The Russian national biathlon team failed to enter the top three. In the single mixed relay, our athletes lost to six teams. The medalists were biathletes from Norway, Austria, and the Ukrainian Republic. The intensity of passions reached its climax during the shooting of Ulyana Kaisheva.
Speech by Kaisheva
The coaches of the Russian national biathlon team released to defend the honor of the country Ulyana Kaisheva, Evgeny Garanichev. These athletes have significant experience in relay races. Kaisheva managed to gain a foothold in the first team due to the decision of the coaches.
The relay distance consists of a small circle. In case of a miss in shooting, athletes can catch up with the leaders of the race. Kaisheva approached the firing line seven seconds behind the leaders. We managed to cope with the shooting. She secured the second position behind the athlete from Ukraine Anastasia Merkushina. Ulyana's next shooting was perfect. She hit all the targets without missing and escaped with a small loss to the leaders. When passing the baton, Zhenya Garanichev was third.
Shooting Garanichev
The winner of the Sochi Olympics at the first shooting range proved to be excellent. The delay in the last shot had almost no effect on Eugene's position relative to his opponents. Seven seconds separated him and the leader of the race.
In the second shooting, Evgeny missed. He managed to hit the target using one spare round. The time between him and the leader increased to 14.5 seconds. This is a lot for this type of competition.
Ulyana believed that she would not miss
Kaisheva at the last stage started in the group that fought for places from fifth to eighth. There was an expectation that our guys would get on the podium. All hope was dispelled after the unfortunate mistake of Kaisheva. During the first shooting, she failed to close the end target from the first shot. To defeat her, Ulyana used up two additional rounds. The time difference between Kaisheva and the leader increased to 34 seconds. With such a time, it is difficult to hope for prizes.
At the next stage, our sportswoman from Russia again used an additional cartridge. The leaders became even more distant from the rest of the participants. After completing the stage, Kaisheva was sure that she hit the targets, but they did not close. Evgeny Garanichev in the last stage of the race had a gap of 36 seconds, took the eighth position.
Ukraine's participation
Having shown himself from his best side in shooting, Evgeny did not manage to influence the unfolding sporting events. Opponents walked better at a distance. There was a hope that Eugene would enter the top six, but he lost by a move to several biathletes.
Athletes from Norway Tekla Brunn-Lee, Lars Helge Birkeland, used four additional rounds. They took first places. Athletes from Russia with a similar result took the seventh position in the list. In second place were athletes from Austria Lisa - Teresa Hauser, Simon Eder with five penalties. The third place went to biathletes from Ukraine Artem Tishchenko, Nastya Merkushina. They fired better than the other biathletes, hitting all the targets with one extra round, but not as fast as the rest of the relay.
Athletes from France, Sweden, Canada were ahead of the Russian national team with a large number of misses at the shooting range. This shows that they were better than the Russians on the move.
It's too early to draw serious conclusions. The mixed relay refers to specific races. The whole season awaits biathlon fans. Russian biathletes are just starting to perform. Let's wish them good luck.
World Cup. Singlemixt. Places
1. Norway;
2. Austria;
3. Ukraine;
4. France;
5. Sweden;
6. Canada;
7. Russia;
