“You should not be categorical about the decision of Daria Virolainen and call her a traitor” – Vasiliev

Two-time Olympic biathlon champion Dmitry Vasiliev calmly perceives the likely transition of biathlete Daria Virolainen to the Finnish national team.

Earlier on Monday, Virolainen’s former personal coach Leonid Myakishev told Match TV that the biathlete could start playing for the Finnish national team.

– I don’t think it’s worth it to be categorical about the decision of Daria Virolainen and call her a traitor. Every person is free and free to make their own decisions.

I think that this is a question of Daria’s internal attitude to her homeland. If she played for Belarus or Ukraine, then her transition to the Finnish team was perceived more calmly. But due to the fact that Daria is Russian, and Finland is aggressively set against Russia, then everyone has a question of Virolainen’s morals.

This is Daria’s personal decision, which she is able to make herself, without our help. Under no circumstances should you blame her! Will the domestic women’s biathlon lose something after the departure of Virolainen? Hardly. Daria has not performed at a high level for a long time and does not show the speed and shooting that she had before. I think that she will not be able to compete with our other girls, ”Sport24 quotes Vasiliev.

On Sunday, Virolainen took second place in the 15 km individual race at the Finnish Summer Biathlon Championships.