President of the Russian Curling Federation, State Duma deputy Dmitry Svishchev commented on the bronze medal won by Russian biathletes in the mixed relay at the Beijing Olympics. He admitted that he hoped for gold, but he also considered the final result to be outstanding. Svishchev stressed that Russian biathlon is coming out of the crisis in which it has been for several years.
“To be honest, I had experiences. I was sure that our guys had a gold medal in their pocket, but the last shooting changed everything dramatically. The advantage was lost, and in the end, probably, there was no longer enough strength. Many did not believe that we could have a medal in the mixed relay, but the current season shows that they can do good results. The fact that our biathletes are now emerging from a deep crisis is a fact. For several years in a row, there were no special results. And this year, the new leadership of the RBU pulled up the team, made no mistake with the coaching staff - well done. And I congratulate the whole biathlon family, what they have done can be called the second birth of Russian biathlon.
Let's not overpraise the guys, only the first race has passed. But the season is going pretty well. And it's not just about the Olympic Games, but about the fact that our biathlon is moving in the right direction. Of course, there could be a gold medal, a silver one - they just missed it a little. But anyway, well done, we are happy. This is a good example for our entire Olympic family, two medals on the first day is a good result. I hope that the rest of the Russian Olympians will pick up this initiative and show results that will please all of us,” said Svishchev.
Uliana Nigmatullina, Kristina Reztsova, Alexander Loginov and Eduard Latypov performed for the Russian national team in the relay.
The winners of the race were the Norwegian biathletes. French silver. Note that at the last stage, the Russian team took first place, but at the very finish line, Latypov missed the gold.
Earlier, the former biathlete of the Russian national team Ivan Cherezov spoke about the bronze medals of the Russians.
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