Alexandra Korneva For several years he has been considered one of the most promising biathletes in the country. Last season he won gold at the Russian Championship and became the best young biathlete in the country according to the RBU rating. However, the end of the season for Alexander was not the most positive.
At the final stage of the Commonwealth Cup in Murmansk, one of the most unpleasant moments of the 2023/24 biathlon season happened – during the relay, Kornev fell ill, he literally stopped on the track during the relay and left the race due to a spasm.
In an interview with , the biathlete spoke in detail about the situation in Murmansk, his current state, explained why Kaminsky’s group trains ten hours a day and shared a sweet story about how he proposed to his girlfriend.
“On the skiing side, the phrase was heard: ‘How come biathletes started training like skiers?
— Your group’s meeting in Raubichi recently ended. Judging by social networks, there were serious loads and six-hour trainings.
— Yes, after all, Yuri Mikhailovich’s skiing past [Каминского] It is felt, now we feel it (smile). We are increasing the volume a lot, but it is not without reason: we are increasing the stroke volume of the heart and laying the foundations for the winter season.
— Was the amount of work the same in previous seasons?
– No, we probably rolled more. There were a lot of new athletes who needed to be understood and studied. Everything is progressive, a big Olympic cycle… This training system has such a cumulative effect – every year there is new work in a specific direction, and this year is already so fundamental, from which you will build next year. So to speak, a solid foundation for the Olympic season.
— How long was your longest training session this summer?
— About 6-6.5 hours. We did a one-hour cross-hike, then spent three hours on roller skates with inserts of technical elements, after which, for a snack, we did another two hours of cross-hike. We slept and went for another three and a half hours to the second training session. But this is a common work with filming.
— That’s almost ten hours of training a day?
– Yes, it turns out so.
— In the past, were there such training days with ten hours of work?
— No, it wasn’t (smiles), only this season. Last year there were six-hour training sessions, but not like this. It was a bit like a hike, but now we decided to make everything more interesting. Basically, we all adapted quite well and tolerated it quite well, so everything should be fine.
— At the same time as you at the Raubichi training camp, the skiers from Sorin’s group were training, did you have any joint training? Did you follow their work?
“We didn’t have any joint training, we crossed paths with them, but we didn’t work together. But somewhere, maybe from the skiing side, the following phrase was heard: “How come biathletes started training like skiers?” (smiles).
— Was there a possibility of spying on them? After all, there are champions and medalists at the Olympic Games.
“You can watch, but personally I didn’t pay attention to it, because when I go to my training, I don’t look at anyone else. Today, the training is such that you concentrate entirely on your own work and it’s difficult to look at someone else. And then there are shots, and you don’t have time to be distracted.
— Can you, for example, sit with the skiers in the dining room and chat? Give each other advice?
“We have never communicated like this before, I think if such an opportunity arises, there will be no problem.” It seems to me that there are no barriers.
We haven’t met yet, because there’s so much training that we go into the room and lie down. At this meeting, the closest thing to me is my bed. We go to training in the morning, there’s no one at the stadium yet. When we come back, there’s no one.
We go out to the second one – there is no one there either. At the end of your workout, you drive and realize that only birds are chirping.
— It seems that it was in Raubichi that the biathletes from Kaminsky’s group worked the hardest.
– Yes, but it is a necessary step that must be taken. Then we will go to Seminsky, and everything will be fine there (the interview was recorded at the end of June. – Note from ). There, the volumes will already drop a little.
“After Murmansk, they examined me from head to toe, they said that everything was fine, but that I needed to monitor my health more carefully.”
— One of the most unpleasant moments of last season was the situation in Murmansk, when you literally stopped and could not finish the relay. Now, can you tell us in detail what happened then and what thoughts you had at that moment?
“At that moment I realized that my breathing was jerky, that I could move forward, but what was the point, why? I decided that it was better to go down than to continue and torture myself. I realized that they were already catching up with me and that I was going to lose. So I decided to leave the track.
— In other words, if you continued, you would simply go on foot?
