Why is Kaisheva not on the national team? Let's go a bunch

Everything that happens in Russian biathlon reminds me of the movie "Groundhog Day". I'm sure you do too. Every year anti-records are updated, major starts fail, absurd decisions are made and the same ridiculous excuses are heard. And if in the first years, as a fan, this really surprised and infuriated me, now I would rather be very surprised if Svetlana Mironov (objectively the most promising Russian biathlete in terms of skiing at least) after failure in her 6th!!! race at the World Cup, they would calmly leave her on the team and concentrate on her shooting training during the break between stages. But no, once again a miracle, that is, an adequate solution did not happen, and instead of Mironova, who takes 3rd place in the total among our girls, others will prepare for the next stages: Yurlova, Akimova, Kaisheva, Slivko, Starykh, Virolainen.

And if I personally have no questions about the first three, Yurlova is stable and close to the top ten total (by the way, she was preparing for the season outside the national team, a coincidence?).

Akimova, although not stable, alternates good races with failures, but it’s clearly not in our team to waste an athlete who has been in the top ten!

Kaisheva, in any “normal” team, I’m sure, after 3 victories at the Youth World Cup in 2013, she would have been constantly called up to the national team and would have long ago become the team leader and probably already fought for victory in the World Cup (don’t believe me? then look at the names of those who were not even close to her rivals at that time - Breza, Vitozzi, Merkushina, Gasparin, Chevalier, Vishnevskaya, Rungaldier, Kummer... the list goes on... The girls whom Ulyana beat so easily then are now long-titled athletes: winners and medalists of the World Cup, World Cup stages, have already tried on the yellow bib, etc. And Kaisheva..and What about Kaisheva, every year she knocks on the door of the national team, runs one or two races and then goes on to “bury” her career at the selections.

As for the other 3 athletes, just the facts:

Slivko - 27th place - the best result in 3 stages and not even once!! during the course she did not enter the top 50 (apparently they are preparing her for the main start.

The old ones - it’s not even a matter of results (although everything is bad with them) but with prospects. If you are preparing for the main competition (judging by the results in December), why are you keeping an athlete on the team who is not officially going there at the moment? By the way, Mr. Kravtsov, have you submitted documents on it to CAS?

N u and Virolainen, she didn’t shine in the IBU Cup, but she’s still on the national team. I don’t even know what to say here..p.s. If Podchufarova hadn’t been killed off in the end (by the way, Dahlmeier won the 2012 Youth World Championships), then rest assured, she would have been in the lineup sooner. And Kaisheva would go to Izhevsk to prove her right to be on the team.

That's it. Oh yes, personal fans of certain athletes, don’t be angry. I respect each of them very much and I honestly feel sorry for them to be honest. After all, they will now find themselves under such pressure that the enemy will not envy them. Although they are not to blame for anything...

And who then??? Surely this is the thought in your head right now, reader. (kidding).

If anyone thinks that it’s all about the coaches, they are very deeply mistaken. The coaches of the national team objectively do not have the right to the last vote, and may not have a vote at all. (Just remember how the lineup for the relay and certain races at the last World Cup was formed, after which even the highly paid Gross spoke unflatteringly about the fact that they did not listen to him. If they do this with an overseas specialist, then what can we say about the Konovalovs, Noritsins and Kasperovich?

All these names are just faces. The people on the screen are trying to find excuses for decisions that most often are not made themselves. So who are these people who are secretly destroying biathlon? I agree, I’m dragging it out, you already know everything yourself. Russian biathlon is a toy in the hands of two comrades, Mr. Kravtsov and Yakushev.

They are the ones who gather coaching councils, where, based on experience, they dictate brilliant plans that coaches and athletes skilfully fail to implement. It is they (I’m sure, but aren’t you?) who decide that Kaisheva, after one unsuccessful race, is too early to join the national team. (just in case, let me remind you that Slviko has accumulated many more such places and, as we see, does not affect the prospects of being on the team. Maybe this is all due to the fact that she represents Tyumen, where Mr. Yakushev is in charge of everything? No, nonsense some..

Russian adult biathlon has been at a steep peak for many years: Shipulin, who works with his independent coaches, takes medals at the World Championships. In the Nations Cup, both teams are performing worse and worse, and at the main competitions, for which they prepare every year for the entire season, over the past 3 years there has been only one gold!

And why? One of the people who has been and is one of the leaders of biathlon for many years said that Grandma Masha simply did not give birth. A universal explanation, don't you agree?

