Coaches for the biathlon team will be selected through a competition. Who will coach the Russian biathlon team in the new season Coach of the women's biathlon team

The coaching staffs of all Russian biathlon teams have been formed. Sportbox.ru decided to streamline the team structure.

Russian women's team

Russian women's biathlon team at the training camp in Belokurikha / Photo: © biathlonrus.com

Trainers: Sergey Konovalov (senior coach), Nikolai Zagursky (coach), Mikhail Devyatyarov (functional training coach)

Summary: The head coach of such a problematic team as the women's team could not be appointed until mid-May. It was assumed that Vladimir Korolkevich would lead the Russian girls, but the SBR did not contradict the IBU, which was dissatisfied with such a controversial figure in biathlon, and played it safe by returning the senior position to Konovalov. Devyatyarov is a fresh breath in a team where there are functional problems. He worked with Korean skiers, but his services were abandoned during the Olympic season. As a result of the decision of the RBU, Valery Medvedtsev and Vitaly Noritsyn were left out of work.

Russian men's team

Russian men's biathlon team at the training camp in Belokurikha / Photo: © biathlonrus.com

Trainers: Ricco Gross (senior coach), Andrey Padin (coach)

Kryuchkov group

Trainers: Andrey Kryuchkov, Andrey Gerbulov (shooting coach)

Summary: former assistant to Ricco Gross Vladimir Bragin was demoted, but expanded his powers. In fact, together with Belozerov, he will prepare the team for performance at the IBU Cup stages, but there is a possibility that one of the athletes will get a chance in the main team. In any case, being on the reserve team is largely a formality. For example, Slepov will train in a separate team that does not have official status in the team hierarchy. But yesterday's juniors Kirill Streltsov and Nikita Porshnev moved to a new level.

Khovantsev Group

Trainer: Anatoly Khovantsev

Athletes:, Alexey Slepov, Pavel Magazeev

Summary: The threats of RBU President Alexander Kravtsov did not go unnoticed: Malyshko did not attend centralized training. But the region did not abandon him: St. Petersburg paid for the athlete’s self-training under the guidance of Anatoly Khovantsev, a coach who worked with Ekaterina Yurlova and Kaisa Mäkäräinen. Two more St. Petersburg residents Pyotr Magazeev and Alexey Slepov were added to Malyshko’s workload - the only one of the trio who had the right to prepare for the season as part of the reserve team.

Russian junior team

Trainers: Maxim Ikhsanov (senior coach), Pavel Maksimov, Sergey Efimov, Ilgiz Samigullin, Alexey Antipov, Igor Okhotnikov

Athletes: Igor Malinovsky, Nikita Lobastov, Karim Khalili, Vasily Tomshin, Ilya Novopashin, Sergey Demichev, Mikhail Pervushin, Gleb Slobodenyuk

Sportswomen: Valeria Vasnetsova, Ekaterina Sannikova, Kristina Egorova, Ksenia Zhuzhgova, Anastasia Rasskazova, Anna Grigorieva, Anastasia Khaliullina, Anastasia Goreeva

Summary: Let us note that Sergei Efimov migrated to the junior team from the main team. And he really had nothing to brag about at the end of the last season, because he was responsible for the functional training of women. Maxim Ikhsanov, whose players last season won 5 European Championship medals, including two golds, and won five more victories at the World Championships, remained the head coach. Although the composition has undergone significant changes, the most stellar juniors, Valeria Vasnetsova and Igor Malinovsky, remained in training in the junior team.

In the very first days in my new position I found myself in a difficult situation. It is already necessary to approve the coaching staff of the national team, preparation plans for the season, announce the team composition for centralized training camps and begin work. But difficulties arose when appointing the head coach of the women's team.

HE LEFT. BUT THERE IS A RETURN

Before the start of the reporting and election conference in Tyumen, four-time Olympic champion Alexander Tikhonov made a loud statement about his resignation from the board of the RBU, and at the same time said goodbye to the press. In the elections, Tikhonov supported (not only with words, but also brought a sponsor) Vladimir Drachev, who eventually won. The former president of the RBU was the first to go to the press and announce the results.

Tikhonov emphasized that he will no longer hold any official position in the RRF, but is ready to be an adviser to Drachev. The new president of the RBU confirmed that such cooperation is possible. But as soon as it came to personnel appointments, the departed Alexander Tikhonov had his say. Moreover, this word turned out to be significant. So significant that the decision already approved by the board was never documented.

