Pidruchny: I felt bad for a week. I was worried that this would greatly affect the result

Leader Ukrainian biathlon team Dmitry Pidruchny commented on his opening race of the season in the first stage World Cup 2024/25 V Kontiolahti.

“I have good impressions, a very dynamic, fast race. There were good weather conditions at the shooting range, we saw a lot of zeros and few spare cartridges. There was a large group of athletes with whom I fought and rode along the track. Unfortunately, I can’t say about the track itself that the conditions were good: wet snow, heavy skis, and this makes the fight more difficult. But overall I’m happy with the race, it’s dynamic and good.”

“Are you surprised by the high speed? Yes, no more than yes. Now I should be in pretty good shape, the only thing that was alarming was that I felt bad for a week. I was worried that this would greatly affect the result, but in the last days everything was fine in training and I tried to force the fight on my opponents.”

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite able to reach the finish line; there were quite strong opponents in the first round. Therefore, I would have liked to do better in the last meters, but overall the race was great. There were no expectations that I was counting on anything. I understood that I could fight with quite strong opponents, this race, I think, proved it.”

Today the Ukrainian national team consists of Bogdana Tsymbala, Dmitry Pidruchny, Anton Dudchenko And Vitaly Mandzyna took seventh place in the men’s relay at the first stage of the 2024/25 Biathlon World Cup in Kontiolahti.

For Tsymbal and Pidruchny this was the first race of the season, while Dudchenko and Mandzyn had previously taken the start line in the mixed relay. Due to his health condition, Dmitry Pidruchny was not included in the lineup.

The 2024/25 World Cup in Kontiolahti will continue today with the classic women’s relay.