Reaching the peak

Mountain training and snow outings — these are the biathletes’ plans for the near future

Belarus' Summer Biathlon Championships in Raubichi                            Yegor Yermalitsky

With less than two months to go until the start of the winter biathlon season, the national summer biathlon championships recently concluded at Raubichi. This event allowed coaches to summarise the work done by the athletes during the off-season. In the women’s races — the sprint and the shortened mass start — the podium was the same for both: Dzinara Smolskaya came first in both races, followed by Hanna Sola in second and Kseniia Varabei in third. In the men’s sprint, the top three were: Anton Smolski, Maksim Varabei and Dzmitry Lazouski. On the eve of the mass start, it was announced that Smolski would not be participating in the race due to feeling unwell. However, even in the absence of the leader, the competition was fierce: Stsiapan Danilau finished first, followed by Dzmitry Lazouski and Aleksandr Golyak.
Very soon, our team will head to Tsaghkadzor, Armenia, for another training camp, after which they will set course for Khanty-Mansiysk to participate in the first winter competitions. We spoke with Oleg Ryzhenkov, Head coach of Belarus’ national team, about the preparations for the season and how the biathlon reserve is being developed.

— Oleg Vladimirovich, are you satisfied with how the athletes are performing at this stage of preparation for the new season?
— Considering the specifics of the upcoming competitive year and the significant amount of work that the athletes have done during the summer period, I was pleased that the athletes generally coped well with the shooting at the national summer biathlon championships. It is difficult to judge their functional fitness: it cannot be objectively assessed based on summer competitions, as races on skis and roller skis are very different. So, we will assess their readiness when we get out on the snow. Overall, the preparation for winter is going as planned. The upcoming season is an Olympic one. And, whatever happens, we are preparing for the main event — whether it is the Olympics or competitions in Sochi.

— What are the features of this current off-season?
— The main one is an increase in mountain training through trips to training camps in Tsaghkadzor, Armenia, and Bakuriani, Georgia. And, perhaps, a later start on snow: while we used to be skiing by October 20th, this year we plan to start in November. This is also due to the increased volume of mountain training.

— Has the squad that will compete in the new season already been formed?
— Let’s just say that there is a national team and an immediate reserve, who will also participate in the competitions we will be taking part in. First and foremost, this refers to Russian competitions. The fact that our representation in them will be greater this season is definitely the case.

— Which of the young athletes will we see in action?
— Probably those who competed at the Commonwealth Cup in Sochi [among the young athletes there were Alina Zaitsava, Hanna Pestsiarava, Alena Kulak, Viktoryia Shashkova, Hanna Makarskaya, Aleksandr Golyak, Kanstantsin Baburau, Aleksei Logvinov, Andrei Haurosh, Denis Yeremov, Gleb Orlovsky]. For young athletes, such competitions are a real find as they help in athletes’ development. Currently, biathletes from our immediate reserve are completing the entire planned training load, and we maintain both medical and pedagogical control. The lads are working hard and doing their best.

— Going back to the summer biathlon championships that recently concluded in Raubichi, it seems that the situation with the reserve has started to change for the better. In the national junior championships among boys and girls of senior and younger age, over two dozen youngsters competed in each category. Meanwhile, it was not so long ago that there were far fewer of them...
— You have rightly pointed that out. Just a few years ago, the situation, especially among junior and female athletes, was dire. There were not any sportswomen. Yet, through the efforts of the Belarusian Biathlon Federation, the Sports and Tourism Ministry, and other interested organisations, it has become possible to move things forward. The men’s team today has a large reserve — there are athletes to look at and navigate. It is the same for the girls: there are more junior and senior sportswomen. In the sprint, for example, about 20 athletes in these age categories started — that is already a good sign. Maybe not everyone’s level is what we would like to see, but there is progress. Work is underway to train biathletes. A great help for the development of young athletes is the Biathlon Cup of the Belarusian Biathlon Federation, held in our country. True, if there were no restrictions on the number of athletes from each region, there could be even more biathletes participating in these competitions, but the choice has been made in favour of quality over quantity.

By Tatiana Pastushenko