The four-time Olympic champion opposed the appointment of Valery Polkhovsky as head coach of the women's team. Tikhonov has a long-standing and open enmity with this specialist. It is a fact. And now the situation that has arisen will have to be resolved by Drachev, who has had a good opportunity to show firmness and show that he will not bend in any direction.

OLD FRIEND

Drachev went to the elections with, whom he presented as the future vice president for sports and head coach of the national team. And also - a person who will introduce a unified methodology for training biathletes throughout the country, starting from childhood.

If you look at Khovantsev’s coaching career, he spent a lot of time working in tandem with Valery Polkhovsky. Their collaboration began back in 1985 in the USSR junior team. It was in their team that he began to open up, and a little later. In 1989, Polkhovsky left for China.

In 1992, Khovantsev headed the Russian men's team, and invited Polkhovsky as an assistant. Moreover, this was Khovantsev’s strict condition in response to the proposal of the then RBU President Evgeniy Novikov. The coaching tandem worked until 1998 inclusive, until the senior coach was asked to vacate his post after the Olympics in Nagano.

After this, the coaches' paths diverged, although there was still a period when Khovantsev worked as the head coach of the women's team - after the Olympics in Vancouver, and Polkhovsky at the same time was the head coach of the Russian reserve team.

As soon as Anatoly Khovantsev returned to Russian biathlon after a humiliating resignation in March 2011, he immediately proposed Polkhovsky. An old friend, as they say, is better than two new ones. If you look only at the results, then under Polkhovsky the Russian women's team from 2001 to 2007 was the strongest in the world. And the doping scandal involving him happened after his resignation (initiated by Tikhonov).

RELIABLE PEOPLE

True, Polkhovsky disappeared from the Russian biathlon horizon after the Olympics in Sochi, and in 2015 he became a consulting coach for the Kazakhstan national team. Under him, the team’s results went up, but after a season the coach went to Belarus for a better life. He worked as head coach for four months, after which he wrote a letter of resignation - he did not find a common language with the leadership of the Belarusian biathlon.

Last season he worked as the head coach of the Kazakhstan national team, but compared to the 2015/16 season, the results were more than modest. Polkhovsky left his post at the end of the season, and is now preparing to host the Russian national team.

People from the biathlon world have an ambiguous attitude towards its possible purpose. Polkhovsky had conflicts with many. For example, before the Olympics in Sochi. The two-time Olympic champion called Polkhovsky a “nothing” coach and actually accused him of building a doping system in the Russian national team and driving athletes into training.

But at the same time, the two-time Olympic champion supported the candidacy of this coach, noting that Polkhovsky and Khovantsev are reliable people who “will not spoil the furrow.” World champions also came out in support of Polkhovsky, noting that he knows the fundamental things necessary for his work.

You may have to start from the foundation. Since it is not yet known how the IBU Executive Committee will initially react to all the scandals associated with Russian biathlon. And will the SBR be fully restored to its rights?

Coaching careers of Khovantsev and Polkhovsky. Photo "SE"

On May 21, the first meeting of the board of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) took place in Moscow after the election of Vladimir Drachev as its president.

As a result of the meeting, Anatoly and Valery were appointed to the posts of senior coaches of the men's and women's teams, respectively. At the same time, the first became the head coach of the entire national team.

According to the Championship,

Khovantsev and Polkhovsky will have the authority to manage the entire vertical of the country's national teams - from national teams to reserve teams, including youth and junior teams.

Both specialists have already worked for the Russian national team before. Khovantsev, 68, was the head coach of youth teams back in the USSR, and from 1992 to 1998 he headed the Russian national team.

After that, he worked as a senior coach in the national teams of Finland, Estonia and Ukraine, returning in June 2010 as coach of the Russian women's team.

Khovantsev worked in this post for less than a season and was fired in March 2011 right during the disastrous relay race of the Russian women's team at the Biathlon World Championships by the then RBU President Mikhail Prokhorov.

Khovantsev's track record includes the Order of Honor for high sporting achievements at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Polkhovsky, 64, also began his coaching career during the Soviet Union and, for example, trained Sarajevo 1984 Olympic champion Sergei Bulygin.

