Former Russian biathlete Dmitry Shamaev admitted that his biathlete wife Elena Kruchinkina pushed him to join the Romanian national team. His words convey “Sports Express”.
“Our chances of getting into the Russian national team are getting less and less. I went ahead and have no regrets. Everything is fine.
Lena at that time played for Belarus and ran at international competitions. We didn’t see him for six months. Of course it was difficult. So yes, it motivated me to go. I wanted to be with him more often. It pushed me to take this step,” Shamaev said.
At the 2017 Russian Championships, Shamaev won the silver medal in the super sprint. He acquired Romanian citizenship in the spring of 2021 and has been representing this country at international competitions since the 2021/2022 season.
The International Biathlon Union (IBU) announced its decision to allow Belarusian and Russian biathletes to participate in the World Cup and IBU stages only as neutral athletes in the spring of 2022. As a result, the Russians decided to skip the competition at the end of the 2021/22 season. In September 2022, the organization extended the suspension indefinitely.
Previously reportedHe said that the biathlete who changed his citizenship will again compete for Russia.