Latypov took the last shot, but missed. And Babikov took bronze in the end!
Andrey Shitikhin September 9, 2023, 12:25 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
The “golden” double by the Belarusian Smolsky: he shot on a large scale and closed one target after another.
Belarusian biathlete Anton Smolski won the second race in a row at the first stage of the Commonwealth Cup in Sochi. But his victory in the pursuit race after a big advantage in the sprint was clear, but the more experienced Anton Babikov took the medal from his training group partner Alexander Povarnitsyn at the finish line.
Smolsky came into the race with a huge lead over all his rivals and raced in his own way. The Belarusian himself admitted that he did not have to dodge to win, he was going at his own pace, but he himself created a bit of intrigue behind the second border. From the first line, Smolsky got out without a miss, although he was very lucky – the dimensions were closing.
Anton Smolsky
Photo: RIA Novosti
In the second line, Anton made two mistakes and here the dimensions were no longer correct. On two landlines, Smolsky made a mistake, permits were approved again, and overall it was a sure victory. No one approached the Belarusian biathlete and made him even a little nervous.
How the Commonwealth Cup started in Sochi:
The Russians lost the first race of the new biathlon season. Latypov ran too fast
Eduard Latypov had an excellent race in terms of speed. But the leader of the Russian national team only passed one milestone without making mistakes. It’s great that it was the fourth line, where Latypov fell behind again with the last shot, but he hit it. At each of the previous milestones, Eduard made a mistake. With a cleaner shot, he could have closed on Smolsky.
The main hero of the race was the most experienced Anton Babikov. In the sprint he was only 10th and went in pursuit with a long delay, but managed to take a bronze medal. Although Anton left the final frontier with a great clearance from Eduard Latypov and Alexander Povarnitsyn, who battled for silver.
But Latypov apparently easily escaped from Povarnitsyn, who seemed to have let off some steam. He simply did not have enough strength to compete even with Latypov, but to retain bronze. Babikov passed his training partner on the long climb and left Povarnitsyn on the descent.
Eduard Latypov
Photo: RIA Novosti
After the race, Anton said he felt great about the distance, but Alexander admitted that he had gone a little overboard in training before the start, hoping this would have a positive effect. It turned out the other way around. And the secret of Babikov’s condition was revealed by the head coach of the Russian national team, Yuri Kaminsky: it turns out that Anton fell from a height after the sprint, which could not but affect his freshness and recovery.
Completing the top 6 were Belarusian Maksim Vorobey and Beijing Olympic medalist Maksim Tsvetkov, who rose from low positions after the sprint.
The skier debuted in the biathlon with eight penalties:
“8 fails: legendary”. The Russian skier debuted in biathlon as Anfisa Reztsova