From 2001 to 2007, he worked as the head coach of the Russian women's national team, which under his leadership achieved its greatest successes in history.

In the 2011/12 season, Polkhovsky was returned to the country's main team and to the position of head coach of the entire team, but was fired at the end of the season.

In 2013, Polkhovsky worked as a consultant to Prokhorov in preparation for the home Olympics in Sochi.

Among the powers vested with Valery Polkhovsky were participation in the formation of the coaching staff and the composition of the national team for pre-season training, expert assessment of training plans, as well as supervision of special projects for the 2014 Games.

“The men’s and women’s teams will include eight athletes each,” Khovantsev told the agency after his appointment.

Let us recall that earlier the newly elected president of the RBU said that he was against the self-training of the leader of the Russian team and would prefer that he work together with the team in a single group. At the same time, Drachev added that he is open to dialogue with the athlete.

“Today Vladimir Drachev called me and offered this option. We discussed it briefly, found an understanding, and I agreed.

Can we fight for medals next season? It’s difficult to talk now, we need to carefully understand the situation, decide on a team, and then make plans. At the very least, we need to build normal work so that every athlete can improve their results,” TASS quotes Polkhovsky as saying.

- Hope dies last. We will do everything to raise Russian biathlon to a higher quality level,” he added.”

It is expected that the composition of the Russian men's and women's national teams will be formed and approved by the RBU board later.

At the same time, a journalist from the Belarusian agency Sputnik published information on May 21 that several Russian biathletes, whose names remain secret for now, are already working in Raubichi with the Belarusian national team and are considering the option of changing their sports citizenship.

“These days in Raubichi, where our women’s team is training, several Russian biathletes who are considering the option of changing their sports citizenship joined the training.

Negotiations are ongoing, they are in full swing, but everyone wants to wait for the publication of the Russian lists of athletes who will be involved in centralized training. This will happen any day now. They promised to decide on the coaches of national teams in Russia no later than Tuesday,” the journalist wrote.

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The complete list does not yet contain only one name - a German Ricco Grossa(The SBR has not yet commented on his absence). This composition will begin to perform its duties on June 1, and during this time some changes are possible (the previous coaching staff will, in any case, be finalized until May 31).

Alexander Kasperovich, head coach, 57 years old
After a conflict with most of the men's team, senior coach Kasperovich retained his post, but lost influence in the team. Now only part of the team, consisting mainly of young biathletes, will train under his leadership. However, it was in working with youth that Kasperovich made a name for himself, leading the junior team for more than 10 years and being a senior reserve coach. Now he has an excellent chance to rehabilitate himself for the unsuccessful world championship and achieve a breakthrough with the talented Eduard Latypov, Alexander Povarnitsyn and Matvey Eliseev. The candidacy of Alexander Kasperovich will be proposed by the RBU board for consideration by the Ministry of Sports for the post of head coach.

Andrey Padin, men group “A”, 47 years old
Kasperovich's assistant for functional training was considered as a candidate for the women's team, but was left in his place. Like Kasperovich, he worked with young Russian biathletes for many years. He began his coaching career in his native Bashkortostan, where he helped the most talented junior of the early 2000s, Maxim Chudov, reach the national team. Soon the mentor himself went from the reserve team to the main team. Padin is known for his exactingness and, to some extent, toughness, as well as his good knowledge of all layers of the Russian biathlon reserve.

Sergey Bashkirov, men group “A”, 37 years old
The Salt Lake City Olympic participant took his first steps on the coaching path under the guidance of Kasperovich, who surrounded himself with young specialists in the junior team. Bashkirov is the only high-level athlete among them who reached the main team, where he was responsible for shooting last season. For the first time it turned out well - the team’s shooting performance remained at the same level, and therefore Bashkirov retained his place. In addition to the national team, he trains his 14-year-old son Nikita, the hope of the famous Novouralsk biathlon school.

Vladimir Bragin, men group “B”, 53 years old
The youth team mentor successfully combines the work of a coach with international refereeing. It was he who was the chief judge in the Olympic Sochi and is considered the right hand of the patriarch of the Russian judiciary, Vadim Melikhov. Bragin's coaching career is connected with Khanty-Mansiysk. Under his leadership, such famous athletes as Dmitry Yaroshenko, Artyom Gusev, Alexey Trusov trained, and now a new generation of students has made it into the reserve team and performed well at the starts of the IBU Cup, which allowed Bragin to join the headquarters of the main team.

