"Somewhere inside, there is still hope that the season will be Olympic"

In July, Russian biathletes will begin preparing for the new season, regarding which it is still unclear whether they will get a chance to compete at the Olympic Games in Italy, scheduled for February 2026. So far, the rhetoric of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) does not give grounds for optimism — the organization recently openly supported Ukraine and opposed the dismantling of Russians. In an interview with Izvestia, Russian biathlete Maxim Tsvetkov, the bronze medalist of the previous 2022 Olympics in Beijing, the 2017 world champion, assessed the chances of lifting sanctions against our athletes in the near future, said he was not going to bleed his nose to get to the Games in Italy, and explained why he switched to self-training.

"At home, I always go to the Vologda Dynamo

— In May, you and a number of other biathletes and skiers participated in a charity football match, where you took the field next to such stars as Andrey Arshavin, Pavel Pogrebnyak, Denis Glushakov. Have you ever played with them before?

- no. This is the first time I've played against such players. It was a very unusual experience playing with the masters. I am glad that this opportunity was given. I like to play football myself, but lately I haven't been able to go out on the field. At one time, I was afraid of injury, but now, in principle, there is no way to go out and kick the ball. The only thing I do is go out into the yard with my son to play. This is my maximum. But in general, I love football, I like the game. It's not often that I have to play myself, but at home I always go to the Vologda Dynamo. Besides, I support CSKA.

— Is it because you played for CSKA in biathlon for a long time?

— No, I started getting sick even before I got to CSKA. I've been playing football for the Army since I was a kid. Probably, on the contrary, I was more supportive of them during my school years. I graduated from high school in 2008, and even then I was worried about CSKA for several years. I also saw the victory in the 2005 UEFA Cup. But now I rarely watch football on TV — only live. Because I only feel real emotions when I watch from the stands or play by myself. That's why I always go to the Vologda Dynamo. Moreover, I consider it necessary to support the local guys, since I am a professional athlete myself and I understand that this is not the game without fans.

— What do you expect from the next biathlon season?

— It's hard to say. In general, I don't think at all about the next season, what will happen and how. I plan to start training in ski and biathlon only in July. Before that, the plans were more running. In particular, I will run the White Nights marathon in St. Petersburg on July 5. I'm currently preparing for it at home in Vologda.

— Why was last season very difficult for you — only two runners-up at the Russian Cup, and a lot of finishes outside the top 20?

— It was not complicated, but normal for me. Because since last year, if anyone doesn't know, I've been preparing on my own. I do all the preparation at home. During the entire preparatory period, there were only 20 days at the training camp, out of a maximum of five months. And in principle, I didn't have any high hopes for that season. The fact that in December, at the beginning of the season, I managed to compete for the lead with Eduard Latypov, when I was second and lost to him by only a few points, was already a good indicator for me. An indicator that I can get in good shape in a month and a half. And this year, probably, the same scheme will be. But since there is still hope somewhere inside that the season will be Olympic, I plan to start preparing more closely in July.

— Why did you switch to independent training?

— Because I realized that I want to spend more time with my family. And a professional athlete chooses — either he stays at home or trains like a professional and gives himself 100% to his work. Last year, I realized that I wanted to spend more time with my family, with my son. He's going to school this year, and it's very important for the child to have his father by his side.

— Are you not going to change this mode?

— I'm not going to now. I'll be at home until the end of June, and then I'll start preparing for the new season on my own.

— Is there no feeling that they don't return from such a regime to the highest level?

"They're coming back. Basically, I did it before the Beijing Olympics. Back then, I also trained on my own for a year. But there was a different situation: two years before the Olympic Games, I realized that my goal was to get to them and perform successfully there. Therefore, for two years I systematically trained in front of Beijing — the first year with my region, the second year with the national team. And before I left self-study, my level was even worse than it is now. In the 2019/20 season, I was 60th in Russia. And he didn't take any medals. Last season, I was much higher in the Russian Cup and won two medals. My form is much better. Therefore, anything is possible. But if you set a goal, then you need to give it 100%. But now I can't say that my goal is to participate in biathlon competitions.

