“We will not take all at ESOC!”

“We will not take all at ESOC!”

Four of the six podium places were occupied by Russians in the fifth individual race of the World Cup. But they are not at all complacent ahead of the European Championships on home ground later this winter.

Head coach Alexander Bliznevsky was of course very satisfied with the results in Norway, but when he is asked if the goal is now six Russians in front of all others at ESOC, he is not saying yes to that.

“There’s hard competition from a lot of nations. We will not take all at ESOC. Other nations are also doing well, like Norway with their men on Saturday”, he smiles.

While the Russians were dominant in the Sprint, Norway showed they have a lot of strong men on the Middle distance, with four among the six best.

– Why are the Russians doing so well?

“They are all doing sport full-time and training a lot. Every day there are a couple of training sessions, apart from a short summer holiday. Then also there are a lot of good competitions in Russia”, Bliznevsky tells.