Alexander Popov, men group “B”, 50 years old
The 1988 Olympic champion, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, ended up in Belarus, where he was one of the leaders of the national team for several years, and then worked as a head coach and received the title of Honored Coach of the Republic. However, in Belarus, Popov’s fame is not so much as a practical coach, but as an administrator, and after a change in biathlon leadership, he returned to his homeland and last season worked with the reserve of the Russian team. Another trump card of Popov is his brilliant command of German. It will come in handy as soon as a contract is signed with Ricco Gross, who should lead Group B.

Sergey Konovalov, women group “A”, 42 years old
After retiring in 2007, the World Championship medalist began working with juniors, and in 2010 he joined Anatoly Khovantsev’s staff in the Russian women’s national team. After the scandalous dismissal of the senior coach during the relay race in Khanty-Mansiysk, Konovalov was transferred to team “B”, where he worked as a shooting coach until he was paired with Vladimir Korolkevich. The duo of mentors began work in the new cycle, and with the departure of Korolkevich, the role of Konovalov and Sergei Efimov will increase.

Sergey Efimov, women group “A”, 56 years old
Sergei Efimov is well known to RBU President Alexander Kravtsov from his joint work in the Far East. He started as a cross-country skiing coach, where in 2000 he received the title of meritorious, and in 2007, when the position of head coach of the women's team was shaken under Valery Polkhovsky, he was invited to biathlon as a functional training mentor, where he successfully settled down. From 2008 to 2010, he worked with the main team paired with Alexander Selifonov, and in the next Olympic cycle he switched to the reserve. Since 2014, Efimov returned to the main team of the national team, where, as before, he is responsible for functional training.

Alexey Trusov, women’s group “A”, 32 years old
A native of Angarsk showed promise in cross-country skiing and beat Maxim Vylegzhanin in juniors, but chronic back injuries did not allow him to develop either in skiing or in biathlon, where Alexey grew to the level of Universiade winner and national champion. Trusov completed graduate school, but did not defend his dissertation and immediately after finishing his career in 2013, he joined the headquarters of the reserve team under Kasperovich, and last year he helped his mentor Vladimir Bragin. Now Trusov has become the youngest coach of the main team of the Russian national team in modern history.

Evgeniy Pylev, women group “B”, 43 years old
For a wider circle of fans, he is known primarily as the first husband and coach of two-time Olympic champion Olga Medvedtseva (Pyleva). For those who are deeply interested in biathlon - as an experienced coach of the Tyumen team, a long-term assistant to Leonid Guryev and a successful shooting specialist. Last season, Pylev led the women's youth team, but at the main competitions his players performed modestly, with the exception of Irina Trusova, who made her way into the main team (however, Trusova was preparing for the season not in the national team, but under the leadership of Tyumen resident Leonid Guryev). Most likely, in the new season Pylev will focus on working with young people.

Pavel Lantsov, women group “B”, 35 years old
A novice coach from Transbaikalia, Pavel Lantsov, joined the headquarters of the reserve women’s team back in 2011. Over the past cycle, Lantsov received a wide variety of experience: he worked with juniors and was even on the headquarters of the Olympic men's team under the leadership of Nikolai Lopukhov, where he replaced Andrei Gerbulov, who had taken leave for family reasons. After the Olympics, Lantsov, together with Pylev, led the women's reserve team and, at 35 years old, is a specialist with a varied work experience.

The Russian biathlon team has yet another coaching appointment. Anatoly Khovantsev became the head coach of the national team and the senior coach of the men's team. Valery Polkhovsky will be responsible for working with women. The corresponding decision was made at a meeting of the board of the Russian Biathlon Union (RUB), headed by the organization Vladimir Drachev.

Both Khovantsev and Polkhovsky are well-known specialists in their field, having worked in the national team for many years in the past. Khovantsev began his coaching career during the Soviet era and went from mentor of a junior team to senior coach of the first team. From 1998 to 2010 he worked abroad: in Finland, Estonia and Ukraine.

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In 2010, Khovantsev accepted an offer to lead the Russian women's team, but did not work with it for even a year - he was fired by the then RBU President Mikhail Prokhorov right during the relay race at the World Championships. Since then, Khovantsev has worked in Finland and also collaborated with world champions Kaisa Mäkäräinen and Ekaterina Yurlova.

