BEIJING, BRATISLAVA. She had a smile on her face as she approached the stadium. She took over the Slovak flag before the finish line. She spread it out before the goal.
Anastasia Kuzminová experienced great joy in her last Olympic races four years ago.
She dominated the mass start race with a big lead, won gold and, thanks to it, the Slovak anthem was heard at the ceremony.
The Pyongy Games were extremely successful for Slovak biathlon thanks to its three medals.
Four mistakes was an excellent result
In Beijing, she was the only one who could compete with her rivals Paulina Fialkova. She also presented herself as the only Slovak national team in the mass start race.
“I am happy about what I did at the Olympics. I don’t want to put pressure on myself before this start. I am grateful for what I have accomplished, “she told RTVS before the race.
Conditions in Changjia were to deteriorate significantly in the following days, so the organizers postponed the race to Friday. However, the wind was blowing in the biathlon area again on Friday.
The biathletes already had big problems during the shooting and it was obvious that if someone goes through a clean shooting race, they will have a medal. It is in these conditions that shooting will be the deciding factor.
The third situation, in which Tiril Eckhoff aimed for more than half a minute without even firing, testifies to the tense situation at the shooting range.
In the end, she still missed two targets. The wind blew and many biathletes aimed for a long time while shooting.
The best shooter was the Ukrainian Julia Džimová, who did not hit three targets. The medalists did not hit four.
Under normal conditions, 4 penalty circuits in such races are below average without a chance of a medal. In Beijing, it meant an excellent shooting performance on Friday.
Violet fought
Paulína Fialková won 26th place in the mass start race. She had an excellent start to the race and before the second shooting item she was on the 8th place.
Then, however, she did not avoid the penalty area. In total, she missed up to 8 targets. As threatening as it may seem, it was not the worst shooting. Under these conditions, it was still an acceptable result.
Anais Bescond did not hit up to half of all targets – 10.
“It was probably the toughest conditions here, even worse than in the mix. It was wild with that wind. I shot the last hand so I couldn’t even aim at the target anymore. There was a strong gust of wind. Hat down in front of the grandmothers, Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to do it, but it’s also biathlon, “Fialková assessed the race for TASR.
Tiril Eckhoff. (Author: TASR / AP)
Fialková also fought at the end of the race. After the last shot, she overtook two more opponents. She had the sixteenth running time on the track among the thirty biathletes.
“It will tune me into the last three saints and we will see what happens next,” Fialková told TASR after the race.
Fialková is 29 years old and started at the Third Olympics. Is this her last season in her career?
“First of all, I think that I need to rest terribly. Much more than it has been for the last ten years when I trained again after three weeks. After so many years in world biathlon, I feel physically and mentally exhausted. I need rest and we will see what happens next, “Fialková added.
Fifth medal for Röiselandovou
The French Justine Braisaz-Bouchet won the gold. The silver was won by Tiril Eckhoff. The bronze is Marte Olsbu-Röiseland.
For Röiseland, who is also the leader of the World Cup, this was the fifth medal at the Beijing Games. She won three gold and two bronze.
She did not succeed only in the women’s relay, where the Norwegians finished in fourth place.
“I’m probably getting older. I have to think about what I’m going to do in the future,” NRK quotes Röiselandovou.
“I haven’t decided yet whether I will end. I won’t solve it yet. I will decide after the season,” added the most successful participant ZOH 2022.
The Czech biathlete Markéta Davidová fought for the medal, who was the fourth to shoot just behind the Nórok pair. However, the runners were not enough for Eckhoff and Olsbu-Röiseland and finished fourth. The medal escaped her by 19 seconds.
“I’m sorry. I missed one shot again,” David regretted in an interview with Czech Television.
“I tried. I didn’t release anything into the last subway, because anything could happen here, but the opponents were better,” she added.
David did not hold back her tears during the interviews in the mixing zone.
“Nobody will remember the fourth place in a year … I’m sorry now. Don’t ask me anything anymore, I want to go away,” isport.cz quotes her.
The Slovaks were worried about the shooting range
Of the Slovak biathletes, Paulína Fialková managed the games in Beijing the best. She was the only one who could get close to the top. It reached the seasonal maximum on demanding tracks. She won 14th place in the sprint, and finished tenth in the chase.
“It was challenging here in every way, not only physically but also mentally. I was set up for it in advance. I am glad that I have two very nice results that I can be proud of,” Paulín evaluated her performance at RTVS at the Beijing Games. Violet.
Ivona Fialková, who had excellent running times, but did not succeed in shooting, prevailed among other Slovak biathletes. Her best result was the 36th place in the fighter.
None of the men prevailed significantly. It is disappointing that none of the three relays has completed the entire race. Overall, Slovak biathletes had problems at the Olympic range.
The better shooters did not confirm their success and could not prevail even in windy conditions.
In particular, Henrieta Horvátová and Veronika Machyniaková, who have so far been decorated with solid shooting, did not succeed.