But Anton has something to worry about.

In the third race in a row, Anton Shipulin reached the podium. An interesting coincidence: the series began on a nightmarish day for all Russian sports - December 9, when Richard McLaren introduced.

You can be sure that Anton is not mentioned in any version in the documents of the Canadian lawyer - neither in coded (that is, suspicious), nor by name. But the leader of our team has something to worry about: it may turn out that the sprint silver in Nove Mesto is one of his last awards for the season.

What happened again in biathlon?

international union biathletes (IBU) recently received from McLaren a list of 31 names - all of these athletes are suspected of doping in 2011-2015.

The head of the organization, Anders Besseberg, indirectly let it slip - the list is conditionally divided into three groups:

- biathletes who performed only in Russia (not collections);

- biathletes who have completed their careers (already unpleasant - it is possible that someone will have to be very disappointed in someone);

– current biathletes – their allocation to a separate segment causes the most serious concern.

Think about it 31 surnames are a catastrophic number. Even for such a period of time. Even if the absolute majority of the defendants did not compete at competitions better than the Cup of the country.

What does all this threaten?

Possible sanctions (if they follow) the sea.

1) Russia, as a country hosting several important competitions, has something to take away: the Junior World Cup in Ostrov (in two months), the debut stage of the World Cup in Tyumen (in less than three months), the 2021 World Cup in the same Tyumen.

No one will be embarrassed by the closeness of the first two starts; rescheduling tournaments is not a problem. With the stages, this generally happens regularly - mainly, of course, due to overlays with the organization (weather, lack of snow, etc.), but still they can easily cope with this in world biathlon.

With regard to the World Cup, no one’s hand will falter either - all the more, relevant recommendations have been received, as well.

Losing a few home starts is bitter and painful, but not tragic.

2) Suspension of current athletes, revision of the results of the Olympics in Sochi (in the biathlon part). This is already significant.

3) Non-admission of biathletes to the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang. Alas, the credit history of the Russian team is monstrous. Two rounds for last years: in 2009, three were caught (Ekaterina Yuryeva, Albina Akhatova, Dmitry Yaroshenko), in 2014 - three again (Alexander Loginov, Irina Starykh and the same Yuryeva).

If the leaks are discovered even now, both the old biathlon scandals and the whole situation in our sport will work like a trailer. Moreover, there is a precedent here - the athletes did not reach Rio.

4) Removal of the entire team from the season. Among the options listed, this is the least likely, but not excluded. Dmitry Guberniev, a person who knows more about biathlon than other coaches, in a clearly thought-out speech made the following alignment:

“Let's take off the rose-colored glasses, you need to prepare for the worst. Bad result next week, I think we are all provided. What - no need to say. It is clear that Besseberg spoke in a very veiled manner about the possibility of some decisions after the meeting of the special commission.

Now a very big question is, first of all, the participation of the national team in the World Cup, the holding of the Junior World Championship in Ostrov and the World Cup stage in Tyumen.

When will everything be decided?

They are going to be in time before the holidays - even European ones. Andres Besseberg promised that Full answer will be given on December 22.

What does Shipulin think?

“Naturally, we looked at this news, but nothing but a smile, it did not cause me. I didn't panic at all, because it's not serious.

Too much politics mixed with sports, that's how to blame Russian athletes who are not to blame for anything - this is already too much. Seriously go overboard.

I think the fans who support us know that the athletes are confident in themselves and are watching this from the sidelines. I try not to think about it, I am at competitions and think only about them ”(in live"Match TV").

And Fourcade?

“The IBU must be strict with those who cheat. This is not one or two, but 31 people.

I hope the IBU has the courage to disqualify them. If not, then the athletes will act.

If there are no consequences, I will urge my partners and other biathletes not to compete. But I think the IBU will do everything right. They have a lot of evidence, they need to take serious action.” (NRK)

Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexei Filippov, Mikhail Voskresensky (2)

Biathlon superstar Ole Bjoerndalen does not intend to accuse Russian athletes of doping until there is evidence. Unlike the famous athlete, some officials are willing to make repressive decisions without real evidence.

In a parcel from WADA, the International Biathlon Union found a leaflet with the names of Russian athletes, and another three hundred pages of pseudo-revelations by Grigory Rodchenkov - a fresh batch of stories about doping and Chekists at the Sochi Olympics.

