The Biathlon World Cup competition in Kontiolahti will be competed without Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian athletes.
The World Biathlon Cup will continue this weekend in Kontiolahti, but due to the state of war in Ukraine, no Ukrainian, Russian or Belarusian athletes will be seen at the Games. Ukrainian athletes have announced that they will no longer compete in the World Cup this season.
The International Biathlon Federation (IBU) banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from marking the country at the Games, and teams were excluded from posts, for example. Individual athletes would have been allowed to compete in neutral racing outfits, but in Russia, the IBU’s decision was outraged and the country’s athletes will miss the races for the rest of the season.
– The decision of the IBU is illegal. We defend in the courts the rights of our athletes as athletes and our rights as a member of the IBU. In order not to be humiliated and not to put our athletes at risk in the rest of the season, we will skip the race, the Russian Federation announced on Friday.
Winner of the World Championships in Ukrainian chase in Östersund in 2019 Dmitri Pidrushni has joined the country ‘s military in his hometown of Ternopil to fight the Russian invasion.
– We help our defense build barricades and fortresses. Our job is to defend the city and help our defense forces in the best possible way. We are not afraid of anything, Pidrushni, 30, told Norwegian NRK on Tuesday.
In addition to Pidrushn, he also won the Olympic gold medal in Soth in 2014 Julia Dzhyma is at war for his country.
Norway’s star of the world’s top skiers Johannes Thingnes Bö said he would leave the season on Tuesday due to mental and physical fatigue. He said he will continue his successful career until the 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The Kontiolahti World Cup can be watched on ‘s channels from Thursday.