But for some reason I am sure that Baba Masha will not give birth. She will not give birth to anyone more talented than Kaisheva, Mironova, Vasnetsova, Pavlova, Yakushova, the same Podchufarova... this is not an exhaustive list of girls who recently won in juniors at the world championships. Because no matter how much you give birth, endless selections, “careful rolling” at second-rate starts and marinating until “victorious” at the youth level for the sake of medals and reports (at the very time when the body is still able to progress well for 20-24 years) do not allow athletes to develop . The fact that after the first attempts they are kicked out again does not allow development, thereby subjecting the athlete’s psychology to incredible pressure. It’s not for nothing that Mironova admits that she’s terribly afraid to compete in the relay, but why???

Meanwhile, our former ones, Lapshin, Frolina (not to mention Kuzmina) time after time turn out to be higher than ours in the protocol. People who, it turns out, were clearly not given birth by Grandma Masha (they didn’t even qualify for the national team) are now calmly preparing for the competitions, smiling, enjoying the races (in their words), and not trembling with the thought that they could be thrown out for any failure. start and as a result have results much higher than ours.

Here is the irony of fate: The people who should help Russian biathlon the most with their management activities, in reality, harm it the most. They do harm through the stupid organization of the entire system, egocentric strong-willed decisions and the lack of an adequate response to their own mistakes (we decide, but the coaches are to blame, so we change them every year).

With this approach, the prospects for Russian biathlon are vague. Little will change until the people in the offices change. So we will read every year the same headlines and articles, in which only the names will change. And the gentlemen, the officials, will continue to put their trust in Grandma Masha, who still won’t give birth.

The women's pursuit in Oberhof was won by Marie Dorin-Habert. The best in the Russian team was Ulyana Kaisheva, who showed the 27th result.

Will the favorites falter?

The coaches of the Russian women's national team have been preparing Ulyana Kaisheva for a long time to return to the main team. Her debut in the current season suggested itself at the third stage, but then it was decided to give Ulyana a chance in 2017. Kaisheva didn’t exactly show everyone everything in the sprint, but compared to her compatriots she looked more than worthy and in the end lost only to Tatyana Akimova. And who would have thought at the beginning of the season that Akimova would be able to take on the burden of leadership? After the sprint, answering one of the questions, Tatyana said that she did not feel part of the elite of world biathlon. However, one way or another, she has been able to fight this elite lately.

At the start, Kaisheva and Glazyrina were almost two minutes behind the leaders, Irina Uslugina and Olga Podchufarova were more than two minutes behind, so, taking into account the speed, only Akimova could join the fight for the top ten - 82 seconds behind.

And in order to fight for medals, it was necessary to overtake the leaders of women's biathlon, who made no mistakes in the sprint. In the absence of Dahlmeier, the podium of Koukalova - Mäkäräinen - Doren-Habert looks completely natural. It was interesting to see whether the favorites would be able to maintain their places in the top three or would falter in the face of the winds and slopes of Oberhof.

Almost two minutes lag

From the first meters of the distance, no one rushed to catch up with Koukalova - there were no changes among the leaders in the first kilometers. However, some athletes in the dense peloton managed to win back several positions. Akimova, as in the sprint, started quickly and rose from 14th place to 11th in one and a half kilometers. The Frenchwoman Beskon and Krivko from Belarus tried to break through. But there were no real troublemakers on the first lap.

The first shooting was more than successful for Koukalova. The Czech athlete closed all five targets, hitting the clearance, and rushed off to the second round, leaving her rivals at the shooting range. But they were wrong: Mäkäräinen and Doren-Habert each made one mistake and went to the penalty loop. Second, after Koukalova, the German Hammerschmidt left the shooting range - her gap was 38 seconds.

As for the Russians, Akimova, unfortunately, missed her third shot and dropped to 15th place. Glazyrina, who shot clean, ended up 18th, but the gap between both of our girls was already approaching two minutes. Kaisheva, Uslugina and Podchufarova also missed once and fell outside the top 30.
Biathlon. world Cup
Fourth stage. Oberhof, Germany. Women. Pursuit race, 10 km

1. Marie Dorin-Habert (France) – 34.33.3 (2).
2. Gabriela Koukalova (Czech Republic) +38.8 (3).
3. Kaisa Mäkäräinen (Finland) + 1.19.1 (4)…
27. Ulyana Kaisheva (Russia) + 3.56.2 (5).
28. Ekaterina Glazyrina (Russia) + 3.58.9 (4).
29. Olga Podchufarova (Russia) + 4.01.7 (3)…
32. Tatyana Akimova (Russia) + 4.11.2 (7).
33. Irina Uslugina (Russia) + 4.22.2 (4).

Status quo on a pedestal

During the second round, Koukalova pulled away from her rivals - she gained seven to eight seconds from them during the move. And the Frenchwoman Chevalier, who could not cope with another difficult descent, dropped out of the chase. However, after the second shooting range, the top three returned to the original format: Doren-Habert and Mäkäräinen were in second and third places, 25 seconds or more ahead of their missing rivals. Hammerschmidt was fourth, and then there was a 30-second gap.

