As in the relay race in Kontiolahti, the biathletes showed their solidarity with Ukraine in the sprint races. The starters wore a yellow and blue ribbon around their arm. Erik Lesser, who is followed by many Russians, opened his Instagram account for the Ukrainian athlete Anastasiya Merkushyna, who shows the horrific images of the war there. Merkuschyna was able to transport the horrors of war uncensored to Russia via Lesser’s channel:
“It’s about my Russian followers getting some real messages too. I hope that I can make a little difference with this.“Since Oberhofer supported the quarantined Russian Eduard Latypov with a racing bike in January, tens of thousands of Russians have followed him.
After the start of the war in their home country, the Ukrainian team decided not to compete in the remaining three World Cups this winter. Athletes from Russia and Belarus are also no longer at the start in Finland. They have been excluded by the World Association IBU until further notice.