Russian biathlete Kristina Reztsova is firmly convinced that she and her team members have lost the connection through the exclusion from the Biathlon World Cup. The 29-year-old sees great deficits, especially in one area.
Nobody knows how the level of performance of the Russian biathlon sport is. Since the beginning of the war, the athletes of the Russian team have not been allowed to participate in the World Cup. There are some voices in Russia that do not see this problematic. Others recognize serious consequences. For example, the two-time Olympic medalist Kristina Reztsova.
It is “very difficult to say” whether the Russian team has kept its level in recent years. You train “on other slopes” and “have a different preparation of the skis” than the biathletes in Central Europe, Reztsova explained in an interview with “Metaratings”.
What is out of the question for the 29-year-old: “There are big differences between what we do in Russia and what they do in Europe.”
Russia’s biathlon numbers are “really terrible”
The difference is particularly serious when shooting. “We are 100 percent back in terms of speed and accuracy. Especially when you look at the average speed in Russia. These numbers are really terrible,” reveals Rezsova. There are individual shooters in the Russian team who would shoot well and quickly. Overall, however, “we are shooting very slowly. Nobody in the World Cup shoots that way”.
The Russian described her shooting speed at the Olympic Games in Beijing, where she won two medals with the values that are now being shot in the Women’s World Cup: “And although I have improved, they have improved much more. Most in Russia kept their level and there is a colossal gap. before.
You couldn’t just catch up with this time in the trail. “Quite to the fact that your hit rates are better,” complained Reztsova, who is a lack of competition with the best as the biggest problem.
“If you compete against the best, you try to catch up. In Russia you can run against the leaders, but that’s not enough to keep up with international competitions,” said the 29-year-old.