“We have indeed received a list of 31 Russian athletes, but it seems impossible for me to say how many of them are currently competing in the World Cup. There are three groups of athletes on this list: active biathletes, those who have already completed their careers, and those who are not in our database,” said Anders Besseberg, President of the International Biathlon Union (IBU).

Athletes who are not in the database of the Biathlon Union have never competed at the international level. And those who have retired certainly do not pose a threat to the sport. Who then is suspected and feared in WADA? In the current Russian national team, neither among men nor among women, no one has been caught doping.

“I am one hundred percent sure that those athletes who take part in our starts today, in our competitions, they are clean. We are doing everything in a regular mode, we are all working, we have normal relations with us, we are training,” said Alexander Kasperovich, Main coach Russian national biathlon team.

“None of these athletes is yet aware of the amount of some evidence that has been submitted to the International Biathlon Federation. The question is whether there will be enough evidence, only this evidence, to make some kind of decision,” said sports lawyer Artem Patsev.

The Russian issue in the Biathlon Union is decided by an international commission. The paramount question is the fate of active athletes. Now the Russians are performing in the Czech Republic. According to the plan, on January 5 they will enter the World Cup stage in Germany. And there and before Russian stage not far from Tyumen. The biathlon federation did not dare to make hasty conclusions, and therefore today it is already under fire from critics of Russia.

“If nothing is done by January, I will call on my colleagues from foreign teams, from Germany, the Czech Republic, from all other countries, to boycott, ”said biathlete Martin Fourcade.

Martin Fourcade, ten-time biathlon world champion, demands disqualification and transfer of competitions outside of Russia. True, the Frenchman did not dare to say this in the face of his Russian opponent Anton Shipulin. Here at a press conference, he silently agrees with the words of the Russian biathlete, who is already tired of brushing off groundless suspicions.

“Politics and sports have been mixed up lately. I always thought that sport is above that. But in any case, I'm not 100% worried about myself. I have nothing to worry about. Let's see what happens next," he said. Russian biathlete Anton Shipulin.

Hearing that the Russians were again declared guilty even before all the allegedly existing evidence was studied, even the Norwegian Bjoerndalen, the eternal rival of Russian biathletes, could not remain silent.

“For me, they are all “clean” until they are disqualified. But if at least ten percent of the information about doping is true, then this is a disaster. However, first I want to see evidence of their guilt, ”said the biathlete.

After all, now there are rumors not only about the disqualification of individual athletes or even the national team. There are those who would like to take away all international biathlon competitions from Russia, including the World Championships back in 2021.

“I would not exaggerate. Let's figure it out. Do not face difficulties for the first time. The main thing is to take a competent and balanced attitude to what is happening in the world today, draw proper conclusions and find mutual understanding between the parties without nonsense, ”said Alexander Kravtsov, President of the Russian Biathlon Union.

The coaches of the national teams of Sweden and Germany, current and retired biathletes have already stood up for Russia's right to the presumption of innocence. Moreover, the attack on the Russian team takes place in the midst of unfinished proceedings after the abuse of the so-called "legal doping" - asthma drugs in the same Norway, reminds the Swedish biathlete Bjorn Ferry.

"What to do? We can suspend the Russians, but what about doping in other countries? Now everything has gone so far that I don't know what to do anymore. There is absolutely no trust between countries. No one trusts anyone, all results are questioned. You sympathize with those who are clean,” he says.

It is especially a pity for the “clean” athletes who have already been slandered. I wonder if WADA will come forward with rebuttals of their accusations after a recheck of all Sochi blood samples of Russian athletes showed the absence of doping? There was no news from WADA on this matter today.

The latest news is that Russian biathlete Tatyana Akimova won first place in the sprint race at the World Cup stage, which takes place in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. For her, this is the first "gold" in competitions of this rank.

In anticipation of the decision of the IBU regarding the Russian team, I tried to raise all the information about Biathlon from the McLaren bowels.