Two minutes from the leaders, at the very beginning of the second ten, two Russian women fought. Akimova and Glazyrina performed the second prone stage flawlessly. Podchufarova also sent all five shots on target, but Kaisheva and Uslugina were not without mistakes. It is curious that Frolina, who was fighting for the Korean national team, was between them and missed three times. The race did not go very well for Daria Domracheva either. The return is still difficult for her; after the second round she was only 43rd.

Squat shooting

At the third shooting stage, a strong wind awaited the leaders, which confused Koukalova’s cards. She shot for a long time, waited out the impulse, even sat down, but still earned herself one penalty loop. Doren-Habert acted flawlessly in the stand-up position, and therefore managed to get ahead of the Czech biathlete. The gap turned out to be very small - 5.5 seconds. Third place was retained by Mäkäräinen, who was not flawless on the shooting range. And Hammerschmidt remained fourth, whose success at the shooting range was, understandably, greeted by fans in Oberhof with a deafening roar. No one really tried to catch up with the leading four - the gap was too large.

The Russians did not succeed in the third shooting. Akimova missed three times at once and stopped fighting even for a place in the top ten. Glazyrina also made a mistake; taking into account the speed at the distance, it was already quite difficult for her. Uslugin and Podchufarova each made one “duty” miss, but Kaisheva closed all five targets and thus ended up even ahead of Tatyana Akimova, who had fallen deep into the protocol.

The best result is not a reason for pride?

Doren-Habert and Koukalova shared the victory in the head-to-head duel at the shooting range. The Frenchwoman started shooting earlier and, having made one mistake, rushed to the penalty loop. By that time, the Czech had already made one mistake, but in a hurry, she made a second one, giving the victory to her opponent. Mäkäräinen could have gotten into this fight, but she missed twice. Hammerschmidt also “refused” the medal, missing three targets. Thus, the winning trio was fully formed at the exit from the fourth firing line. Only one of the treacherous descents on the Oberhof track could have hindered the leaders, but no force majeure happened on the last lap.

Our girls, alas, couldn’t cope with the wind at the fourth shooting range. Glazyrina and Akimova made three mistakes each, Kaishev – two, Podchufarova and Uslugin – one each. After such shooting we couldn’t even count on top 20. As a result, the Russians settled tightly in places from 27th to 33rd, squeezing two Polish competitors in a kind of vice. Frolina, taking 20th place, was again ahead of the entire Russian team. Akimova again showed a good performance over the distance, and Kaisheva eventually became the best in the Russian team. But whether this can be a reason for joy is a big question.

I was one of the last to leave women's training. Over the past two stages, a lot of questions had accumulated for him, and they concerned not so much the results as what was happening with the athletes. Why are some of them not ready, but the composition is unchanged, is it worth waiting for an increase in speeds, why do Kaisheva continue to be ignored, despite victories, and who will lend a helping hand to Russia if the servicers are not allowed to the Games - in Konovalov’s exclusive interview with the “Championship” special correspondent .

Austrian estimates. Shipulin and Odysseus - who is stronger?

The top ten goes to Yurlova, lost Loginov, Babikov has a point higher for humor. A specialist, a fan and a journalist assessed the athletes.

- What is the current state of the team?
- The girls are completely fine, no one has any symptoms of illness. They underwent a functional status examination. Their even shape does not cause any concern.

- Why wasn’t anyone called to replace Olga Podchufarova?
- The coaching staff decided to keep the main five because the girls in Hochfilzen performed well. Katya Yurlova is 17th in the ranking, Tanya Akimova is 24th, Svetlana Mironova did an excellent sprint and deserved the chance to prove herself more as an athlete worthy of competing at the World Cup. Vika Slivko skipped the sprint and pursuit in Hochfilzen with the expectation that she would run these races here. Ira Starykh is also getting into shape.

- If we combine Slivko’s shooting and Mironova’s speed, we would get a biathlete of the top ten level. But how to do that?
- Vika has improved a lot this season in terms of speed. Shooting is considered her strong point. We did a lot of strength and speed-strength work with her. Sveta Mironova’s shooting is still unstable, no matter how much we would like it. She is also making progress towards better and more confident shooting.

I am still inclined to believe that there are people gifted for shooting who grasp everything quickly, and there are those for whom the learning process is a little delayed and takes a little more time.

- What is the reason for instability? Gaps in basic training, nervousness or lack of natural talent?
- I will give an example from the German team. People always ask me about Denise Herrmann's progress in shooting. She is in her second year of biathlon and is starting to shoot great. I agree, but they also had Miriam Goessner, who ran very hard, but could not find strong shooting even with the vaunted German school. I am still inclined to believe that there are people gifted for shooting who grasp everything quickly, and there are those for whom the learning process is a little delayed and takes a little more time. This is exactly the case for Sveta.

