Russian biathlon coaches have decided to rest 2010 Olympic gold medalist Evgeny Ustyugov for Friday’s relay, in favor of keeping him fit for the mass start on Sunday, head coach Valery Polkhovsky said Wednesday.
Russia has yet to win more than bronze in this year’s world championships. If the dry run continues, this would be the country’s worst performance since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Ustyugov is a specialist in the mass start, in which he won gold in Vancouver in 2010, as well as a silver medal at last year’s world championships in Khanty-Mansiisk, Russia.
“The training staff decided to allow Evgeny to rest a few days so he can prepare for the mass start,” Polkhovsky said on the Russian Biathlon Union website.
Russia has picked up two medals so far at the championships in Ruhpolding, Germany, when Anton Shipulin and Olga Vilukhina won bronze in Sunday’s pursuit events.
Russia finished empty-handed for the fifth time in the championships in Wednesday’s women’s individual race, when Olga Zaitseva finished sixth, one minute and 26 seconds behind Norwegian winner Tura Berger, with Svetlana Sleptsova in seventh and Olga Vilukhina in eighth.
In Tuesday’s men’s individual race, the highest Russian finisher was 14th-placed Timofey Lapshin, as Jakov Fak won Slovenia its first-ever world championship gold medal.
The men’s relay takes place on Friday, with the women’s relay Saturday and both mass start races Sunday.
