On September 5, the Commonwealth Cup stage in biathlon starts in Sochi. The beginning of the season was devoted to the press conference of the President of the Russian Biathlon Union, Viktor Maigurov, and the Executive Director of the organization, Alexander Pak, which took place at RIA Novosti.
In our sport, everything is extremely logical. If we talk about the plans of biathletes for the season, then in the summer. As they say, it is necessary to prepare skis and weapons in advance, so as not to roll without them later. Problems, as expected, a lot. Starting with the fact that most of the athletes’ equipment comes to Russia from abroad.
Photo source: RIA Novosti
WRONG SYSTEM CARTRIDGES
“For a couple of years we have been under the most severe sanctions in international sports, and not just in the bathhouse, but things are still there. I wanted to sigh with a line from the cult movie “White Sun of the Desert”: “Yes, they have the wrong cartridge system.” It turns out that they are the ones who have the same, and we have problems, even with the skis and with the costumes, but they are being solved. This is how the introduction of the speakers can be summarized.
The SBR noted that problems with cartridges for biathletes persisted.
“Today our capacities have not increased, 300 thousand cartridges are not enough for us. We are trying to solve the problem with the purchase of foreign cartridges, we are trying to find them abroad, but because of the exchange rate, it is expensive,” Maygurov said.
Photo source: RIA Novosti
WE WILL COME BACK HERE LAST
“We send out quarterly anti-doping reports. The reaction there is positive. Regarding the return, the IBU Executive Committee said that they have no reason to return us. I have already said that biathlon will be the last sport in which we will be back. Although we do not lose optimism, we are in contact with the ROC and the Ministry of Sports,” Maygurov admitted.
Quite expected. The International Biathlon Union does not shut up, but it is in no hurry to return. Therefore, our athletes can only believe.
As the president of the UBR himself believes, noting that Russian biathletes must be prepared. Anytime they can call, and we’re already here, here they are, so beautiful and ready.
Are you ready? There are also many questions here. Only a few people achieve normal shooting performance, even less – in terms of speed on the track. To do? As usual, work, create and wait for someone to break through.
Photo source: RIA Novosti
I AM NOT LOOKING FOR ANOTHER PASSPORT
But while we wait for them to call us, it is feared that the biathletes may think about changing their citizenship. There are precedents, and in biathlon, I remember, we have a whole galaxy that could go, for example, to South Korea or Kazakhstan. Maygurov has no worries about this.
“We do not have citizenship change applications. Some strong federation will definitely not invite our people, because it is Europe or North America, and a weaker federation will not invite us, because they do not have enough funds, ”he said.
“We are following guys who have previously moved to other teams. They can always get the necessary advice from us, this is a normal relationship in biathlon. I don’t think there will be any requests soon. Thank you athletes for your understanding. In addition, it has the support of the Ministry of Sports. Everything can change in an instant. We don’t know when, but we will definitely return to the international calendar,” she added.
Photo source: RIA Novosti
15 THOUSAND FOR DEVELOPMENT
It is true that there are some small joys. Firstly, biathletes are regularly paid money, prize funds are strong. But even here it is not without a fly in the ointment. Our most stellar guys receive several million rubles per season, while the Norwegian Johannes Boe earns almost 20 times as much.
And secondly, everything is being built everywhere: in Gorno-Altaisk, and in Cheboksary, and in other regions. But in the Ivanovo region, 15 thousand rubles were allocated for the development of biathlon in the region. Incredible amount, now we will live.
“We have allocated 55 million rubles for the regions, 1 million per region. We also have a total prize fund of 30 million rubles for the regions. That is, the leading federations will receive 2-3 million rubles each,” Maygurov said.
And a couple more updates. For example, Alfa-Bank has joined last year’s only sponsor, the bookmaker, and now the RBU management asks journalists to write the names of the tournament with the name of the bank.
LET THE SHOW BEGIN!
We are all looking forward to the ultimate show. Well, what about the Commonwealth Cups or the Russian championships and Cups? They are annual, there are no novelties and surprises at all. And we are people, and we would like a real vacation. The RRF listened to the wishes and tried to organize the show.
“We talked with Elena Valerievna (Vyalbe) on this topic, but I will not dwell on it. Make it a surprise. We need to find a place on the calendar, a place, who will broadcast and who will sponsor. We are looking for a place already in 2024”, said Alexander Pak.
Photo source: RIA Novosti
“We have several transitions from skiing to biathlon, and a joint show will only increase the promotion of our species. We always go hand in hand,” Maygurov added.
Therefore, from the beginning of 2024, in the middle of the season, all lovers of biathlon and classic skiing will have an event – star Russian biathletes will fight skiers on the slope. It would definitely be nice to see how Saint Sanych Bolshunov shoots targets from a rifle. This was said by those who attended the press conference.
The main thing is that San Sanych gets where he needs to get, but for the rest we will only be happy with everything new.
