It happens both ski and vegetable. Benefits and types of skiing. Each case has its own specifics

Boris Maidanik

Biathlon - a modern winter biathlon - is a cross-country skiing with a weapon over a set distance and shooting at targets from a standing position and lying on the firing lines. A specific feature of biathlon lies in the complex combination in one competition of sports with different physiological effects on the body - skiing and shooting. Biathlon has emerged as a result of competitions related to skiing and shooting, held for many years in our country and abroad.

In 1957, the International Union of Modern Pentathlon approved an independent sport - biathlon. First official championship The USSR biathlon was held in the same year on the Uktus mountains in Sverdlovsk. Since then, national championships have been held annually. In 1958, biathletes held the first world championship. Biathlon's birthday was officially proclaimed on March 2, 1958 at the first World Championships in Austria. Currently biathlon is cultivated in 57 countries.

In the USSR were well developed winter views sports: skating, skiing, figure skating, ski jumping. With the collapse of the country, all these sports fell into decay. To date, there is not a single decent ice rink in Russia, and for the last 6 years the Russian speed skating championship has been held in Germany. Refrigerators fail, and ice palaces fall into disrepair, as happened with our Palace of Sports of Trade Unions.

But with biathlon the opposite is true. If during the Soviet Union there was only one decent base in Russia - in Sverdlovsk, now biathlon stadiums have been built in Izhevsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and so on. And the best biathlon stadium in the world was built in the city of Khanty-Mansiysk (well, how can one not remember Zadornov).

The fight must be fair

Figure skating is lucky. Estimates depend only on the subjective opinion of the judges and the scandals that constantly flare up because of this constantly stir up interest in this sport.

But biathlon is a technical sport and the subjective opinion of the judges is reduced to zero here. All judging is carried out on electronics - electronic start, photo finish. In terms of judging, biathlon is generally a special sport - regardless of the number of participants, at least 50 judges are required, and each of them fixes his own special situation. One counts the number of hits on the targets, the other counts the penalties, the third releases the athletes at the start, the fourth fixes the athletes at the finish line. So it is rather difficult to distort the results.

Now they shoot from small-caliber weapons at mechanical targets from a distance of 50 meters. Hit - the target fell. But before they shot from a distance of 150 meters from a combat one. Such any mechanism will spoil, therefore, inflated football cameras were used for targets. The cameras were inflated and inserted into slots on the shield. There were a lot of tricks here. The diameter of the inflated chamber was to be 32 centimeters. So, outwardly, he met the requirements, and from behind they inflated it almost to 60. And even if the participant does not fall into the slot, the bullet will pierce the shield and the camera will burst. Or a soldier from behind pierces the camera on command from the firing line. And how many times it was when his athlete runs through the fifth shield, and the soldier misunderstood the command and pierces on the seventh.

Now it is becoming technically more and more difficult, rather we can talk about dirty tricks to each other. One such incident occurred in the late 80s at a competition in Leningrad. An athlete runs to the firing line, fires 8 shots - all 5 targets are in place. He runs to another line - and again all 8 shots miss. During the change of stages, the judges had time to inspect the targets - and they were watered with water and froze. The competition had to be stopped.

It happens that an athlete was inattentive to his weapon, left it after shooting at the firing line. The enemy approached, moved the front sight by a fraction of a millimeter - and all the bullets fly into the "milk". Or the athlete prepared the skis, but he was smeared with what he didn’t need and he loses precious seconds on the track. But this rarely happens, because such nits are quickly detected.

And sometimes during the competition there are quite unusual cases. Skiers started at our Dynamo base. They ran out into the distance and disappeared. Not a single one showed up at the firing line. They already wanted to sound the alarm, but soon they returned to the start in a friendly crowd. It turns out that the moose did not let them into the shooting range. It was fenced with barbed wire, and in the passage an elk caught on it. The head of the distance crept up to him with wire cutters, began to cut the wire. The elk kicked at first, but then he realized that they wanted to free him and calmed down. Soon he was free, but the competition that day fell through.

Each case has its own specifics

We are used to shooting at the shooting range. Calmly, holding your breath, taking your time to aim. But the biathlete shoots with a pulse of about 180 beats per minute. If he aims for a long time, then the pulse calms down, the heart, with rare beats, begins to shake the whole body and the rifle jumps. With a high heart rate, the rifle jumps less, especially when shooting while standing.

And here is another specificity, or rather, even a phenomenon that has been verified by many years of meetings with German colleagues. If in the relay race they go ahead of us, then they shoot “excellently” at the firing line, but if they lose at least a little to ours in the relay race, then they immediately begin to smear when shooting.