– Yes, I realized that I could go. I probably just needed a ride, and I would have walked away, but it was no use. I realized that I was losing, and it was a big loss, and I decided not to go.
— Now, don’t you regret not having succeeded at that time?
“Now I only regret one thing: having done something wrong somewhere during the season, especially in terms of health. And so no, I don’t regret not having run further.
— In Murmansk, everyone was afraid for your health. Tell me what happened after that race?
“The coaches came, started asking what had happened and went to the medical staff to check if everything was okay. After Murmansk, I was resting, I decided to take a break and do some examinations, a complete check of my health. During this period, I rethought everything, rested completely, restored everything as much as possible, checked everything, and only after they told me that everything was fine, I was ready to continue training.
– What exactly did you rethink?
— I realized that sport is probably not the priority in our lives and that the most important thing is health.
— What did the doctors say about what happened?
“They examined me from head to toe and told me that everything was fine, but I need to pay more attention to my health and not get sick during competitions – that’s the most important thing.
— How closely did you communicate with Kaminsky during the period when you underwent all these examinations?
– Quite tight. There had to be interaction between the doctor and Yuri Mikhailovich, because it was necessary to understand what was happening, in which direction to work and what to correct, where to go. While I was undergoing examinations, we communicated and talked all the time.
— Now, your workload in training is no different from that of your teammates?
– No, it’s not different. After resting, I entered the training process smoothly and now I’m training fully.
“We went to choose engagement rings with Emerkhonov”
— This summer, a joyful event happened – you proposed to your girlfriend. When is the wedding? Are you already preparing?
— Yes, it was the most pleasant moment (smiles). How do we prepare… There is Nastya (Anastasia Pogodina. – Note “”), and she does everything, I just react: “Oh, wonderful” (laughs). Of course, discussions take place, but the main part of the preparations falls on Nastya. The wedding will take place on April 25, right at the end of the season, closer to the end of the holidays.
— You and your friend and team mate Emerkhonov proposed to your girlfriends around the same time. Did you talk to each other in any way?
– No, we didn’t agree (smiles). It’s just that each of us understood what was needed and achieved it. There was no such thing as sitting down and talking like: “Come on, let’s do it together.”
But we went to choose rings together. It happened by chance (smiles). I already had to leave, so I had to look for the ring urgently. I knew that Zhenek was just in the mall – and that’s how it happened together.
— You proposed in an unusual place. Tell me how it was?
— It was a two-day trip, we traveled around Thailand. I understood that it would happen there, I wondered how I would do it, I knew that there was such an unusual staircase, it is quite often found on social networks, so we had to invent something. I convinced everyone who was traveling with us. So everyone knew, everyone was filming. After everyone took pictures, we went, stood up, I turned around … I also forgot which knee to stand on, I asked Nastya (smiles) – and offered. Later, we had a long ovation on the bus; our guide then reminded us with one word what a touching event it was.
— Were you very worried when you proposed?
– Certainly. Why is there a video of this moment on social networks without a voiceover? .. Because everything was said in the worst possible way (smiles), with hesitations, with a kind of speech disorder. I had a prepared text in mind, but when we climbed those stairs, I already understood that everything had not gone as planned and I began to simply say what came to mind. Everything that was planned remained somewhere far away, improvisation began.
– Let’s get back to sports. We know that not everyone is happy with the biathlon competition calendar for the 2024/25 season. What thoughts did you have when you saw it?
— I was probably surprised only by three Khanty-Mansiysk, because it is usually cold there at that time.
There is also one stage that will definitely take place in Demino, and two that are incomprehensible. It seems to me that it would be better if there were two stages in Demino. There is a fairly interesting track for athletes, it is very functional, there is good accommodation there, there is a good hotel and houses. And in terms of the reasonableness of unnecessary movements, if you insert Raubichi, it seems to me that it will be difficult to move, because it is easier to do two stages and move than to go from Demino to Raubichi, because there is a very short interval between the stages, about two or three days. To get to Raubichi, you will have to go to Moscow, from Moscow fly to Raubichi – and this can be a serious blow to the situation.
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I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
