Prize money: what to expect from the second stage of the Russian Biathlon Cup

On December 6-8, Khanty-Mansiysk will host the second stage of the National Biathlon Cup. This will be the fourth consecutive competitive weekend in Ugra with the participation of the strongest athletes of Russia and Belarus. What to expect from new starts in the same place - in the material of "Izvestia".

Hospitable Khanty-Mansiysk

Biathletes start the season in Khanty-Mansiysk not for the first year. The choice of the place for the start is quite justified. The stadium in Ugra is proven and once hosted the World Cup stages, but one of the main advantages is that there are no problems with snow in November. For example, this year Tyumen experienced such difficulties due to abnormally warm weather, and as a result the ski stage of the Russian Cup had to be postponed. In Ugra, on the contrary, hard frosts can come at this time and interfere with the schedule, as was the case in 2022, when races were canceled. Although this is rather an exception to the rules.

Last season biathletes competed in Khanty-Mansiysk three weekends in a row, this season one more weekend was added. The season opened on November 16-17 with the IBCB Cup (International League of Club Biathlon). This start is unofficial and is not included in the SIS calendar. However, its prize money is high, where 1 million rubles are given for the victory, including that's why none of the strongest athletes refused it.

Officially, the season was opened by the Commonwealth Cup stage. Last year there was no such event, and the season itself started a week later. Viktor Maigurov, head of the SIS, explained the changes in the calendar this way.

- Everyone there (in Khanty-Mansiysk) is getting used to the season, - said Maigurov in a conversation with Izvestia. - If not for the competition, they would also run a control training, but now they will do it for money. We offer to compete for a few days. If you want to do the training through competitions, you're welcome, if not, we don't force anyone. We end the season a week earlier. Let the athletes choose where to participate.

After the Commonwealth Cup stage there are two stages of the Russian Cup left in the calendar plan, which were also last season, but with a slightly more extended program.

Selectivity of the leader

Daniil Serokhvostov has had a strong start to the season this year. In five individual races he has not dropped below second place: three golds and two silvers. One silver is special. Daniil took it in the mass start at the MLKB Cup. Then he simply gave the victory to his friend Karim Khalili, or rather, he lost in "stone, scissors, paper" a few meters before the finish line.

In the Commonwealth Cup standings, Serokhvostov is not at the top, as he missed the summer stage of the competition due to illness. But he is the leader in the SIS rating and in the Russian Cup standings, so he will start the second stage in the leader's yellow jersey. At the same time, he does not set any special goals here, because he considers the past MLKB Cup and February competitions to be the main starts of the season.

"The Cup of Russia I'm not going to run the whole completely. So only if to fight for the SIS Cup, and that's all," he said in an interview with "Match".

The leadership in the Russian Cup standings at Serokhvostov is still unreliable, because at the first stage there was only one personal race - sprint. Therefore, the second stage may well see a reshuffle in the top. Olympic medalist and world champion Alexander Loginov, who broke his arm in the summer, took silver in the sprint at the start, while Belarusian Anton Smolsky took bronze. Previously, representatives of the Belarusian national team did not count points and did not include them in the Russian Cup, but this season everything has changed.

On the SIS website it is Smolsky who is third in the total, not Russian Nikita Porshnev, who is in fourth place. There are also three more Belarusians in the top 10 of the Russian Cup: Maxim Vorobei is fifth, Ivan Tulatin is sixth and Dmitry Lazovsky is 10th.

The best biathlete of the last season Natalia Shevchenko is leading in the women's standings of the Cup of Russia after one race. Kristina Reztsova took second place in the sprint at the first stage in Khanty-Mansiysk, third - Belarusian Dinara Smolskaya.

Prize money

The prize money in the Russian Cup remains the same. The winner in each individual race gets 70 thousand rubles, silver medalist - 60 thousand, bronze - 50 thousand. The top-6 strongest participants are awarded in total.

Biathletes can win the highest prizes at the Commonwealth Cup, if the MLKB Cup is taken out of brackets. There they get Br300 thousand for the victory in individual races (Belarusians are paid more - Br370 thousand for the first place, including taxes). At the championship of Russia, the sums are also higher than the Cup of the country - Br100 thousand to the winner.

This year there are additional rewards for athletes. At the end of the season, the leaders of the SIS rating for men and women will receive 1 million rubles, and in addition, the strongest biathletes under 23 years old will get 500 thousand rubles.

After the second stage of the Cup of Russia athletes will finally change the location. From December 12 to 15 the competitions will be held in Izhevsk. Four races in Udmurtia will be held within the framework of the Cup of the country, and two races (individual races for men and women) will be held within the framework of the Championship of Russia, i.e. the prize money will be higher.

Schedule of the II stage of the Russian Cup

December 6, Friday

9:00 - sprint, women

12:00 - sprint, men

December 7, Saturday

9:00 - pursuit race, women

12:00 - men's pursuit race

December 8, Sunday

9:00 - women's big mass start

12:00 - big mass start, men

Start time of the races is Moscow time