“They gave the Americans gold”: why Russia is recognized as the Olympic relay
used how close Russia was to gold, so hard to penetrate that after the sex race our team was losing to the leaders every minute and was only in seventh place.
Uliana Nigmatullina, who started first, made five misses and, despite the fact that she managed to close them with available cartridges and avoid penalty loops, it took a lot of time to enter the shooting; and Kristina Reztsova, who entered the track second, and an exception went to one penalty loop, bringing a big backlog with her partner.
The women’s part of the relay race in Russia did not work out. Nigmatullina admitted after the races that she didn’t think about a possible medal at all when the team dropped so low, and the gifts rejoice at the final result.
“Today we could have been fifth, so for me bronze is a victory. We all lost mistakes in this race, but now we are in a great mood for possible starts, ”Sport24 translates the words of Nigmatullina.
The husband and coach of the athlete Ilshat Nigmatullin recalled that she coped with a serious injury in the summer and generally risked missing the Olympic Games.
“I am extremely happy with this medal. Congratulations to everyone who was in the game, because everyone contributed to this result. For Uliana, it was a long and steady journey.
In August, after waiting for the back, we thought that the season could end, and the dream of an Olympic medal could be said goodbye.
But we managed to get her out of this state, work out the operation and prepare for the Olympic Games. Today she’s done well, she showed everything that she’s been working on for this race, ”Nigmatullin’s words were given to Metaratings.ru.
Kristina Reztsova, after chasing her misses and the penalty loop, gets into her hands with wind and tremor:
“Here, in principle, a difficult setting for shooting. When I arrived, there was a gust of wind, I had to wait.
I waited a long time – and an international tremor. I was shaking so much that I couldn’t aim properly. But we have a medal – and this is a victory for us, ”said the athlete.
Reztsova also noticed that until recently she had succeeded in success – even when they scored on 150-meter free throws.
“After the penalty loop, I had thoughts: “Run as fast as possible,” the press service of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) quotes the athlete. – I saw girls who went for two laps. I understood that anything could happen in the next two stages, and Sanya Loginov should be sent to the race as soon as possible so that he would decide everything.
Everything really turned out the way Reztsova had hoped. Firstly, Loginov produced almost perfect shooting: zero misses in prone and two misses in standing, which he quickly covered with additional cartridges. Secondly, the 30-year-old biathlete showed high speed among all rivals.
Loginov won back the entire minute gap and pulled Russia from seventh place to first.
“Bronze is a nice end to the day. This is not just another medal – this is an urgent victory, – the athlete said after the race. — Where did I get so much energy on the last lap? Probably inspired by good shooting. There were difficult weather conditions at the shooting range. There was a different wind in the Olympic arena from the first day. Therefore, when I went to the border, it no longer scared me. We had to work in such a wind, we worked in training at work, ”said the athlete.
Eduard Latypov finished the race from Russia, who fired at the level of Loginov – he made only two misses at the beginning, which quickly ended with additional cartridges. But the speed failed. Perhaps the fact that the Russian intercepted the coronavirus in early January and spent about two weeks in transit without the opportunity to train normally had an effect.
After the final shooting, Latypov went to the track in the same group with Johannes Boe and Quentin Fillon Maillet, who competently sat behind him until the finish line, and then jumped out from behind and took the gold and silver.
“I don’t regret that I went first on the last lap,” Latypov said after the race. – Thought it would be better. found that I can control the situation on the descent – I made a small gap on it. But that wasn’t enough.
How would it really work out. By the way, I felt more comfortable that way.
This is a sport, and in any case, it turned out to be a great race, I’m happy. In the future, you may need to behave differently. But today it was necessary to do so. If I had sat behind them – the rivals were very good today – I don’t know if they would have managed to organize competition at the finish line.
Dmitry Svishchev, a member of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sports, Tourism and Youth Affairs, speaking with Gazeta.Ru, admitted that it matters in the fight against Russia, but noted that bronze is a sign of the team’s great progress.
“To be honest, I was worried.
I was sure that our guys had a gold medal in their pocket, but the last shooting has changed a lot. The advantage was lost, and in the future, Eduardo, probably, no longer caught the strength.
However, many do not think at all that we can have a medal in the mixed relay. But the season shows that our biathletes have good results. The fact that Russian biathlon is now emerging from a deep crisis is a fact.
For several years in a row, there were no particular results. This year, the new leadership of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) pulled up the team, made no mistake with the coaching staff – well done.
I congratulate the whole biathlon family. What they did can be called the heir to the birth of Russian biathlon.
Of course, we will not intercept the guys, only the first race has passed. But in general, they have a rather successful season. And it’s not just about the Olympic Games, but about the fact that our biathlon is moving in the right direction.
Of course, there could be a gold medal, a silver one – they just missed the mark. But still, well done, we are happy.”
Svishchev also noted that in cross-country skiing Natalya Nepryaeva took silver in the skiathlon that day:
“This is a good example for our entire Olympic family: two medals on the first day is a good result. I hope that other Russian Olympians will pick up this initiative and show results that will please all of us.
Definitely, Russia will still have gold – and not only in biathlon, our skiers are also amazing.
Although the skier Natalya Nepryaeva showed quite a lot to Teresa Johaug. But it’s still a good result. Both Nepryaeva and the biathletes have very good chances.
Yes, the prospects turned out to be the favorites of the Olympic Games in these disciplines, and so far they confirm this. But it is clear that we will still fight for a place in the top three of the medal standings. Now is just the beginning, it is useless to make any forecasts and capture. Most importantly, there is a good start for our guys. We distinguish that we are capable of winning and should win.”