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Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the initial two stages of the next season of the Biathlon World Cup were supposed to take place in the presence of 4,500 spectators. But on November 26, less than two days before the start of the season, organizers ruined fans’ hopes of seeing biathlon racing with their own eyes. Of course, the money from the purchased tickets will be returned to the fats, but many have booked transfers, hotels, etc.
Considering several positive test reports for COVID-19 this week, holding the biathlon without spectators is the right decision. After all, the World Cup could surpass the fate of the IBU Cup, the start of which has until now been postponed to January and, most likely, may be canceled altogether a bit later this season. A lot of money saved the biathlon from being completely quarantined: the IBU signed sponsorship contracts for sizable amounts long before all this history, and the cancellation of elite competitions could affect the sport as a whole.
Stage program
Kontiolahti will host two opening stages of the World Cup at once. The second stage was originally supposed to take place in Östersund, Sweden, but the International Biathlon Union decided to minimize biathlon travel across Europe and did a double stage in Finland.
The first will include individual races and sprints this weekend. Then the biathletes will have three days off, and next Thursday the second stage will begin with more sprints. And from December 5 to 6, fans of the main winter sport will be able to enjoy the first chases and relay races of the season.
1st stage
11/28/2020 – 12:00 – Individual race, men
11/28/2020 – 15:20 – Individual race, women
11/29/2020 – 11:30 – Men’s Sprint
11/29/2020 – 14:30 – Sprint, women
2nd stage
03/12/2020 – 14:30 – Sprint, men
03/12/2020 – 17:30 – Sprint, women
05/12/2020 – 14:20 – Male pursuit
05/12/2020 – 16:15 – Relay, women
06/12/2020 – 13:45 – Relay, male
06/12/2020 – 16:45 – Female pursuit
Ukraine national team
Mens: Dmitry Pidruchny, Artem Prima, Anton Dudchenko, Ruslan Tkalenko, Bogdan Tsymbal, Taras Lesyuk.
As part of the Ukraine national team, six men and women each went to the early stages of the World Cup. The experienced Sergey Semyonov was supposed to perform at Kontiolahti as well, but due to health concerns he will probably be able to debut in the new season only in January at Oberhof, although with an optimistic forecast we will be able to see him on the track at Hochfilzen.
As for the rest, the line-up has practically not changed compared to last season. Dmitry Pidruchny and Artem Prima are the leaders of the men’s team, and young Anton Dudchenko, who indulged with steady shots in the end zone in the first quarter, also took hold on base, but after the New Year there was a decline.
Dmitry Pidruchny
Ruslan Tkalenko has established himself as a reliable relay fighter, he, in a team with Prima, Semyonov and Pidruchny, placed second in the World Cup at the Czech Nove Mesto, repeating 20 years later the best result of the selection Ukrainian men in relay at the World Cup. In personal careers, the 28-year-old has yet to compete for high places; In his entire career, he only raced in the top 40 five times.
And 23-year-old Bohdan Tsymbal last season could not even qualify for the chase race, but in the future he is seen as the leader of the Ukraine men’s team. Tsymbal’s progress is obvious, but it’s still unclear how fast he can fight for points. Judging from the recent individual control run, his functional form is fine.
It is too early to talk about the medal prospects for Ukrainian men. The main thing is to avoid health problems and get involved in the season, and then it will show. The main beginning, as in previous years, will be the World Championship, it is in this championship where you need to reach your maximum point.
Woman: Elena Pidgrushnaya, Valya Semerenko, Julia Dzhima, Vita Semerenko, Daria Blashko, Ekaterina Bekh.
In the women’s team, the absence of Anastasia Merkushina is immediately noticeable, who continues to train separately from the main team, under the guidance of her father-coach. Jurai Sanitra and Oleg Merkushin apparently decided to save the athlete, so we hope that she will be full of strength to enter the fight already in Hochfilzen.
At the end of last season, the Ukraine men’s and women’s national teams retained a quota of five biathletes who can enter for sprint races and singles. Therefore, for the moment, Yurai Sanitra teams have a spare one, in case of force majeure. It is already known that Valya Semerenko and Taras Lesyuk will miss the individual races. There will probably be a rotation for the sprints, but the decision will most likely be made by the results of the girls on Saturday.
In the women’s individual race, the attention of Ukrainian fans will be focused first on Yulia Dzhima, who stood on the podium in this discipline for three years in a row. In 2017, the Ukrainian became third in Östersund, a year later she won the individual race in Pokljuka for the first time in her career, and last year in the same Östersund she won a silver medal. Hopefully this time he can keep the bar high.
Julia Jim
Recall that Jim, as in previous years, was preparing for the season with the Slovenian national team, which continues to be coached by former Ukrainian women’s mentor Uroš Velepets. There is no information on their preparation, but it is very possible that the functional form of the youngest of our Olympic biathlon champions is better than that of those who were supervised by Juraj Sanitra.
The decision to give two-time world champion and junior European champion Ekaterina Bekh to run the individual race seems a bit strange. Still, he is much better in sprints and contact races. But it is obvious that it is better now, if something does not go well, to fill the cones and eventually eliminate the weaknesses than to do it immediately before the Olympics.
After a not very successful debut season at the World Cup, ex-Belarusian Daria Blashko managed to eliminate her health problems, who a few years ago was considered one of the most talented young biathletes in the world, but due to a two-year quarantine, has yet to be revealed in the set. beauty. It will be interesting to see it.
In general, in the 15km clean shot race, in addition to Jim, Elena Pidgrushnaya and Vita Semerenko also have the opportunity to compete for the podium, but a lot will depend not only on their progress in the race, but also on their rivals. In Vuokatti, the Ukrainians had no equal in the individual short control race, however, not everything was easy with the accuracy of the shot, and in Kontiolahti it is not only the national teams of Finland, the United States and Bulgaria that will be rivals.
Not everyone will run the initial stage
On the eve of the start of the first stage of the Kontiolahti World Cup, cases of coronavirus infection were detected in several teams at the same time. Among them are Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, France, Romania, Italy and Poland. And this list is likely to be replenished both before the start of the first race and after its end. Who exactly will not be able to compete in at least the first two races due to positive PLR tests? Let’s find out.
The Russian team, unfortunately, left Anton Babikov behind the side of the race, he was not only infected with the coronavirus, but also three representatives of the squad. Biathletes Thomas Kaukenas (Lithuania) and Baiba Bendika (Latvia) also fell ill.
Slovak biathletes Paulina and Ivona Fialkovy will miss the first stage of the World Cup, as they were put into self-isolation due to a positive test from the military with whom they contacted. Along with them, coaches Anna Murinova and Jakub Leszczynski, as well as a physiotherapist and two soldiers from the Slovak national team, are in quarantine.
Paulina and Ivona Fialkova
Italian Dominic Windisch was not included in the team because of the “stranger”, in his words, the test result. But given that shortly before the launch of this material, cases of coronavirus infection were detected in the Italian and Polish national teams, it is very possible that the 2019 world champion could not resist an insidious disease.
But in the French team no one was quarantined. The fact is that the person who passed the positive test fell ill with COVID-19 a month ago. The French referred to a study that says that a person infected with coronavirus ceases to be dangerous for another two weeks after all symptoms have passed. And the Finnish authorities found this argument quite convincing.
Overall, the coronavirus is sweeping Finland, and so far it cannot be said with complete certainty that this or that biathlete will definitely perform in the upcoming races. But the IBU has put a comma in the title before the last word: can not be canceled, spend.
2020/21 biathlon season: schedule, announcements, broadcasts, results
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