At one time, the famous Sergey Chepikov switched to pure skiing and ran for the Russian national team for 6 years, but did not show any special results. He returned to biathlon - and for 3 seasons he has been the best biathlete in the country. Why? Although there are skis here and there, but it’s completely different types sports with different muscle groups. For a skier, the most important thing is to run the distance in the minimum time. The biathlete ran - stopped, started shooting. At this point, completely different muscles are working. Then he spurted, made a jerk, stopped again, and fired. That is, a stop, on average, every 3 kilometers. Moreover, the whole distance you have to drag the rifle.

About skiing and more

Modern sports equipment is technically very complex things. Unfortunately, biathlon sports equipment is not produced in our country, with the exception of rifles. And the rifles are not the same as before. At one time, Izhevsk rifles were the best in the world. Now we have to buy barrels in Germany and put them on our rifles.

Tough ammo situation. Previously, our enterprises worked for a warehouse and it was possible to buy any quantity. Now cartridges are made to order and in large quantities, so you have to buy in Finland. The requirements for the barrel and cartridges are very strict. When shooting in the machine at 50 meters, the spread should be less than the nail of the little finger. Indeed, at the firing line, the athlete must hit 5 targets with a diameter of 4 centimeters in a minimum of time.

Real cross-country skiing in our country do not produce at all. It is very difficult to make them, and not everything works out even for the leaders who produce special skis under numbers for the world's leading skiers. So even in this case, out of 20 pairs of numbered skis, one works. Now biathletes high level they bring 10-15 pairs of skis with them to competitions. And not because. they are so greedy. Some skis work well on wet snow, others on dry, and there is also a dependence on air temperature, snow fractions, and so on.

To grease and prepare all skis there is a group of servicers. At the last World Championship there were 10 athletes and 15 servicers. But here the guys worked to the highest standard. Indeed, for each athlete it is necessary to prepare at least 10 pairs of skis, and at least half an hour is spent on each pair. Skis need to be lubricated and run in - at different temperatures, in the sun and in the shade, to see how they work on the descent and on the ascent. The servicers started to prepare the skis at 4 o'clock in the morning. From each pair, the old paraffin was removed, the skis were prepared, a new one was applied, then covered with special powders that accelerate the glide even more.

But even experienced servicers cannot foresee everything. Spring is now. In the morning, when the skis are ready, the temperature is -10. While the shooting and other preparations are underway, the temperature has risen to -2, and this is a completely different snow structure.

Food - here and there

It is only between competitions that the coach is responsible for sports training. But before the competition and during it, he is still fully responsible for the fact that the athlete ate and drank. And despite the fact that in world-class competitions, as it was in Oberhof, not only athletic facilities, but also the catering department, the doctor of our team checks the food on himself before the athletes eat it.

An athlete in competition should not digest heavy food, he should digest kilometers. For example, beef is allowed in any form. But pork langets and escalopes are prohibited - only in the form of ham in appetizers. The athlete should consume as many juices and fruits as possible. Before and during competitions, participants are fed with caviar. Although expensive, it is one of the components that athletes desperately need.

But all this is only during the competition, and biathletes eat like all ordinary people. Another thing is that athletes have to periodically come to the training camp. And then adapt to the peculiarities of the local cuisine. Sverdlovsk biathletes recently returned from France. And the director of the Dynamo stadium, Vladimir Roshchin, who traveled with them, said: “They cooked so disgustingly that after that I understood why the French eat frogs. In every national cuisine there are nutritional features that are not very suitable for us. We have repeatedly asked their chefs to make us soup with meat broth, but they refused. For them, the broth can only be vegetable. They served us a dish called "Russian soup" - they cook vegetable stew, and then chop up carbonade and necks there.

Shortly before departure, they made a rabbit for us. When we started to eat, we could not understand. what is it until they get to the bones. After that, we said that we would cook the rabbit ourselves and left one trainer. Under his direction, such a roast was cooked that all the French in the hotel asked only for him. Only in this way have we been able to eat properly for the last 4 days.”

Skiing in the Altai region, and especially in Barnaul, is gaining more and more popularity. Thousands of people go to the Health Track every weekend. Often they make mistakes, due to which skating turns from a recreational walk into a painful process. How to avoid mistakes and get not only benefit, but also pleasure from skiing, said the President of the Federation cross-country skiing Altai Territory, director of the store "Champion" Boris Glumov.

Oleg Bogdanov, website

How to dress?

Walks and ski training pass on fresh air on snow, mostly at sub-zero temperatures. Therefore, to feel comfortable, you need to dress properly. When preparing for a ski trip in the forest, you need to follow a few rules.

1. The suit should not be a ski suit, it is too thick and warm for ski trips. It will immediately be hot and uncomfortable. At the same time, the suit should not be too cold. Need for a ski trip dress for the weather and take into account the speed of your movement: the more intense the load and the higher the speed you choose for yourself, the lighter the clothes should be.