Brief summary:

1. It can be said with certainty that the report contains Zaitsev, Vilukhina, Romanova- these are biathletes who found scratches on anti-doping test tubes and abnormal salt readings. See the previous post for more details. Also already calculated Glazyrin- (See the post from a week ago on the main page).
2. With a high degree of certainty, there are, oddly enough, Shipulin, Garanichev, Malyshko, Ustyugov, logins And Shumilova, Volkov. I calculated them using documents 0883-0885, where there are sample numbers and names personal trainers- respectively, Putrov, Kugaevsky, Kucherov, Lunev, Khaliullina And Russian. For Volkova- Altukhov. Further, the numbers of their samples - (and they were in the case of Shipulin - 6, Garanichev - 5, Malyshko 4, etc.) were also found in document 1140, where they searched for abnormal salt indicators - this means that these are high-ranking athletes.
3. From others out there Lapshin, A0461. (the so-called untouchable teapot). from Sochi with a high probability missing Podchufarova. And most of the young athletes who were not considered for the 2014 Olympics.
4. Several retired Zaitseva, Vilukhina, Ustyugov). Some of the others could not be identified. In total There are 35 biathletes in the report, 4 of them are disqualified (Starykh, Pekhterev, Baranunkin, Dubasov). So there are actually 31 left.

All information in the file is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Wprs0Uz_6eiJgDF6xgs__YK--Hjdkh0-PTskP6uoTVc/ There are also links to competitions where samples were taken (where possible), and completely complete information from Rodchenkov's correspondence and other documents from McLaren. (Bold - World Cup biathletes, italics - retired, crossed out - participants of the 2014 Olympics)

1. A0023 - Ivan Alekhin

2. A0136 - Ivan Cherezov

3. A0142 - Alexander Chernyshov

4. A0157 - Alexander Dedyukhin

5. A0179 - Dubova/Dmirtieva/Dudin/Dyuzhev/Egorova

6. A0201 - Anastasia Evsyunina

7.A0232- Evgeny Garanichev

8.A0241- Ekaterina Glazyrina

9. A0282 - Kristina Ilchenko (now Belarus)

10.A0321- Uliana Kaisheva

11. A0461 - Timofey Lapshin

12.A0491- Alexander Loginov

13. A0508 - Andrey Makoveev

14. A0521 - Dmitry Malyshko

15. A0548 - Svetlana Mironova

16. A0567 - Ekaterina Muraleeva

17. A0576 - Alexander Nazarov

18. A0579 - Galina Nechkasova

19. A0598 - Anna Nikulina (??)

20. A0639 - Evgenia Pavlova

21. A0687 - Alexander Povarnitsyn

22. A0714 - Yana Romanova

23. A0751 Semenova/Sboeva/Sandulyak

24. A0795 - Anton Shipulin

25. A0804 - Yuri Shopin

26. A0808 - Ekaterina Shumilova

27. A0930 - Evgeny Ustyugov

28. A0944 - Olga Vilukhina

29. A0950 - Alexey Volkov

30. A0983 - Olga Zaitseva

31. A1031 - Eduard Latypov (former coach - Mishingin)

“We know who was doping. He is suspended pending clarification,” the IBU office said and lit the fuse. It should take off very soon, and this will happen on the eve of the World Cup in Norway. This is not the first time doping stories in biathlon have surfaced on the eve of the main starts of the season - the World Championships and the Olympic Games. This tradition has been going on for over 10 years. In anticipation of the announcement of the name of the perpetrator, let us recall similar cases.

2003. "Akhatova on the needle"

The first well-known doping scandal broke out in the Russian team after the World Cup stage in Antholz shortly before the World Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk. Then one of the contenders for victory in overall standings Albina Akhatova passed a positive test for nikethamide. One of the largest newspapers in the country published an article under the heading "Akhatova on the needle." However, after some time it turned out that the athlete was injected with the drug after the race due to poor health (low blood pressure). Since the Russian Biathlon Union did not complete the necessary documents in time, he was fined, but the athlete was acquitted and won two gold medals in Khanty-Mansiysk.

2008. "Uncaught" Waris

The first doping disqualification forced the Finnish skier Kaisu Waris go to biathlon. At first, she did not succeed in shooting, but in January 2008 she unexpectedly won the sprint, after which she passed a positive test for erythropoietin. The International Biathlon Union initially disqualified the athlete for life,

but then Varys's lawyers got hung up on the fact that she was not present at the autopsy of the B sample, and therefore it cannot be considered positive. Thus, the Finn was formally acquitted, but her own federation did not want to allow the recidivist and her boyfriend and doctor Kari-Pekku Kure to the national team within a shot.

