The organizers of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi were forced to make significant adjustments to the layout of the ski track in Krasnaya Polyana. This was done after leading athletes gave their comments after testing it at the Biathlon World Cup in March 2013.
What the athletes said
Participants of the next Biathlon World Cup, which took place in Sochi in March 2013, at the end of the competition expressed their complaints to the developers. Most foreign athletes found it too difficult and unsafe.
Thus, the world champion Tura Berger from Norway said that there are quite a lot of irregularities on the Sochi ski track, there are not enough areas where you can relax a little, slowing down the pace. “Something always happens here,” she added.
The head coach of the German national team, Fritz Fischer, spoke very harshly. He called the Sochi ski track unsuitable for the Olympic Games. Fischer motivated his categorical opinion by the fact that there were too many descents and ascents on the way, and there were practically no flat areas outside the stadium.
Swedish national team member Bjorn Ferry also disapproved of the Sochi ski run. He found it too narrow and predicted that in some areas it would become quite crowded when there were many athletes.
Russian biathletes spoke in a different tone. They talked more about the merits of the track, and not about its drawbacks. So, Svetlana Sleptsova, Olympic champion, proudly announced that the track was built in Russian. The athlete considered the steep descents and ascents, the lack of places to rest as pluses, not minuses. “The one who is more ready will win,” she said.
World champion, biathlete Sergei Rozhkov told reporters that the Sochi track meets all world standards.
What are the conclusions
Nevertheless, in addition to words, there is also objective data: during the competition in March 2013, there were quite a few falls. Athletes flew off the track at bends, were injured. All this prompted the developers of the track in the Laura ski and biathlon complex to change its configuration.
The main correction was made to the descent; in particular, the elevation difference was lowered on it, which will reduce the speed of passage. Specialists of the Russian Biathlon Union worked on changing the scheme together with representatives of the International Biathlon Union.
Laura is expected to receive all the necessary certificates and licenses in October.
