The Spartakiad continues to delight us with magnificent races. In the chase, Victoria Slivko faced many difficulties, but she managed and won the race. And Irina Kazakevich, in an incredible fight with Anastasia Goreeva, took the silver and burst into tears after the finish.
It was a tremendously great day!
Unexpected incident
The men were the first to run, as usual. Eduard Latypov easily scored the “golden” double. And if the fight for victory did not work out, Karim Khalili and Kirill Bazhin staged a real fight for the remaining medals. Khalili turned out to be stronger in this duel. Daniil Serohvostov, Maxim Tsvetkov and Roman Eremin finished in the top six.
For the women, even before the start of the chase, a tough confrontation was expected due to the close results: the first three in five seconds and the first ten in one minute. And the girls did not disappoint, putting up a nice fight from the first meters.
The group of leaders, Batmanova, Slivko and Goreeva, approached the first shooting together. The Sakhalin athlete worked to zero, but her opponents made a mistake. Batmanova entered the court with a solid lead. Her pursuer Polina Shevnina lost 22.5 seconds. Goreeva entered the race in second place (+28.1) and Slivko in third place (+33.4).
How were the sprints at the Spartakiad?
“I haven’t realized this victory yet.” Sensation on the first day of biathlon at Spartakiad 2024
Victoria’s difference could have been smaller if it weren’t for the incident on the penalty circuit. Having failed once, for some reason the Tyumen woman decided to perform two penalty loops. Fortunately, Slivko didn’t realize too late that he was doing something wrong. After walking a couple of meters, Victoria turned around and walked away from her.
In the second turn, all the designs changed. Despite his mistake, Slivko masterfully worked the prone position and came out first. Batmanova with a miss was second (+4.5) and Goreeva with a miss was third (+14.5). As the lap progressed, Victoria activated the turbo and escaped from her pursuers. On the line, Tyumen gained more than 12 seconds from two Anastasia.
Victoria Slivko
Photo: RIA Novosti
Wonderful booth
In the third stretch of shooting, Slivko again worked accurately, but the biathlete again had problems. As she left the mat, Victoria got tangled in the equipment and almost fell. Because of this, Tyumen lost a couple of seconds. At the exit of the line he was still the leader, although the advantage over Goreeva, who shot to zero, was only five seconds.
But Batmanova did not do well in the first position; Anastasia missed twice and abandoned the fight. But Irina Kazakevich unexpectedly broke into the ranks of the leaders. Starting in 17th place and making only one mistake, the athlete from Sverdlovsk took fourth place (+43.7). Polina Shevnina was third at that time.
Who should you watch in the Spartakiad?
Latypov vs. Smolsky and Russian roulette for girls. What will surprise the biathlon at the Spartakiad?
The final position was decisive. Slivko and Goreeva arrived on the mat at the same time and began working together. Anastasia shot faster, but in her haste she missed her last shot. Victoria worked like a great teacher to zero and came out in the lead with almost 30 seconds ahead.
In the chasing group, Irina Kazakevich and Kristina Reztsova gave the perfect posture, but Polina Shevnina made two mistakes. As a result, the athlete from Sverdlovsk came to third position. She lost badly to Slivko (+37.6), but Goreeva had a completely manageable 11 seconds. Given Irina’s difficulties, it seemed like there would be no fight. But then a miracle happened: Kazakevich accelerated and caught up with Goreeva. And almost at the finish line, the woman from Sverdlovsk surpassed the Muscovite.
“Tears of happiness flow”
As the battle for silver raged, Slivko triumphantly finished the race solo.
“Today I feel like a queen. The fans are great, they support both the distance and the curve. Today I couldn’t disappoint them, because yesterday many people were upset about me for these 3.5 seconds (delay in the sprint. – Note from the “Championship”). But I wasn’t upset, I understood that there would be a good initial number and I could fight,” Victoria said on Match TV.
The Tyumen woman also explained what happened to her during the persecution.
“After the first stop, I lost my stick and got a little nervous. Although, in fact, I was very nervous after the first lay: when I left the penalty circuit, they did not let me pass. I can’t say for sure who should yield to whom according to the rules, but it turned out that I had to go back to the penalty loop to turn around. I definitely lost about five seconds on this and then the same amount when I dropped the stick. Pauses during shooting? I shoot safely, I never chase anyone. Even when we shot in first position, Nastya Goreeva shot very fast and I shot as best as I could,” Slivko added.
True miracles also happen at world championships:
France repeated the incredible record of Soviet biathletes set 40 years ago!
Kazakevich finished second (+24.8) and Goreeva took third (+36.0). After taking the silver, Irina could not contain her emotions and she burst into tears, because recovering 15 positions is something unreal. A fight also broke out for the top 6: Natalia Shevchenko, Kristina Reztsova and Elizaveta Kaplina finished with a difference of 0.2 seconds!
“Today, as the race showed, is my day. All went well. I am very glad that I was able to cope with myself. Tears? When every beginning doesn’t bring you what you strive for, after this it really brings tears of happiness to your eyes.
On the last lap I saw that Nastya was already having a hard time, she was running out of strength. So I tried to get closer. I rolled out of her descent following her and then on her ascent I managed to get away from her. They yelled at me that she was leaving and the only thing left to do was work the way down.
Three winners
Photo: RIA Novosti
After winning a medal, I should feel better, because I couldn’t get through the wall. I understood that I could, but it didn’t work. When shooting, I hit while standing, but I don’t hit while lying down, or vice versa. There were always some “buts”. Today these “buts” have disappeared. But I didn’t expect to be in the top three, because the gap with the leaders was too big; a minute and a half is a long time for a chase race. But nothing has changed for the boys: even Smolsky, who failed only once, did not help much. The girls had opportunities and I took advantage of one of them. I had 17 races without prizes and I came out in 17th place,” Kazakevich admitted.
On February 13, individual races will be held in Zlatoust. Men start at 9:00, and women – at 12:00 Moscow time.
