Three-time world champion, Olympic bronze medalist Maxim Chudov called the proposal of the Executive Committee of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) to extend the suspension of the membership of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) and the Belarusian Biathlon Federation (BFB) in the organization expected.

On Tuesday, the IBU Executive Committee recommended to Congress to extend the suspension of the membership of the RBU and BSE in the organization due to the situation in Ukraine. The Executive Committee believes that the lifting of sanctions is possible if organizations demonstrate a commitment to support and promote the goals and principles of the IBU, in particular, distance themselves from the conflict in Ukraine and do not allow athletes to actively participate in the actions of the Russian army.

The decision is not what was expected. But we had to prepare for it. It’s not that easy for them to open doors for us. They play their game, it is probably comfortable for them to perform without Russian athletes. As for the international level, without our huge strong country, it will, of course, be weaker.

– Anfisa Reztsova, for example, hopes that we will still be allowed to participate in the World Cup. There are more pessimistic positions. Which one are you following?

I have my own position. I can say the following. Every athlete, every coach has the hope that the IBU will wake up to common sense. And the competition would be of high quality, with the participation of all countries. But, alas, desires with opportunities differ at the moment. However, we are waiting for the competition to finally become full-fledged.

– Are you, as a former athlete, very worried about our guys in this situation?

– Of course, I worry about our athletes. After all, an athlete is a person who is completely and completely devoted to his beloved work. It’s like a milling machine who studied his craft for a long time, and they took the machine from him and took it away. There is probably a similar situation here. For many athletes, sport is the only and favorite thing. And now it’s all broken. I don’t even take the financial side of things right now. It’s just that a person, a professional, is deprived of the only thing that he knows how to do. In this regard, it is difficult.

– What to do to overcome this period of suspensions as painlessly as possible?

The dog barks, the caravan moves on. As far as I know, training is underway, preparations are underway. The only thing is that competitions are held only at the domestic level. Of course, there are leaders, there are those who follow them. But without international competition it is difficult. In any case, you need to practice. These works will not be in vain, – Rossiyskaya Gazeta quotes Chudov.

On March 2, the IBU suspended Russians and Belarusians from participating in competitions under the auspices of the organization. On March 29, the IBU suspended the membership of the RRF and the BSE.