“Only the Russian team can stop Johannes Boe: Latypov, Loginov and, for today, Kolotov.” Interview with Padin

Andrei Padin’s next arrival in the Russian national team took place last year, when he joined Mikhail Shashilov’s headquarters. This season, Padin is one of the most open characters in our biathlon: he works emotionally in front of the camera after his biathlete shoots and is not afraid to go to Dmitry Guberniev’s studio.

In an interview with , Padin explained the influence of Artem Istomin’s group on Shashilov’s team, talked about his relationship with Anton Babikov, with whom he had a conflict several years ago, recalled the golden era of Anders Besseberg and also spoke about his commentary skills.

“There was a failure in shooting training in the Istomin group”

— Everyone is talking about the confrontation between the groups of Shachilov and Istomin. Does this stress you out?

– It doesn’t bother me at all. I am a supporter of healthy competition: the stronger our rivals are, the better off we are. In a context of distance from international competitions, we have to maintain our level, we therefore need stress. There is a proverb: “That’s why the pike is in the sea, so that the crucian carp does not sleep.” » When the girls from the Istomin group win prizes, when the regional athletes run well, it pushes us to develop.

— Do you analyze the work of the Istomin group? Where are they going, what are they doing?

— I stopped doing this a long time ago because it’s not entirely informative. The training process does not depend on where you have been, but on the type of training program you have developed. You can prepare anywhere if you have a proper training program.

— Artem Evgenievich called his team’s performance this season a failure. What do you think? Aren’t you excited?

– This is his opinion, if he said it, then he considers it so necessary. I’m not a fan of commenting on his statements. But if we talk about their team, there was a failure in shooting training. Functionally, they weren’t very bad, but on the contrary, they showed good speed.

— The coaches council will take place on Thursday. Do you know if the two groups of the national team will be kept?

— I don’t know of any specific proposals. Perhaps this issue is under discussion with management. For my part, I can say that we do not want to miss the number of people in centralized training, that is, there should be two women’s and two men’s teams. The status they will have is not that important. Whether one is the main one, the other backs up, it’s not that important.

— In this situation, many people ask the question: why do we need the Russian national team now? How would you respond to them?

– This question is incorrect. Athletes achieve good results when all the strongest train together. If we don’t keep the team together, everyone will start working locally. I wouldn’t call it chaos, but it won’t be exactly what we’re aiming for. If we wait for a return to the international stage, then in the absence of a national team, we will not be ready to compete there. The strongest must train with the strongest.

— So what is the phenomenon of Victoria Slivko, who does not train with the strongest, but often wins?

— I admire Victoria. She is so motivated, so ready to fight, and enjoys training so much that she feels most comfortable training alone. Maybe other athletes can do the same, but it requires a bold decision. If someone has such a desire, then why not? Let them be like Slivko.

“Batmanova should thank Shachilov for everything”

— How did you start working with Mikhail Shachilov?

— It wasn’t me who came, but him (laughs). I had circumstances, but they were quite serious, because of which I didn’t work for a year. In the spring of 2022, I finished working with the Belarusian national team and joined Shashilov’s team only in 2023. We must pay tribute to Mikhail Viktorovich, because he was so patient that he m ‘waited after my year-long vacation.

– You don’t argue with him?

“We have a working relationship, we don’t talk much.” There are labor conflicts, but that is normal, because truth is born in conflict.

— Isn’t it difficult for two leaders to get along?

“Everyone says two bears can’t get along in a den.” It turns out that we find common points of contact.

– What is its advantage?

— In matters of organization, in which he knows very well. I would call him a great promoter, as they say in combat sports. And of course, he has coached a large number of athletes, which speaks volumes about his coaching abilities.

—Does he have any favorite athletes?

– I can’t say, maybe yes. I think the coach always tries to give everyone the same attention.

— Do you have good relations with Anastasia Batmanova?

