"Russian biathletes will be the last to be admitted to international starts"
Russian biathletes and skiers started the year 2025 with a show in Ryazan called the Race of Champions. For two days they competed first individually in qualification, based on which relay fours of two biathletes (a woman and a man) and two skiers (a woman and a man) were formed, and then determined the best according to the results of the mixed relay.
The third place in it was taken by a team consisting of Alina Pekletsova, vice-champion of Russia - 2023 in cross-country skiing, Natalia Shevchenko, bronze medalist of the Junior World Championships - 2022 in biathlon, Alexey Chervotkin, Olympic champion - 2022 in cross-country skiing, and Anton Babikov, world champion - 2017 in biathlon. In an interview with Izvestia, the 33-year-old Babikov shared his impressions of the past start, talked about his motivation to perform under the ban and assessed his chances of qualifying for the 2026 Olympics in Italy. He also explained why he believes Russian biathletes will be the last to be admitted to international competitions.
"Now the level of athletes has grown."
- How do you assess your performance at the Race of Champions in Ryazan?
- On the first day in qualification a good, normal start. It was important for me to work out, breathe and shoot. I made one mistake in shooting, which is acceptable in principle. I was more or less stable on the track, but I can always do better. In principle, I am satisfied with the mixed relay on the second day. Especially we took the third place.
- What was it like to go out on the track a couple or three days after the New Year?
- Well, we didn't have a big break after the previous race (December 22 at the Commonwealth Cup stage in Chaykovsky. - "Izvestia"). The time has already flown by - we started training on the 23rd, I did 30 hours of work, even more, probably. And now we start competing on January 4. It's been a very fast and tight interval. And the lack of competition we actually didn't even have time to notice.
- Taking into account such loads, how much do you have to restrain yourself on New Year's Eve in terms of drinking champagne and olivier salad?
- I think it's different for everyone. But for me it was rather the opposite - I couldn't eat the required number of kilocalories, because I was training a lot and didn't have time to eat properly, because it was not the easiest way to organize my meals. On December 31, I did two hard workouts. And by the time everyone sat down at the table, I wanted to sleep, not eat. So in terms of diet, I don't have any problems. There is certainly no question that I need to lose weight.
- Kristina Reztsova notes that the calendar of Russian domestic competitions this season is very tight, with more starts than at the World Cup. Do you like it or do you want more rest?
- The responsibility is on each athlete. He who realizes that he needs rest should not chase the starts - he should allocate the key ones. No one forces you to run everything. In terms of the overall number of starts in the biathlon calendar.... Perhaps we should pay a little more attention to quality rather than quantity. But it all depends on working on mistakes. If people analyze it, it will be better. If they don't analyze it, but just put in as many starts as possible, we will see stages where 15 girls will finish instead of 60. And things will only get worse. It's not the quantity that matters, but the quality.
- After the suspension of our biathletes from international competitions, to what extent do the Russian Cup and the Commonwealth Cup allow them to maintain their level?
- In my opinion, this season the level has risen a little bit. That is, earlier there was a little bit of regression, but now the level of athletes has increased. It is even difficult to say what motivated people to grow. Maybe it's still influenced by the premonition of the upcoming Olympic Games - it doesn't matter whether they will be admitted or not. People still somehow mobilize - there are athletes who find the motivation to continue. But of course, this does not apply to everyone. I can say for myself that I don't progress from year to year. But on the whole there are pluses. 100% in something we have added - both athletes and people who organize competitions. We should tune in for the best and find motivation - this is the most important thing.
- Mostly young people without a name have improved - can you say that about some of your long-term teammates?
- Well, let's say, such old ones as me, have not improved. Except for rare super talents like Loginov. But guys like Serokhvostov, Povarnitsyn, Kirill Bazhin - these are people who are still improving despite the lack of international experience. They're even interested in being the best in Russia, which used to seem like.... No one counted the number of Russian titles. Now people realize that this is also a status and it also matters, so they don't give up.
- Is it easy for you, after the gold of the World Championship and participation in the Olympic Games, to find motivation to compete only in Russian competitions?
- No, it's not easy for me. But I love sports, so part of the motivation for me is not only to try to become the best biathlete. There's a goal for other sports as well. For example, I've gotten fired up to run cross-country starts. And now, let's say, going out for a run, and we often run in winter, I think about how I will participate in some cross-country competitions in summer. This is also motivation for me. That is, I try not only to close myself in biathlon - I love sports in general. And it helps me to find a little bit of motivation somewhere.
"Biathletes will not be allowed to compete in the next year".
- In December, swimmers, figure skaters, speed skaters, including CSKA athletes, which you are. Do you have a feeling that in 2025 the queue for unbanning will reach biathletes?
- No, we have always understood that biathlon will be the last sport to be allowed. That's 100%.
- Why is that?
- We fly with weapons. So there has to be international authorization. Any country has to authorize us to fly with weapons. It's a very sensitive issue. So I think we'll be the last to be allowed to compete internationally.
- Even later than the playing sports, for which there are no signs of admission any time soon?
- For the players, I think it's always been the easiest to admit them. Given that they have a bunch of our Russian people playing abroad for local clubs. Any club systems in these sports lived and live quietly.
- Nevertheless, Russian national teams in playing sports are still not allowed anywhere. Even in aquatic sports, where in December we were allowed in all disciplines, including relay races for swimmers, duets and groups in synchronized swimming, pairs in diving, the mass unbanning affected everyone except the players in the water polo team.
- But I think they will eventually be admitted quickly and painlessly. Sometimes we don't even notice how someone was admitted, it's just not even discussed. Like, for example, in the case of ski mountaineering or modern pentathlon. You don't really notice it, and then suddenly you see that people are already competing at the World Cup. But there is already such practice. And I'm very happy for the guys. I was watching chess on New Year's Eve and how our team won a lot of titles and honors there. And everything is normal.
- Taking into account your words that because of the issue with the delivery of weapons abroad biathletes will be admitted to international competitions in the last turn, do you still have hope that it will happen within the next year and Russians will be able to go to the Olympics-2026?
- No... Well, you can believe, of course! And you can believe in Santa Claus, but don't do bad yourself! But no, I think they won't let us in next year. That's right. Biathlon will not be allowed.
"I want to test myself in a serious enough race."
- Then it turns out you have no luck at all with the Olympics. In Beijing in 2022 you did not get into the national team, in Pyeongchang in 2018, at the peak of the severe crisis in our biathlon, you went with Matvey Eliseev in a very truncated composition, participated only in individual races, without relays. Do you now have a goal to run and finish the race until the 2030 Olympics in the French Alps?
- I would like to run until 2026. (laughs) No, I don't have such a goal as you are talking about. At the moment. Maybe I would find some motivation to run. But I repeat, I love sports in general. And I'm interested to discover myself in other kinds of sports. So, probably, in 2030 I will go to the Olympics in athletics. (Smiling.) More precisely not in 2030, but in 2028.
- Do you have any prerequisites or are you just joking?
- It's a joke. But partly. I'm just saying that I like running. And I want to test myself in a big enough race.
- Like a marathon?
- I'll run a marathon. But what I'm talking about requires a slightly different run - it's more of a trail, a natural run. But this is still in general outline. I'm all leading to the fact that biathlon in 2030 for me ... No. (Smiles.)
- Categorically no? Or are there still options?
- Not categorically, but rationally no. By 2030, I'll be in my 40s. I don't think I'll live to see it as a biathlete.
