“The wife saw in her eyes that it was not yet time to leave” – biathlete Garanichev about his retirement

Bronze medalist of the Sochi Olympics biathlete Yevgeny Garanichev said that the words of his wife convinced him not to end his career at the end of last season.

Last season, Garanichev performed at the first stage of the World Cup in Östersund, where he took 113th place in the sprint. After that, the athlete was sent to the IBU Cup.

– After the Russian Championship, Maxim Vladimirovich Kugaevsky approached me – a coach with whom I have been working since I switched from skiing to biathlon. He knows me almost better than I do myself. So, Kugaevsky said: “Zhenya, don’t even think about finishing.” But I didn’t even mention it anywhere, I didn’t advertise it anywhere, why would I? He just read me and convinced me to think about continuing my career.

Maksim Vladimirovich is charged with results and energizes his athletes. It doesn’t just stand on the stock exchange with a pipe, but really works. Then I had a conversation with my wife. “Lyuda, there are two options: continue or finish. If it’s difficult for you, if you need help with children – the eldest Zhenya will go to school in a year, the youngest Andrey is also four years old – I will announce my retirement.” She looked at me, said that she would support me in any situation and asked … to run further. She says she saw in her eyes that it was not time to leave yet. Her words turned out to be decisive, – quotes the words of 34-year-old Garanichev “Championship”.

At the Olympic Games in Sochi, Garanichev won a bronze medal in the individual race. He has seven wins at the KM stages as part of relay races, as well as one personal gold.