Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) Vice-President Anna Bogaliy has spoken out against holding national championships for 13-14 year-olds at the international anti-doping forum “Clean Sport Without Borders”.
“We are currently holding Russian biathlon championships for athletes aged 13-14. I am against such competitions and believe that up to the age of 18 we should hold large, complex events, rather festivals, which, of course, have a sporting component with medals, anthem and everything else, but without the high price of victory.
The race for results, which develops from childhood, can lead an athlete to seek results at a very early age. I have heard that illegal drugs, including steroids, are found in very young athletes.
Yes, the state is trying to do its best by organizing such competitions and introducing scholarships. But we are faced with new problems. In particular, with the early castration of athletes, some of whom already at the age of 15 have various problems with cardiac activity due to accelerated training by coaches, and at the age of 18 they leave the sport. – TASS quotes Bogaliy.
The Russian Summer Championship for 13-14 year-old athletes will be held in Smolensk from 23 to 29 September, and the Winter Championship from 11 to 17 March in Demino (Yaroslavl region).
Meanwhile, the two-time Olympic champion Dmitry Vasiliev assessed the prospects of Russian biathletes returning to international tournaments.
“There are already some federations that allow our athletes to participate in international competitions. But this is only sporadic. And he says that some federations have sensible and adequate leaders.
And all the others are either afraid or completely inadequate, such as, for example, the International Biathlon Union. I can’t even imagine when the Russians will return to this sport. For this to happen, either the leadership of the IBU must change or the international community must express its opinion on this matter.
But here we need to work with our like-minded people. These are, first of all, Latin America and East Asia, which have many voices. If they support us at the IBU Congress, it will confirm that Russian athletes must compete again.
And those who now run the IBU are notoriously Russophobic, they hate Russians. There is absolutely no need to rely on common sense here.” — Vasiliev told VseProSport.
