The Russian Biathlon Championship is not only a war of nerves on the firing lines, wrestling on the track and tactical tricks. These are also simple human emotions that can also help athletes in the fight for awards.

In a crazy race, Alexander Povarnitsyn managed to snatch victory not only due to the mistakes of his competitors, but also thanks to the help of his wife.

Arina knew who the “best cook” was.

“Sasha, you can!”

In Izhevsk on Saturday, within the framework of the open championship of the country, the strongest Russian and Belarusian biathletes revealed the winner in the super rescue. Competitors expected a distance of 7.5 km with four firing lines and emotional support from local fans.

Belarusian Anton Smolsky won the qualification, Eduard Latypov, 8.2 seconds behind the leader, showed the best time among the Russians. The favorites of the start could also include some other shooting skiers: the leader of the season, Karim Khalili, who took ninth place in the preliminary race, as well as Alexander Povarnitsyn, who started from 11th position. Given that a dozen athletes had a gap of half a minute behind the leader, the struggle in the race was expected to be tense.

Already at the first firing line, Smolsky faltered, making two misses, and missed Latypov, who was accurate, into the first position. Having a 13-second lead, Eduard increased it to 17 seconds by the second shooting, but the Olympic medalist failed to consolidate the lead – one miss prevented.

Photo: © Dmitry Chelyapin / Match TV

The leader of the Belarusian national team Smolsky, Alexander Povarnitsyn and a good dozen other competitors did not allow us to rush off in splendid isolation. After the third shooting, another dangerous opponent turned up next to Eduard, Karim Khalili, who did not make a single mistake on the first rack.

And here is the final shooting, to which Latypov and Khalili approached almost simultaneously. Karim quickly missed twice and rushed to the penalty loops. Edward took aim for a long time, but made the same two misses. But Smolsky and Povarnitsyn shot to zero, who instantly turned into the main contenders for the gold medal. Who will be able to overcome the last 1.5 kilometers faster? Both are good with their feet, but Alexander has a tangible advantage. He is loudly supported by his wife, biathlete Arina Yaborova.

Sasha, you can! Come on, come on, come on! Loud screams could be heard from somewhere outside the frame.

And at the next mark again the support of the Russian biathlete. This time, the coach in the shirt-front with the inscription “The best cook” also tried to cheer up Povarnitsyn. Alexander never gave his opponent the gold medal and was the first to cross the finish line. The support of his wife, who was rooting for the “best chef” with a poster, apparently played a role.

– My wife always says that I am strong, makes me believe in myself. I often whine to her that nothing is working out, but thanks to her I feel that everything will be fine, ”Povarnitsyn said after winning an interview with Match TV.

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Alexander’s competitors should take advantage of this trick, which helped win the pursuit. Perhaps in the next races there will be more athletes who have wives and girlfriends in the support group.

On Sunday, big mass starts will take place at the Russian Championship, watch live broadcasts of the races on Match TV and Match! Arena”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.