Polkhovsky is best known for his work with the Russian women's team from 2001 to 2007, when it was a trendsetter in biathlon. He also briefly served on the headquarters of the Russian national team under Prokhorov. In recent years, Polkhovsky coached the Kazakhstan national team.

Reshuffles in the national biathlon team occurred after the RBU board recognized the unsatisfactory work of previous specialists - senior men's coach Ricco Gross and women's team coach Sergei Konovalov. For the first time, the girls did not win a single medal at the World Cup, and the lion's share of the awards among the men went to Anton Shipulin, who prepared for the season separately from the rest of the team.

RBU President Vladimir Drachev did not hide the fact that he wants to attract Khovantsev to the team and entrust him with all sports work, making him his deputy. Polkhovsky's appointment was somewhat unexpected, although on April 10 he stopped working in Kazakhstan and was open to offers at home.

Two-time Olympic champion in biathlon Anatoly Alyabyev commented to RT on the latest appointments in the Russian national team. In his opinion, the arrival of Khovantsev and Polkhovsky is the right step that will help biathletes improve their results. However, this requires time for specialists.

— How do you feel about the appointment of Khovantsev as head coach of the Russian national team and senior in the men’s team?

— I was part of Drachev’s team, we discussed this issue with him. I think that Khovantsev’s appointment is a really good option. He just needs to find good helpers. He is an experienced and extremely responsible specialist. My namesake and I talked, he is constantly looking for new scientific literature, he found an assistant to translate it. This is a good candidate.

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• Andrey Anosov/SBR

— Is this appointment timely? Will he have time to get involved in work?

— Of course, with all these elections, the training process was delayed. We now need to complete the team and continue working. In modern biathlon, it is customary to conduct year-round training. Fortunately, it’s all over, global changes have occurred, and now you can return to work.

— What do you think about Polkhovsky’s return to the post of head coach of the women’s team?

— Although Alexander Tikhonov criticizes him, I have a positive attitude towards Valery Nikolaevich’s arrival. This is a competent person, he went through our Soviet-Russian biathlon school and gained a lot of experience. I'm sure he'll do a good job. The main thing is that Khovantsev and Polkhovsky find mutual understanding. Both may have their own ambitions. If they start squabbling, then, of course, there will be no result.

-Are they very different in character?

— Polkhovsky is a tougher coach, loves discipline. And Khovantsev is a kinder, gentler person. But for Polkhovsky, his character is a plus; the women’s team needs special discipline.

— The names of their assistants have not yet been announced...

— It is absolutely necessary that they choose the second and third coaches themselves, so that they are not imposed on them from the outside. In this regard, I believe in Drachev. He knows how they prefer to work.

— When can we expect a result that will satisfy the fans? Especially from girls?

“He must come, I have no doubt.” First, we need to restore order in the team so that there is no vacillation. I trust Polkhovsky in this regard, he is very demanding and loves discipline. There may be some spikes during the first season, but I think it's best to wait at least two years.

The main thing is not to interfere with the work of coaches. The new management is smart enough not to remove them after the first season. We must allow him to work for all four years. I would advise critics of the national team to keep quiet for now, now we need to help each other. You can’t insult anyone or trip anyone on the sly. The main thing is that no scandals occur at the international level, as with athletics, so that they are not banned from performing.

— Drachev spoke out against individual training. The new coaches of the national team should now not allow someone to practice outside the team?

— I am in favor of uniform training. Of course, there are athletes who excel, like Shipulin before. They need something of their own. But it’s still better for them to stay on the team and coordinate their preparation with the coaches. After all, some questions may arise, and it is better to solve them together. In general, you need to prepare according to a single plan, but it is possible with minor deviations. That’s why coaches are needed, so that they can correct the work.

— How to solve the problem with the transition from junior biathlon to adult biathlon? Will the new coaches be able to cope with this?

— Yes, our juniors always have good results, and then they can’t do anything. We need to approach this problem as competently as possible, appoint coaches who will not give immediate results, but will take a thorough approach to training young people. Khovantsev and Polkhovsky are capable of this. We can only wish them mutual understanding and a good climate in the team, like we had in Soviet times. Then the result will appear.