Beijing 2022 Results of Day 7: Medalless sprint

Belarusian fans were anxiously looking forward to the Women's Sprint on Friday afternoon (Minsk time) at the Olympic Games in China. The fans had every reason to hope for a medal in the sprint: Dzinara Alimbekava and Hanna Sola had a great start to the World Cup season and had podium finishes. In Zhangjiakou Dzinara showed she is in good shape.

Sprint can be both easy and very difficult. For the Belarusian women, the race on 11 February was the latter. The top athlete in Team Belarus Dzinara Alimbekava finished 15^th with one miss. Hanna Sola came in 26^th, Iryna Leshchanka 60^th, Elena Kruchinkina 70^th.

"I probably would give myself a B for patience at the shooting range and I did well on every shot. But that's all I could praise myself for today. I have no idea what happened with the last shot, maybe I lost my focus for a moment. I am so mad with myself. I don’t make such mistakes during my training sessions, and I just don’t understand the reason for my poor shooting. I followed the coach’s instructions from the very first loop: I kept calm, I didn’t hurry. By the time I approached the shooting range for the first time, I was already behind the leaders. The margin kept increasing. Somewhere in the middle of the distance I felt very tired and I did not know how to finish this race. Although the distance was short… I cannot blame it on acclimatization, I feel fine. Just today was not my day,” Dzinara Alimbekava said.

The head coach of the women’s team, Oleg Ryzhenkov, emphasized that neither the coaches nor the biathletes were happy with the outcome of the women’s sprint. “I have no issues with Dzinara. She performed very well in the mixed relay and did pretty well in the individual race. She tried her best in the sprint. The outcome would have been better if not for the last shot. The winner and the medalists put in an extraordinary performance today. Let’s get ready for the pursuit. Dzinara did well at such races during the season. As for the other girls, we will try to analyze their shooting errors,” Oleg Ryzhenkov said.

Experts and fans are now pinning their hopes on the women's pursuit, which is due on 13 February. Many, however, were left concerned about Dzinara's recent comment: “I got tired in the sprint and ran out of energy.” It is worth noting that Hanna Sola showed good speed on the track, marking second best time among the Belarusian biathletes. Her shooting skills, however, are yet to improve. We will get all the answers on Sunday, 13 February.

Cross-country skier Yahor Shpuntau continued to write the history of his career, finishing 68^th in the men’s 15km classic. The young athlete said that he is a sprinter first of all. Yahor should be praised for his result given the conditions in which the Belarusian ski team found itself. The young athlete gained invaluable experience, performing in different Olympic disciplines. Not all young skiers can make it to the Games. We hope that the competitions in Zhangjiakou will help Yahor progress.

Press service of Belarus’ NOC

Photos by Belarus’ NOC