— So there is no goal to get to the 2026 Olympics at any cost?

— Yes, nosebleed, there is definitely no goal to get there. I train at home whenever possible, as far as my schedule allows me. There are other things to do. There are children who are growing up, and I want to pay more attention to them. I would like to come to the ski section at home in Vologda more often, meet with schoolchildren and teenagers there, and share my experience with them. I understand that to some extent I'm moving into a field where the motivation of the younger generation depends on you.

— If Russian biathletes are disbanded in 2026 after the Olympics, will you try to work at full capacity in the next four-year cycle?

— No, the topic is closed for me for the next Olympic cycle.

"When you shoot next to Johannes Boe, you don't even think that you have the right to miss"

— It's a shame that your career is developing like this: at first you were not invited to the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang due to doping sanctions, although you were never caught using illegal drugs, and after 2022 the international competitions were closed for you for political reasons.

— Of course, it's a shame. But that resentment has already passed. I don't think about her. It was very disappointing at that moment. If you rewind and look at yourself during the period when we were not allowed to go to Korea, you can't even convey those feelings. It was even more insulting than it is now. Because then I was, if not at the peak of my form, then very close to it. There were good results. Even if you take that 2017/18 Olympic season, I had a good ending. I won a personal medal in Tyumen at the World Cup and was generally very well prepared. But unfortunately, it's not up to us to decide. We're the people here who only do what we're told. It's forgotten now.

— In this regard, can we be happy that we got caught up in the bronze medals in the relay at the 2022 Olympics?

— Yes, although then I wanted more. But he didn't take gold in individual races only because of his mistakes. You can only blame yourself. Sometimes you still replay all those races in your head, thinking that you did it wrong. But that's how it happened. I am glad that I had such an experience in my life as the Olympic Games. And that we were hooked on medals in the relay then.

— Do you believe that Russian biathlon will be banned in the upcoming Olympic season?

— I won't say categorically, but it seems to me that it is unlikely. By the way the IBU behaves, what they say all the time... There is a feeling that the progress regarding our admission to international competitions will not be as fast as we would like. Anyway, I'm speaking for biathlon.

— Anton Babikov believes that our biathletes will be the last to be disbanded because of the need to transport rifles with cartridges across state borders.

— Yes, I also think it's very difficult. In the current situation, it is difficult to imagine that we will be allowed to enter Europe with weapons. Moreover, most of us are military personnel, representing CSKA. So it's very hard to believe in our ban right now. Of course, everything changes quickly in this world, so nothing can be ruled out, everything is possible. But my gut feeling is that it's unlikely.

— In the last three years, have our biathletes been helped to maintain at least some level of domestic competitions in the form of the Russian Cup and the Commonwealth Cup, where they compete together with Belarusians?

— We see a lot of interesting guys at the competitions. The same Daniil Serokhvostov, who is in very good physical shape. There is certainly competition within. And she spurs the guys on. But I often notice that our guys' shooting quality would be higher if they were at international competitions. Now our leaders sometimes come to the firing line with the understanding that they can easily win back one penalty round if something happens. The rate of fire is not required, and, most importantly, the shooting quality decreases, because the guys understand that they can win the race even with one miss. There would simply be no such thoughts at international competitions. They wouldn't even realize it was possible. When you shoot next to Johannes Boe, you don't even think that you have the right to miss. And it's very difficult to completely dismiss such feelings outside the international arena. In the same World Cup, the density and responsibility are much higher. And you can't even stimulate yourself.

— You have mentioned more than once that you now spend most of your time in your native Vologda. Recently, it has been promoted throughout Russia as a new tourist center. Is she really as attractive to people as they say?

— I would say that Vologda has always been attractive in terms of tourism in terms of historical sites. There is something to see there. And it always has been, and not just appeared recently. It's just that now it has become more widespread in terms of information, and more people are talking about it all over the country. As for the infrastructure, it has improved not even for tourists, but for local residents. When new spaces appear, new parks open up — it's very cool. As a resident of the city, I understand that when I go out to play or walk with my child, there is a place to go. All of this is evolving. And not only in words.