The plan was: run, swim and leave. He has already bought the ticket. It failed. The Pole won the silver

– When you enter the changing room and every second chick faints there, the route seems to be taking its toll. It’s hard, but as I can see from other players, not only for me -.

Despite the difficult conditions, at the Olympics, our best biathlete achieves her best results of the season. In the individual race (15 km) she was 20th, in the sprint she was 16th, and in the race she was ninth. Thanks to these starts, she qualified for the mass run. 30 competitors will start from the joint start on Friday at 8.00 Polish time.

He already has a medal in the mass Hojnisz

The last run of the state was accelerated by more than a day. Originally, it was planned to take place on Saturday, February 19 (10 our time). But it was moved because the weather was forecast for Saturday to be too difficult (heavy frost and strong wind).

We are secretly hoping for a surprise. Hojnisz is an experienced competitor (born in 1991), and she is in a good shape and likes mass running. It was there that she achieved the greatest success in her career – in 2013 she won the bronze medal of the world championship. The World Cup in this competition in 2020 included, inter alia, fourth and sixth.

Of course, a medal for a Polish woman would be a huge surprise. But the fact that such a situation cannot be ruled out is evidenced by various stories of various athletes. And Monika can be inspired by a medal-winning story.

He did not sleep, he was ill, he wanted to come back. And he had to stay to receive the silver

Our former biathlete attended the Olympics five times, and he won the only round where he did not do well – in 2006 in Turin. – I had to start in the mass race because I was the 12th World Cup competitor [top 15 ma pewne miejsca]however, I struggled with health problems throughout the games. I slept for three or four hours, I was just tired and I think I lost faith in success – recalls Sikora.

After 21st place in the individual race (20 km), 19th in the sprint and 18th in the racing and 13th in the relay race, Sikora was mainly thinking about returning home. – I bought a plane ticket. I organized a transport to the airport because the plane was from France. It was supposed to be like this: the run is over, there is a quick return to the village, swimming and departure to the airport. As it was, you know. Fortunately, I had to change my plans – says the Olympic vice-champion. – The funny thing is that Magda Gwizdoñ was supposed to come back with me, she also bought a ticket. But it stayed for decoration – she adds.

Had it not been for the last shot, Sikora would have had gold

Hojnisz-Starêga after good individual starts had a slightly worse performance in the relay race. There, the Polish women took only the 14th place. – I am disappointed with my attitude, because I missed the chance – she said, complaining especially about her shooting (three mistakes, meaning the need for corrections).

It’s good that Monika has one more chance. Sikora made great use of his in Turin. He was close, and he would even have a gold medal.

Sikora and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen came up with the last, fourth, shooting almost together. The Norwegian king of biathlon scored the first of five shots and missed the second time. Then Sikora scored the first hit. After a while Bjoerndalen made a mistake again and it was clear that he had to go for two penalty rounds! And then the Pole had the last shot. Unfortunately, Sikora missed. And at this point, Michael Greis took the position next to him. When the Norwegian was making two rounds in the “garden” and the Pole was one, the German was shooting without error. The effect before the last running leg was as follows:

1. Tit
2. Greis +3.3 s loss
3. Paavo Puurunen +15.4 sec
4. Bjoerndalen +20.8 s

Sikora calculated. And it didn’t end up like a Norwegian in Beijing

We asked Sikora once on Sport.pl about the tactics he adopted for the last round. At the 13th kilometer, Greis was already ahead of him. Only by 0.7 seconds. But he soon attacked and fled. Wasn’t the Pole chasing because he no longer had the strength?

– I don’t really know if I would change anything in this run. I thought about how to play the last lap. Greis’s pace was very fast, I had to make a decision whether I was trying to fight to the end, which could have caused a crisis and the loss of the silver medal, or to let go when the strength was enough to bring the silver to the finish line later. This is behind me and I will never know which option would be better – he replied.

At the finish line Greis was 6.3 seconds ahead of Sikora, and Sikora 6 seconds ahead of Bjoerndalen. It is very possible that our biathlete made the best decision. A few days ago, at the Beijing Olympics, we saw how it can suddenly cut off the power of someone who seems to be in great shape, because he is already close to the medal. Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold was third after the last shooting in the race race. Even a kilometer before the finishing line, her advantage over the next biathletes seemed safe. And yet .

The routes at the Olympic Games are located at an altitude of about 1700 m above sea level. Hence the large number of syncope mentioned by Hojnisz-Starêga. And the last competition will be particularly difficult, because the competitors already have accumulated fatigue from previous starts.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed so that it will find strength in itself. As Tomasz Sikora did 16 years ago. Or maybe we will all experience similar emotions?

Of course, this is more a dream than a real forecast. Let us remember that Sikora got up from his knees, because he was a biathlete of an exceptional class. He, running for the silver of the Olympics in Turin, was, inter alia, champion and runner-up in the world, he had eight places on the podium in the World Cup. What is important – in that season he regularly finished successive starts, if not in the first, then in the second ten. Meanwhile, Hojnisz before in Beijing was once in the second ten (in 13th place). And Monika’s really successful starts should not be sought this season, but two and three years ago, when the World Cup ended in 10th and 12th place in the general classification.