The overwhelming majority of biathletes from Russia who changed their citizenship dreamed of achieving significant results at international competitions. In fact, their performance leaves much to be desired.

They even rejoice at finishing in last place!

Left for international starts

The backbone of the Moldavian biathlon team has been made up of former Russian athletes for many years. This season, the men’s relay four consists exclusively of ex-Russians. Pavel Magazeev, Andrey Usov, Maxim Makarov have been representing this country since 2020. A couple of years earlier, Mikhail Usov joined the team.

All athletes have the same transition story, give or take. They showed good results in juniors; Magazeev was a world champion, but at the adult level they failed to make it into the Russian national team. Changing citizenship was a way to try my hand at the highest level.

Under the new flag, the guys sometimes even showed good results, both in individual races and in team races. Mikhail Usov was once in the top 4, and Magazeev was repeatedly in the top six at the IBU Cup. In 2024, Makarov was one step away from a medal at the European Championships in single mixed doubles.

But lately the ex-Russians have not been particularly pleased with their high results at international competitions, especially the relay four. The last time the team simply reached the finish line was in January 2024, when it finished 21st at the stage in Ruhpolding. Then we even managed to overtake our rivals from Bulgaria and South Korea.

Maxim Makarov / Photo: © Kevin Voigt / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Local success after two years of waiting

This season, the Moldavian team was represented in the men’s relay only at the stage in Oberhof, where it was removed during the race for being a lap behind. Only the disqualification of the Bulgarians and the withdrawal of the Austrians allowed Moldova not to be in last place in the protocol.

In Ruhpolding, the coaching staff also entered the team into the men’s relay. This time the ex-Russians finally reached the finish line. The Moldavian team finished last out of 22 teams, but still finished. This fact caused joy among representatives of the coaching staff and the federation, who soberly assess their capabilities. Andrei Usov, who closed the relay, was also pleased with the finish. The athlete warmly greeted the stands, which responded with loud applause. Last place and a seven-minute gap from the victorious French could not spoil the small reason for joy.

Two-time Olympic bronze medalist and world champion Alexander Loginov won the sprint race at the third stage of the Alfa-Bank Russian Biathlon Cup in Demino (Yaroslavl region).

Loginov covered the 10 km distance in 22 minutes 3.3 seconds, making no mistakes at two shooting ranges. Kirill Bazhin took second place (0 misses, 3.3 seconds back), Roman Eremin closed the top three (1 miss, +4.3 seconds).

Three-time Olympic medalist Eduard Latypov was 13th (2 penalties; +48.2 seconds), followed by Daniil Serohvostov (+55.9; 3).

The women’s sprint at the Russian Cup stage will take place later on Friday, starting at 14:00 Moscow time. Watch the live broadcast of the race on the Match TV channel, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.

Olympic silver medalist biathlete Irina Kazakevich said on Match TV that the coaching staff did not allow her and Inna Tereshchenko to go to the start of the sprint race as part of the third stage of the Alfa-Bank Russian Cup.

The women’s sprint will take place on Friday and start at 14:00 Moscow time.

— Inna and I, unfortunately, will not take part in the race, it was the coach’s decision. We need to practice a little, because the illness has not gone away without a trace. We had the flu, it looked like the Hong Kong flu. We will continue to prepare and hope that we will receive permission to enter the mass start,” Kazakevich said on Match TV.

Watch the live broadcast of the men’s sprint at the stage of the Russian Biathlon Cup on the Match TV channel, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru from 10:30 Moscow time, the women’s race – from 13:50.

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