you scold yourself for something you didn’t do ten years ago?

– Maybe yes. I would have scolded myself even more twenty years ago. Then there was the usual training model, so established and so old. If we had done what we are doing today twenty years ago, we would have no equal. The Norwegians and Germans got there much earlier and were ahead of us.

— Are there any changes in terms of psychological work with athletes?

— As a former athlete, I don’t understand the issues related to psychology. I never suffered from any disorder, everything interested me, so I devoted myself as much as possible to my work. There was friction with the athletes, but not to the point of challenging them to a duel. Previously, athletes were more psychologically stable: they paid less attention to failures than today. Previously, chess stimulated them, but now it irritates them,” Padin told .

Watch live broadcasts of the races of the Alfa-Bank Russian Biathlon Championship in Tyumen on the and Match Arena channels, as well as on the sites sportbox.ru and matchtv.ru.