– Alright. Although Anastasia represents Sakhalin, as far as I know, she herself applied to join his group. His victory at the Spartakiad and his good performances this season are the direct merit of Mikhail Viktorovich. Before switching to him, her results were mediocre, but then she started growing and progressing. She should thank Mikhail Viktorovich for everything.

— Is there now a conflict between Shachilov and her husband-coach, as was the case before?

– No way. Mikhail Viktorovich is able to resolve any conflicts. Everyone has families, husbands, wives, and that’s normal, but at the same time everyone works out, and everything is fine.

“In my opinion, the accusations against Besseberg are simply fabricated”

— 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 blame 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 kind of disorder, I was interested in everything, so I devoted myself to work as much as possible. 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, failures stimulated them, but now they irritate them.

— How do you communicate with Anton Babikov now?

– Okay, let’s say hello, he always congratulates me on our successes. Yes, there were serious disagreements with Anton at one point. I don’t see any guilt on my part, and he probably doesn’t see it on his part either. I’m proud of him. Coach Padin made him a world champion. There were disagreements, but then everything went well. When our work was going well, I always considered him a top athlete. My opinion: because of psychology, he interfered with himself. If he had taken the other side, his career would have been different. After these events, he lost about two years. And he was able to recover only in Kaminsky’s group. This time could have been used to win medals, but for him it was spent restoring his athletic form. But everyone is the master of their own happiness.

— Don’t you miss biathlon when it was led by Anders Besseberg?

“I won’t say I know him closely, but I’m grateful.” My opinion: he is a professional with a capital P. He has done a lot for world biathlon and the accusations attributed to him are simply fabricated, in my opinion. He always acted fairly and was loyal in political battles. In Russia, we had both World Championships and World Cup stages – and no one should be offended. I think it was the scale of biathlon, it was a golden era not only for Russia, but for all countries.

— How did you meet him?

— We saw each other during the stages of the World Cup. He was present at all the events and races. As they looked through the trainer exchange, they said hello to each other. Besseberg was also invited to commercial competitions: to the awards of the governor of the Tyumen region, to a race in Moscow, he was in favor of any development of biathlon. He came and helped, why should we be offended by him? We managed to organize the gubernatorial race in Uvat, can you imagine? I’m not saying that Uvat is a bad place, but it is worth holding such grandiose competitions there.

— What were his impressions of Uvat?

– I didn’t live with him. If there were no negative responses, everything was fine. Uvat is great, all our biathlon stadiums are great. It is a sin for us to complain.

“No one comments better than Guberniev”

— Is the current international biathlon boring?

— It’s boring without Russian and Belarusian biathletes. Our media say that Norwegians now dominate there, but it seems that not only here, but journalists from all countries are writing about this. No one can compete with the Norwegians now. They are so strong that Johannes [Бе] Everything is going for new records. Only the Russian team can stop him: Latypov, Loginov. Well, today, Kolotov.

— You behave with great emotion during the coaching exchange, commenting fondly on your athletes’ performances. Do you want, with Dmitry Guberniev, to comment on the entire race on air?

— From my fellow coaches, I receive, as you say, likes. They admire my commentary skills. Of course, I want to work with Dmitry, but I have no education. If I were the only one commenting, the viewer would be bored after Guberniev. No one comments better than him, no matter who says something. I don’t want to offend other colleagues, but Dmitry Guberniev has the highest rating.

– Is your soul suffering because of something?

– Only if it concerns personal things. We have such long business trips that we want to go home (laughs). There is no point in complaining about the rest: I am happy with my life, with my destiny. Like any normal person, I am a homebody.

— Out of the 12 months of the year, how many are you in training camp?

— I would say that now in Russian biathlon I feel comfortable in this regard, but when I worked in Belarus it was different. During my three years working in Belarus, I spent six months each year working abroad – not including summer internships. Then I was homesick and worried. From the outside, a coaching career seems easy and interesting, but to the average person, it is tedious.

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.