The Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Mikhail Degtyarev said that the ROC will sign a memorandum of cooperation with the Qatar Olympic Committee.

— On the sidelines of the General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia in Tashkent, I met with the President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, Vice-President of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), member of the IOC Olympism 365 Commission, His Highness Sheikh Joan bin Hamad Al-Thani.

We discussed issues of bilateral interaction. We agreed to prepare for signing a memorandum of cooperation between the Olympic Committees of Russia and Qatar.

I am sure this will open up new opportunities for the development of sports, support for young athletes and strengthening the partnership between our countries,” Degtyarev wrote in his Telegram channel.

On Sunday, January 25, at the fourth stage of the Alfa-Bank Commonwealth Biathlon Cup in the Belarusian Raubichi, a mixed relay will be held.

The competition will begin at 13:45 Moscow time. The live broadcast will be available from 13:35 on the Match TV and Match! Arena”, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.

10 teams will take part in the race, consisting of four biathletes each (2 men and 2 women). The relay has four stages of 6 kilometers each.

Team compositions:

1. Russia-1: Anastasia Khalili, Natalia Shevchenko, Saveliy Konovalov, Kirill Bazhin;

2. Belarus‑1: Dinara Smolskaya, Anna Sola, Stepan Danilov, Anton Smolsky;

3. Russia-2: Anastasia Tomshina, Victoria Slivko, Evgeny Sidorov, Eduard Latypov;

4. Belarus‑2: Irina Shakleina, Elena Kulak, Maxim Vorobey, Nikita Lobastov;

5. Russia-3: Tamara Derbusheva, Yulia Kovalenko, Alexander Povarnitsyn, Oleg Domichek;

6. Belarus-3: Ksenia Vorobey, Alina Zaitseva, Pavel Belko, Dmitry Lazovsky;

7. Russia-4: Victoria Metelya, Anastasia Grishina, Ivan Kolotov, Daniil Usov;

8. Russia-5: Irina Kazakevich, Inna Tereshchenko, Mikhail Strebko, Andrey Ostapiy;

9. Russia-6: Svetlana Mironova, Anastasia Shevchenko, Egor Prokudin, Yaroslav Konkin;

10. Russia-7: Elizaveta Nasotovich, Anastasia Egorova, Vyacheslav Maleev, Ilnaz Muzamedzyanov.

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The Italian team won the mixed relay at the Biathlon World Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.

The Italian team, consisting of Dorothea Wierer, Lisa Vittozzi, Lukas Hofer and Tommaso Giacomel, achieved a time of 1 hour 3 minutes 11.7 seconds (0 penalties and 10 extra rounds). The second place was taken by the French team (Ocean Michelot, Justine Brezaz-Boucher, Oscar Lombardo, Quentin Fillon Maillet; backlog – 24.7 seconds; 0+7), the top three was completed by the Czech team (Essika Jislova, Tereza Vobornikova, Viteslav Hornig, Michal Krcmar; +57.2; 0+7).

In the single mixed relay, Germans Marlene Fichtner and Leonard Pfund took first place. However, the German team was later disqualified due to violating safety rules when handling a rifle – after the second shooting from a prone position, Fichtner incorrectly secured the weapon on her back.

After this decision, the victory went to the Finnish team, which was represented by Suvi Minkkinen and Tero Seppälä (34.59.8; 0+8). The second place was taken by the French Jeanne Richard and Emilien Claude (+11.3; 0+6), the third – by the Norwegians Uni Arnekleive and Martin Nevland (+16.7; 0+8).

The World Cup stage in Nove Mesto will end on Sunday with races from a general start.