Portraits in drama: what is the memorable finish of the Russian Biathlon Championship?

The exhausting biathlon season is coming to an end. Most recently, the final stage of the Russian Championship came to an end in Khanty-Mansiysk, in which the emotions of the athletes simply went over the edge. About how it was, and how fans will remember the competitions in Ugra — in the material of Izvestia.

The Transformation of Anastasia Khalili

Last summer, Anastasia Goreeva married Karim Khalili and entered the new season under her husband's last name. This winter, the biathlete had successful races, but not everything worked out. Anastasia has failed the start of the Russian championship in Khanty. In the opening stage of the Ugra sprint, which took place on Wednesday, she took 36th place with five misses.

Khalili complained after the race that she had too many bad starts, but after that she suddenly went up. In the pursuit race the next day, she won back more than three dozen positions and finished fifth, then helped the Moscow Region national team win the relay race for the first time at the Russian Championships, and on Sunday she won the mass start.

Anastasia was in the lead throughout the race, not paying attention to the misses. The competitors made a lot of mistakes, plus Khalili was head and shoulders stronger than everyone else. She went to the penultimate lap in the company of Kristina Reztsova and Ekaterina Moshkova. Anastasia reached the final stage with an advantage of 20 seconds from Reztsova and 30 seconds from Moshkova.

Khalili passed the last line cleanly, which guaranteed her victory. At the finish line, she joyfully shouted into the camera: "Hooray! I am the champion!" It is amazing that for Anastasia, who has been one of the top athletes of our biathlon for several years, this is her debut victory at the Russian championships in a personal race.

Belarusian victories

Daniil Serokhvostov became the champion of Russia in the men's mass start, but there is a nuance. Belarusian Anton Smolsky was the first to cross the finish line in this race. However, medals and titles in these competitions are awarded only to our athletes.

The story stretches back all three years of suspension, but if last season Belarusian athletes were left without medals in case of victories at the Cup of Russia, the Cup of the Strongest and the national championship, now the only exception is the championship. Moreover, the anthem in their honor is already being played everywhere — Smolsky heard it on Sunday at the Ugra stadium.

In some cases, Russians are going to meet their rivals halfway. For example, Dmitry Lazovsky won the sprint in Khanty-Mansiysk, who did not receive his gold from the organizers. But Karim Khalili did not recognize himself as the champion and gave the award to the Belarusian.

Daniil Serokhvostov will probably do the same after the mass start. Last year, his Novosibirsk Region team followed the Belarusians in the mixed relay, but won gold. Serokhvostov and Roman Eremin presented their awards to Anna Sole and Anton and Dinara Smolsky.

At the Russian championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, Belarusians, in addition to the victories of Anton Smolsky in the mass start and Dmitry Lazovsky in the sprint, became the second in the men's relay and the third in the women's. I would like to see the situation with medals corrected in the following seasons.

The clash between Tulatin and Sidorov

The week in Khanty turned out to be rich in extraordinary events for biathlon. For example, Andrey Vyukhin was late for the material control before the relay race, as a result of which his team, which was in the lead, was removed from the competition.

Someone jinxed Daniil Serokhvostov in the pursuit. In one race, he had three falls, as well as the loss of a stick. One of the falls occurred in a fight with Dmitry Lazovsky. Serokhvostov did not share the ski track with the Belarusian, but they do not hold grudges against each other.

But the situation with Ivan Tulatin and Evgeny Sidorov in the mass start got out of control. At the finish line, the Russian hit the Tulatin stick, after which the athletes began to push and shout at each other. It could have come to physical violence, but the biathletes were separated in time.

"We just started dealing with Kiriukha (Bazhin) and the Belarusian at the finish line,— Sidorov explained his behavior in an interview with Match. — The Belarusian and I ran away. I went out onto the plain from the left and started adding. I saw that he was slowly pulling back and his socks were behind my heels. I started walking to the right to make it easier, because there was a shadow there, and he had to close the corridor. At that moment, I hear him start to say something and break my stick. When we reached the finish line, emotions took over. Why did you start fighting? The fight should be on equal terms, and not so that you break a stick, and then ride and shout something at your back. If you want to fight, let's go to the finish line and solve the problem."

Tulatin also told his version.

"There was no fight as such," he says. — We just had a little fight after the finish. The final showdown began on the rise. I felt like I couldn't get away from the guys, so I slowed down a bit. It so happened that everyone was driving on the right side of the highway.: There's a rut and it's tougher. Zhenya thought I was stopping, so he started to change lanes and ran over my skis. I didn't like it — I hit his stick with a stick. Mine was stronger. I didn't mean to break the stick, it's just anger. Everyone is tired. It's not according to the rules to ski so rudely. You can't run into skis like that in contact wrestling, especially intentionally! There were a lot of coaches and referees there, I think they saw everything. Then there was no fight outside the cameras, just a verbal altercation."

Those who attended the final mass start of the Commonwealth Cup in Murmansk last season know that this is not the first such situation with Ivan Tulatin. Then the Belarusian got into a fight with the young Daniil Usov. Outside the cameras, as witnessed by the correspondent of "SE", Tulatin shouted: "That's the only way they can win." Ivan refused to be interviewed by Russian journalists in Murmansk, but Usov clarified the situation. It turned out that Ivan did not like the joy of Daniel, who bypassed him.

"I mistakenly thought I was the third. For some reason, I didn't look at the scoreboard, I see a Belarusian in front of me, and he's built like Anton Smolsky, I overtake him and I think I'm coming in third. I rejoice, and then I feel a sharp push in the back. I don't understand what's going on, I see Ivan Tulatin freaking out and realize that he is very unhappy," Usov explained. — But at that moment I knew I was right. And he kept repeating in his head that he shouldn't do anything like that, it was unsportsmanlike behavior on his part. I think I behaved more correctly. But I understand him, too. He's probably a hot-tempered guy by nature, especially since he was doing well. In general, he was just unlucky. I could have been in the same place, it just turned out to be such an unfortunate encounter."

The last chord

Excessive emotionality can be caused, among other things, by a heavy calendar. This season, many people complained about the large number of races. Among them, for example, the leader of the Russian national team, Eduard Latypov. The three-time Olympic medalist, nicknamed the Buffalo, had to skip the championship stages in Tyumen and Uvat due to an illness that could cling to a tired body.

In general, it is difficult to find a biathlete who has passed the entire program. There are indeed more starts for Russians, but next season the Russian Biathlon Union has promised to reduce their number.

However, the season is not over yet. The strongest athletes of the two countries will face the final stage of the Commonwealth Cup in Murmansk. It will be held from 4 to 6 April. The schedule includes a personal and team sprint, as well as a mass start, after which it will be possible to go on vacation.

The Russian Biathlon Championship. Khanty-Mansiysk

Mass start, women

1. Anastasia Khalili (Moscow Region) — 41.45,0 (3)
2. Anastasia Egorova (Murmansk Region) — 29.4 (3)
3. Irina Kazakevich (Sverdlovsk Region) — 39.2 (4)

Mass start, men

1. Anton Smolsky (Belarus) — 42.57,0
2. Daniil Serokhvostov (Novosibirsk Region) — 12.2 (3)
3. Ilnaz Mukhamedzyanov (Udmurt Republic) — 24.3 (2)