2009. The loudest scandal

The then leaders of the Russian national team Albina Akhatova, Dmitry Yaroshenko And Ekaterina Yurieva tested positive back in December, when the IBU adopted new anti-doping rules to allow samples to be taken on out-of-competition days. In fact, a blow was dealt to fans of injecting erythropoietin, which significantly changed the balance of power in world biathlon. At the tip of the iceberg were the Russians, who were removed from the race just a few days before the start of the World Cup in Pyeongchang. Long legal proceedings did not lead to anything, and the whole trio received two years of disqualification. Soon, the RRF, as part of the RusADA cleansing operation, identified two more violators in the domestic arena - Andrey Prokunin and Veronika Timofeeva.

2014. Old rake

On the eve of preparations for Olympic Games in Sochi, the Russian Biathlon Union stepped on the old rake. recent reservists Irina Starykh and Ekaterina Yuryeva sharply improved with the start of the season and applied for the national team, and already in January it became known about their positive tests, also associated with EPO. Starykh received three years of disqualification, and Yuryeva for a second case eight years, which actually marked the end of her career. Later, during the re-analysis, another violator was caught - Alexander Loginov also received three years. In addition to the Russians on the eve of the Olympics, the Lithuanian Karolis Zlatkauskas was also caught.

2015. Father answered for his son

The main news of last season was the involvement of the Tashler family in working with the odious doctor Michele Ferrari. As the Italian La Gazzetta dello Sport found out, IBU vice-president Gottlieb Taschler turned to the doctor with a request to help his son, a promising biathlete Daniel Tashler, take advantage of EPO. The newspaper published a transcript of the conversation, in which the doctor explained to the official how to properly bypass doping tests. In addition to his son, Tashler apparently asked for a son-in-law - an Austrian skier Johannes Dür, who was caught on the eve of the Games in Sochi. As a result, Taschler Jr. was suspended from the competition, and his father from work at the IBU, which did not prevent him from remaining on the organizing committee of the World Cup in Antholz.

2016. Who is Mr. X

Right now we can only speculate about what is possible. Official representatives of the Russian and German federations have already denied the version of the involvement of their athletes. The possible circle of violators is limited by the number of athletes who suddenly stopped the competition and did not go to North America. It is unlikely that one of the superstars will be among them, as the Norwegians are calmly preparing for the home World Cup and are giving interviews, Jacob Fak honestly admitted about the disease, and his current results speak more about anti-doping. Otherwise, representatives of the middle and small classes are under suspicion. There is not much time before the opening of sample B, and therefore the name of the intruder will soon become known and will explain a lot.

Weapon deployed from light hand Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren in the direction of Russian sports, struck a second volley. The International Biathlon Union (IBU) has received from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) a list of 31 Russian biathletes suspected of violating anti-doping rules between 2011 and 2015. Taking into account the old stories of three domestic biathletes convicted of using illegal drugs, our team may suffer the same fate as light and weightlifters who saw the red light from international federations.

McLaren List

“Some of the athletes have already been disqualified or retired, but there are those who are currently participating in international competitions. We will give recommendations within a week,” said IBU President Anders Besseberg on Thursday, December 15, after another information bomb appeared in the media, to which, unfortunately, the Russian public has already become accustomed.

Just last week, Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren named the number Russian athletes involved in a doping case in Russian sports. There were over a thousand of them. Fantastic figure, of course. During the report, McLaren emphasized that the main task of his committee is an independent investigation. “We have provided WADA with all the information. If the relevant officials take any action based on the results of the investigation, this is their right,” the Canadian stressed and launched a doping machine that immediately ran over the Sochi World Bobsleigh and Skeleton Championships.

Biathletes were next in line. And it was not the very fact that they were on the McLaren list that horrified them. Initially, it was clear that representatives of all sports would be involved in the doping case. "Clean" winter roads, perhaps, will be difficult to find. First of all, I was horrified by the number of athletes, because 31 people is a little less than the entire expanded composition of the adult Russian team, which before the start of this season consisted of 42 athletes, that is, 90 percent of our collections were under the gun of McLaren's ruthless guns.

By tradition, no first and last names are named. Besseberg promised to do this on December 22, but for now he even managed to send a list of the Canadian to the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU).

“We will comment when we find out everything. For now, read Besseberg,” Minister of Sports Pavel Kolobkov succinctly commented on this situation, and after a similar position was expressed by RBU President Alexander Kravtsov. “They will send us to the federation, if they have formal charges against someone, we will consider them personally. The RRF does not have these names," Kravtsov said.

