MOSCOW, April 25 (R-Sport) – The Russian women's biathlon team has been boosted for next year's Sochi Olympics with the addition of famed Soviet coach Vladimir Korolkevich.
The team is under crushing pressure to perform well on home soil but the size of the task became apparent after a disastrous world championships in February, when Russia failed to collect a medal of any kind.
“Korolkevich is well-known in our country, it’s not the first time he has had an offer to work with the Russian team,” senior coach Alexander Selifonov was quoted by the biathlon federation website as saying.
“Earlier, personal reasons prevented him from accepting it, but now he said he was ready to work in our team.”
Korolkevich spent last season coaching the Ukrainian women’s team to five medals at the world championships, their second-best result ever.
He made his name in the 1980s as a top youth coach who led Belarus to victories in domestic Soviet competitions.
Selifonov, meanwhile, took over chief coaching responsibilities after German specialist Wolfgang Pichler was demoted following the world championships flop.
Turin Olympic relay silver medalist Pavel Rostovtsev and a conditioning coach Sergey Efimov will also assist on the women’s team.
