In the competition of Olympic winter sports, biathlon is ranked in the category that attracts the most fans, gathering full stands both in person at the venue of the competition and in front of the television screens. A lot is always expected of Latvian biathletes, but no local representative in this sport has yet managed to reach the Olympic podium.
In short:
- Latvia will go to the Winter Olympic Games with a delegation of eight biathletes.
- Baiba Bendika, Estere Wolfa, Annie Keita Sabule and Sanita Buliņa will represent the country for the ladies, while Andrejs Rastorgujevs, Renārs Birkentāls, Edgars Mise and Rihards Lozbers will represent the country for the men.
- 16-year-old Lozber turned to biathlon only two years ago, having previously been cycling.
- Former biathlete Jēkabs Nākums believes that the Latvian biathlon team is a fusion of the experience of Rastorgujev and Bendika together with the youthful excitement of Lozber and Wolff.
- He hopes that the Latvians will be able to win a place in the top ten in Italy more than once.
The Latvian biathlon team at the Olympic Games: a fusion of the excitement of youth and the calmness of experience
Biathlon is exciting and attracts a lot of neutral fans because it is multifaceted. Namely, it does not compete in just one element – skiing or shooting, but in both, and there are many unpredictable nuances that can turn the distribution of places at the finish upside down. This could be seen very well at the recent Junior Cup competition held in Madona, where only 16-year-old biathlete Richard Lozber had problems with his gun even two days in a row in the shooting sector, which affected his position at the finish.
The Latvian Biathlon Federation approved the composition of the Olympic team at the board meeting held at the end of December – it consists of four ladies and four gentlemen. The women’s foursome will be led by the long-time leader Baiba Bendika, for whom only 20-year-old Ester Wolfa is providing fierce internal competition in the World Cup season, and Annie Keita Sabule and Sanita Buliņa will also go to the Olympic Games.
Andrejs Rastorgujevs, Renārs Birkentāls, Edgars Mise and the already mentioned Lozbers will compete in the men’s competition in Italy. If for seven-eighths of the biathletes of the Olympic team, getting a ticket to the most important competition of the quadrennial was the stated main goal in the first part of the season, it was not the highest priority for Lozber. Only two years ago, the 16-year-old athlete turned his full attention to biathlon, previously he was also involved in cycling.
“I thought it was doable, but it wasn’t the main goal of the season, and I approached it that way – if it happens, it happens.
Right now, the focus is already on the Olympics, because the competition is still important.
The biggest work was already done in the summer, now just to finish it wouldn’t leave. At first I was a cyclist, but one day I was offered [pāriet uz] biathlon, which I liked very much, and I only switched to it,” says Lozbers.
Another no less interesting story is Annie Kate Sabule’s place in the Olympic Games. Last spring, she publicly appealed to the public and asked for help with funding to fulfill the Olympic dream.
Although Sabule cannot boast of a very bright start in the World Cup series this season, the performance was stable and even. In an earlier interview with Latvijas Radio, Sabule said that she is aware of her abilities in the Olympic competition, but is ready to fight with all her might.
“Finance and money matters have always been the most difficult issue, because it has never been stable or organized in Latvia.
We are fighting to enter the TOP40 or TOP60, and with those resources and funds, I believe Latvia has already come quite far, if only looking at the last five years. With us, everyone fights and works for himself, because if there is no system, someone may want to artificially try to create or bring it together [kārtībā]but if there is simply no such thing and if you don’t stay together mentally, then it doesn’t work,” says Sabule.
The composition of the Latvian Olympic biathlon team is a good combination, where one of the elements is the experience of Bendikas and Rastorgujevs, and the other is the youthful excitement of Wolfa and Lozber, that’s what Jēkabs Nākums, a former member of the domestic biathlon “Great Four”, thinks. He hopes that the Latvians will be able to win a place in the top ten in Italy more than once.
“Quite logical [mērķis]at least in the men’s team. For the women, I noticed in the summer, Sabule has increased her muscle mass, which also showed results during the season. She might be at the zenith of her career. I really hoped that both girlfriends and classmates – Bleidel and Wolfa – would go to the Olympics together, but you see, everyone does and everyone fights.
I am glad that there is no longer one in the team superstarbut that level has been leveled, so now you can form one powerful team.
I would be satisfied with the top ten from anyone, our people are capable of that,” believes Nākums.
Nakum also added that Baiba Bendika’s inaccurate shooting makes him extremely worried at the moment. Although the Ukrainian shooting coach Vasils Mukshins joined the Latvian biathlon team in the off-season, it has not brought tangible benefits so far. Nukum thinks that Bendika should go back to basics and remember how and with whom she was taught to shoot in the early stages of her career.
The Olympic biathlon competition in Italy will start already on February 8 with the mixed relay. In the future, biathlon competitions will weave their way through the racing program throughout the duration of the Olympic Games. The last competition for biathletes will take place on February 21, the day before the closing ceremony, when the ladies will compete in the 12.5 kilometer discipline with a joint start.
Highlight the text and press Ctrl+Enterto send the text fragment to be corrected to the editor! Please report factual errors by e-mail [email protected].
Highlight the text and press on Report a bug buttons to send the text fragment to be corrected to the editor!