- What is happening to Podchufarova?
- We expected a different start to the season, so at the end of two stages we talked with her for a long time and came to the conclusion that she needed to take a break. It was her decision that we agreed with. She does not end the season, but at the same time she takes a short break. Maybe she will rest for a week, maybe two. It’s hard to say yet, but she continues to train and prepare.

- How does her illness manifest itself? What are the symptoms and causes?
“I wouldn’t dwell on the symptoms and the fact that something is wrong with her.” It's just that the general condition is not what we would like. There were no complaints about her during the preseason. She did all the work and had an adequate reaction to the load. What we're getting now is the hard work we had to do before the season started. Now Olga will skate, come back and continue performing.

- Will she undergo some kind of in-depth examination at this time?
- There will not be an in-depth examination as such, but it is certain that we will exercise constant operational control.

Biathlon evening. The people are the same, the medals are rarer?

The Russian biathlon team does not change and cannot win World Cup medals. We think this is right, what about you? The choice must be made!

- How can she get into the team from the point of view of the selection system? Or will you give her carte blanche again?
- Of course, it will be easier for her if she starts competing after the break at the IBU Cup in order to gain confidence, because the level of performance there is lower.

- won several races at the IBU Cup, but never received a call to the national team. Why are you so hard on her?
- We always keep Ulyana Kaisheva in mind, because she is a very talented, young and at the same time quite experienced athlete. We are by no means discounting it. Ulyana will be given the opportunity to compete at the World Cup after the New Year.

-Will you take her to Oberhof?
- We’ll see how it performs on the Izhevsk Rifle, and we’ll make a decision based on its results.

- Why is she worse than those who underwent centralized training? Why was she initially pushed into reserve?
- As for the composition for centralized training, the decision was made by the board. They approved the final lists.

- Why didn’t you ask to give you Kaisheva?
- Composition B also employs very competent specialists and the team is provided with everything necessary for preparation. I think that there is no big difference in preparing here or in that team. The main thing is that the athlete is highly motivated and focused on results, finds the strength to improve and raise the level of his skills in order to ultimately show good results. But starting with the IBU Cup or the World Cup is not so important. The main thing is to show your stability step by step, and you will be heard and seen.

- Today Elena Vyalbe said that skiers have a problem with allowing service providers to the Olympics, but at the same time she talked with the Norwegians, and they will be ready to provide assistance to Russian skiers themselves. If a similar problem arises in biathlon, do you have someone to turn to?
- I still hope that this will not happen to us and that our service team will go to the Olympic Games in full force.

- But what if?
- We will solve problems as they arise.

Two-time Olympic champion in biathlon, Olympic champion in cross-country skiing Anfisa Reztsova expressed dissatisfaction with the system of forming the Russian women's team for the World Cup. The team for the first stage of the World Cup in Östersund included , Victoria Slivko And Olga Podchufarova. The day before it became known that Slivko would not perform in Sweden due to illness.

“Akimova and Slivko were included in the lineup quite justifiably. At recent test starts they performed well, being among the leaders. I am confused by the presence of other names on the team. A few weeks ago, I spoke with the President of the Russian Biathlon Union, Alexander Kravtsov, who assured that the team will be formed exclusively on a sporting basis. But after the end of the selection it became clear that all this remained only in words.

I got into the national team, which had not competed at the international level for a long time. The coaches also took Ulyana Kaisheva, although she also didn’t show anything special at the test starts. But Daria Virolainen was “unhooked” from the squad. It turns out that the principles of sports selection affected only her.

As I understand it, Sveta is promoted not by the coaching council, but by individuals. Apparently, her inclusion in the lineup was facilitated by the new coach of the women's team, Valery Medvedtsev, who trained Sleptsova in Krasnoyarsk. Apparently, the head coach of the national team is behind Kaisheva’s promotion... As long as such dishonesty on the part of individuals continues, the mess in our biathlon will not end.

I don’t want to seem biased towards Sveta, she is a talented athlete. Another thing is that at one time she behaved incorrectly. Having not yet achieved serious results, Sleptsova suddenly became very arrogant towards those around her. This was manifested both in relation to her teammates and to the coach of the women's team, Anatoly Khovantsev. However, she got away with everything. For some reason, the previous leadership of the RRF - in particular, the former president - did not stop such behavior. As for the peak of her career... Let Svetlana demonstrate that her time has not passed. So far, she hasn't proven anything yet.

I know Valera Medvedtsev as a strong athlete. Apparently, he is also a good coach, because in his native Krasnoyarsk he managed to create a bright team. Dasha went through the entire pre-season training under his leadership and was satisfied. However, with his decision after the selection, Medvedtsev erased all the good things that happened. My daughter is asking me now: “How is this possible, mom? Who can you trust now? - quotes Reztsova from Moscow Region Today.