Slovak biathletes competed at the IBU Cup in Nove Mesto na Morave, czech Republic, with Paulína Bátovská fialková achieving a notable 35th place finish in the women’s sprint event, approximately one minute behind her teammates. anastasia Kuzminova finished 54th.
“I’m very grateful for the points. I was pleased with the standing shooting,as I had some trouble in Osrblie. It’s a shame about those two misses in the prone position, as those were my mistakes,” Bátovská fialková stated according to SME.sk.
Regarding the race itself, she added, “It was a bad day for running. I felt stiff, but when they shouted encouragement at me in the last lap, telling me it was a good result, I told myself to fight on, even if I had to crawl to the finish.”
Anastasia Kuzminova faced a more challenging race, finishing 54th. She was in tenth place after the third shooting stage but four penalties in the prone position hampered her chances of a better result.
“I had the feeling it was the same wind as on the first prone, so I didn’t click, which was a mistake. I’m very sorry. Even with three or four mistakes, a good result could have been achieved, but six is too many,” Kuzminova said.
The Slovak team will have the opportunity to improve their performance in Saturday’s mixed relay, with Bátovská Fialková, jakub Borguľ, Šimon Adamov, and a currently unnamed athlete competing. Ema Kapustová is not expected to participate in the relay; Mária Remeňová and Artur Ischakov are slated to take her place.