2. For those who are serious about skiing, there are a large number of special suits. Their cost starts from 3 thousand rubles. The most popular of them are from the so-called windstopper fabric, which already contains the necessary three layers. In addition, it is lightweight, durable and warm. Due to this, a person feels quite comfortable.

3. If you do not have a special suit, the main thing when preparing for a ski trip is follow the rules: there must be a windproof fabric on top, inside are pants and a jacket on fleece, under them thermal underwear. If it's cold outside, you can additionally wear a vest. A light windproof jacket on a synthetic winterizer is also suitable.

4. You need to put on your head sports cap. It is more convenient and comfortable than, say, a hat with earflaps. Hats are very light, there are insulated - you need to choose according to the weather.

5. In last years very popular ski sports bandanas-pipes, which cover the throat, can also protect the face from the wind; in uncomfortable weather, it can be pulled over a hat. They cost from 200 rubles.

6. Mittens or gloves- also an important part of the skier's wardrobe. In sports stores you can buy special ski gloves, but their cost is quite high - it starts from 1 thousand rubles.

7. Modern ski boots are quite warm, they have a special material inside that allows the boots to keep warm, so you do not need to wear two socks. Also no need to wear wool socks. There should be an air gap between the foot and the shoes to keep warm, the shoes should not compress the foot, otherwise the blood circulation will be worse, which means the feet will freeze faster.

Boris Glumov,
President of the Ski Racing Federation of the Altai Territory:

Skiing takes place in the fresh air, which we always miss. When skiing, all muscle groups are involved: legs, arms, the entire upper shoulder girdle. In terms of health, skiing is much more comfortable than many other sports, such as running, where the load on the joints is much higher. Many of those who are not healthy enough to run ski easily. They give a more gentle load on the motor apparatus.

"Classic" or "horse"?

When choosing between classic or skating, there are several features to consider.

According to Boris Glumov, there is no big difference between the "skate" and the "classic". And in that, and in another form there is a reliance on one leg, rolling, work of hands. In Russia, skating is much more popular than the classic one, while in Europe it is the other way around.

Skating appeared only in the 80s. Now its popularity is due to the improved quality of inventory. The “skate” allows you to develop high speeds, but the “classic” is healthier, it is a more natural move, with such skating the body does not turn around its axis.

IN skating apply slip ointment- these are paraffins, powders, powders, emulsions. They are applied to the entire surface of the skis, then the paraffin is carefully removed. (It is not paraffin that helps to roll, but the microlayer that is created between the skis and the snow surface.) In order to do this at home, you need special equipment: a machine tool, an iron, several brushes and a supply of paraffin - all this will cost about 15 thousand rubles. You can process skis both in shops and in special services. This treatment is enough for several walks. It costs about 300 rubles.

At classic course use holding ointment. Such an ointment prevents slipping and prevents the skis from rolling back. To properly smear skis with it, you need to step back 15–30 cm from the toe of the boot and smear the skis to the “heel”. For beginners there plastic skis with special notches that prevent rolling back.

How to choose skis?

When choosing skis, you need to focus on your weight and height. The parameters for which skis are suitable are indicated on the label. It is also important what style you ride.

For the classic move

• Skis for the "classics" should be 25-35 cm taller than the skier (pictured). Previously, this value was measured by the arm extended upwards. Now it is believed that skis should be slightly shorter than this indicator. If you take skis shorter, then it will be more convenient to turn, if longer, then they will roll better. But the maximum ski length is 207 cm.
• The ski in the block part has a deflection, which, when repulsed, should straighten out and come into contact with the snow. Therefore, in the "classic" you need to be more subtle in choosing skis.
• Sticks under classic move should be on the shoulder.

For skating

• Skis for skating must be 15–20 cm taller. The longest skis for skating are 197 cm.
• In the "skate" skis should be a little stiffer.
• Sticks for such skis should be longer - up to the nose.
• Boots for skating are higher than for classic. They must fix the leg during movement.

What to take?

For a long walk, more than 10 km, it is advisable to take with you hot tea with sugar, biscuits. You can put them in a backpack or a special bag that is worn on the belt.

Now marathons are becoming popular. For such long distances, it is recommended to take with you second hat. To raise the tone at a distance, you can dissolve ascorbic acid with glucose, have a bite of salty lard with bread. This will immediately help to improve the condition and add energy.

What weather to ride?

The air temperature is considered comfortable for skiing. up to -20 degrees. Temperatures below this value are no longer so comfortable for walking, besides, skis go worse. Skis glide best in a little frost- from 5 to 12 degrees below zero. Very good glide occurs after a thaw, the skis are carried very quickly, but stability deteriorates. Glide can change with the weather every 15-30 minutes.

The most comfortable time for skiing - spring. During the thaw, the snow begins to melt first of all in the city. In the forest, it lasts much longer. In Norway, Sweden, Finland, they mostly ride just in such weather.