Ukraine's national team to remove two biathletes from the World Cup squad

Ukraine's women's biathlon team is going to exclude two biathletes from the squad for the 2nd stage of the World Cup, Suspilne.Sport reports, citing head coach Mykola Zots. They will go to compete in a lower ranked competition, the IBU Cup.

According to Mykola Zots, the coaching staff will make a choice based on the results of the sprint among three athletes: Liubov Kipiachenkova, Daria Blashko and Anastasia Merkushyna.

The remaining biathletes, along with Iryna Petrenko, Khrystyna Dmytrenko and Anna Kryvonos, will prepare for the next stage in the A team. They will also be joined by Yulia Dzhyma, who missed the start of the season due to illness.

The five may be joined by one of the four biathletes who took part in the first individual IBU Cup race: Olena Horodna, Yulia Horodna, Oleksandra Merkushyna and Ksenia Prykhodko. At the same time, Zots clarified that the final decision on the rotation from the IBU Cup to the World Cup team has not yet been made. It is quite possible that the national team may hold the 2nd stage of the World Cup with five athletes.

The second stage of the Biathlon World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, will take place on December 8-10. The second stage of the IBU Cup will be held on December 8-10 in Idri.

As previously reported, Anastasia Merkushyna and Daria Blashko failed in the first race of the 1st stage of the Biathlon World Cup. Merkushyna failed in the single mixed relay, which is why the Ukrainians finished only 10th.

Blashko did not cope with the excitement in the classic relay, went for a penalty lap, and also showed very low speed on the ski.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!