The Latvian biathlon team recently named the squad for the Milan Olympic Games, and the name of 16-year-old Rihards Lozbers is also among the eight athletes. He will most likely be the youngest member of the Latvian delegation and definitely the youngest biathlete who will compete in the biathlon competition on the Antholka track. In an interview with Latvijas Radio, Lozbers said that he used to ride a bike and turned to biathlon only two years ago.
16-year-old biathlete Lozber with a focus on Milan
There is less than a month left until the Winter Olympic Games, and although the full lineup of Latvian biathletes was announced relatively recently, Lozbers revealed that he already knew about his participation during the season. “I had relatively good results, and then I also realized that qualifying is very real.”
Lozbers started his career in mountain biking, but then he was offered to try biathlon, which he liked over time. The complete transition to the current occupation was two years ago.
“I think that in biathlon I have more opportunities,
and the same coach who trained me in cycling does it in biathlon. Everything worked out to move to biathlon.”
For the young athlete this season, the focus and emphasis was on the youth World Cup competition, and getting into the Olympic team was only a side goal. But now that it has happened, the focus has shifted to Milan. “At the moment, the training process is twice a day. I try to do more basic work, because there are more competitions, at the same time I try to rest from them. The biggest work was already done in the summer, now only [darbojos] so as not to leave at all [sportiskā forma].”
The biathlon team just had a training camp in the Italian highlands to get used to the altitude, but Lozber was not among them, as the previous IBU Cup competition was held at high altitude, so acclimatization was not necessary.
In the World Cup competition in Hochfilzen, in the men’s relay, Lozbers from the Latvian team started on the track as the first and immediately advanced to the leader group.
“I’m a fast skier at the moment, but I can’t be called a good shooter yet,” says the biathlete with a laugh.
who reveals that he held a rifle in his hand for the first time with his first runs in biathlon.
It is the closing of targets in the firing line after high-tempo skiing that seems the most difficult for Lozber. “On the track, I mostly give everything, and then you have to focus on five accurate shots. You can’t stress or “break” them there, you have to be focused, and after such intensity, it’s really difficult.”
Next week – from January 14 to 17 – the junior start will take place in Madona, and already before the season, Lozbers has given this competition a high priority – he has been preparing for it very seriously. The coach did not want to set specific goals, but he promises to try to do his best. “It’s rare to start a competition of this level at home. I’m really looking forward to that moment.”
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