Photo: Alexander Natruskin / RIA Novosti

The head of the IBU, Anders Besseberg, partially misspoke, noting that the athletes involved in the scandal can be conditionally divided into three groups: those who competed in Russia, but did not get into the national team; those who have already completed their careers; as well as active biathletes. And just for the latter, the head hurts the most.

Almost certainly, three names should appear on the McLaren list: Ekaterina Yuryeva, Alexander Loginov and Irina Starykh. In 2014, these guys were already covered by an anti-doping wave, and someone (and here we are talking about Yuryeva - approx. "Tapes.ru") for the second time. Mindful of another productive "raid" on ours, when in 2009 the samples of the same Yuryeva, as well as Albina Akhatova and Dmitry Yaroshenko, turned out to be positive, the scenario for the further development of events is drawn the saddest.

What's next?

One of the first to take decisive steps IBU called for the Frenchman Martin Fourcade, who announced a possible boycott international competitions unless the perpetrators receive the punishment they deserve. “I want to see decisive steps when concrete facts appear. The IBU needs to address this issue and act strictly on those who cheat. This is not one athlete and not two, but 31. If sanctions are not followed, then I will call on my partners and other biathletes to refuse to participate in the competition. I would like to believe that it will not come to this. The IBU has a lot of evidence and serious action needs to be taken,” said the two-time Olympic champion Sochi.

I am glad that the prudent eight-time Olympic champion Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen stood up to protect our athletes. “For me, all of them (athletes - approx. "Tapes.ru") are clean until they are disqualified. But if at least ten percent of the information about doping is true, then this is a disaster. However, first I want to see evidence of their guilt, ”said the 42-year-old Norwegian, whose words are worth a lot, because Bjoerndalen has unquestioned authority in the biathlon environment.

However, personal punishment is only the lesser of the troubles. Of course, our fan is most interested in possible sanctions that the IBU can impose on the entire Russian biathlon. Besseberg responded within the framework of the trends discovered earlier by bobsledders, saying that he could deprive Russia of all international competitions, including the World Cup scheduled for this year in Tyumen and the junior world championship in Ostrov. From the answer to the logical question about the possibility of disqualification of the entire national team, including clean athletes, the head of the IBU left, but emphasized that this is hypothetical and theoretical question. To implement this scenario, too strong evidence is needed.

In his investigation, Richard McLaren did not divide athletes into active and retired athletes. Therefore, it is quite real that the previously named five athletes, as well as a dozen more athletes who have been disqualified over the past six years only within our country, were on his list. So the scale of the disaster is somewhat exaggerated, and our team has seriously rejuvenated after the Sochi Olympics.

Of the veterans, Anton Shipulin immediately fell under suspicion, whose appearance at a press conference following the results of the silver sprint as part of the second stage of the World Cup in the Czech Nove Mesto turned out to be very useful.

“I am fully concentrating on the competition and did not delve into the details of Mr. Besseberg's interview. I don't care what happens in sports politics. It's a shame that politics and sport are mixed. And I put sports above politics. I have nothing to worry about, and I hope justice will prevail, ”the Russian biathlete told reporters, noting that at this stage he is most worried about fate international tournaments to be held in Russia.

“Most of all, I am worried about this whole situation, what is ahead of the World Cup in Tyumen and the World Championship. I would not want to deprive Russian fans who support all athletes, regardless of nationality, of this magnificent holiday. I hope that the accusations will be supported by evidence, ”Shipulin summed up.

Wait and hope

“The hardest thing in our work is to wait,” said the hero of the famous Soviet film “Only “old men” go into battle. However, we are left with nothing else. And the slower time goes, the more anxious the soul becomes. Mathematically, excluding 31 athletes from the McLaren list, there are still more than 900 names. Where the cold Canadian wind will blow now is a mystery. In the meantime, it should be circled in red on December 22, the day when the national biathlon will write new chapter about doping in Russian sports. Something tells me it won't be the last. In the meantime, you can recharge with the usual optimism of the former minister, and now Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vitaly Mutko.

“Our team is always in sight, preparing for the Winter Olympics. Now the guys have begun to add and win medals, being in a difficult situation. We have a good men's team, which has a mixture of experienced and good young athletes. Certainly with psychological point it’s not so easy for us to see, because such a situation cannot but affect the guys, they also read everything, everyone watches. According to our information, the team is doing well and will not have any problems, ”TASS quoted Mutko as saying.