Xander

Happy for Iryna Herashchenko who equaled our high jump NUR (1.95). This will be a one hell competition at the national championship with 3 athletes hopefully going past 1.94. Back to Lille. This is probably our weakest team ever. Many athletes skipped the national selection for this championship and chose commercial starts instead (can't blame them though). Certain people basically gave their spot away to less experienced competitors at the selection. Others simply chose the WCH as their priority. I'm very happy for Smelyk. He's a refugee from the war zone and he barely finds money to pay his rent in Kyiv. Thankfully he's got help to take part this season.

I lulz'ed when they laughed & hugged each other like old pals (that is kinda true btw) at the side Yeah, that episode with Shamatrin ruined my mood a lil' bit. The judges were visibly happy when he twitched

It seems that Uroš Velepec buried the hutchet with Jakov Fak. Ukrainian women's team & Jakov on a barbecue/picnic in Estonia with our trainers, Vita's husband and a baby meanwhile Nadiya Belova came back to Poland (w/ Weronika Nowakowska): https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DChTn0eXUAA3Vpb.jpg

Yep she said it's gone (yay! ) & she hopes it won't come back, she's still recovering after that but it's nothing serious now. I guessed about that 1 year ago when Valj was in the middle of her surgery (or right before) & threatened our 1st Olympic biathlete/medalist for implying that Valj was pregnant like Vita. She clearly was in a bad mental state. But it's all good now & she's training... Vita's baby travels with the team so it's 1 huge family )))))))

Valj Semerenko revealed the true reason why she flopped one season & basically skipped another one & it explained those pictures in the woods from the hospital while everyone was on trainings, thought it was an ordinary recovery. The head of federation was saying that she's got tired and she needs to find motivation. The real reason is that she had cancer She said that yesterday while departing to the trainings in Estonia. She doesn't want to talk about it though.

1.89 is a mediocre result for a senior high jumper... but not for Yuliya. She fell from the training equipment & injured her leg in April. 5 stitches Despite that she had her 1st competition in the middle of May and another one 1 week ago. She finished with 1.83 at both. Crying/screaming from pain, being exhausted - I've been at both, I've seen that. Now she jumped 1.89 in Poland from the 1st attempt and tried to clear 1.92 (her outdoor PB) and I'm friggen speechless. She's my hero

Nafi Thiam scored 7013 points in Götzis

Pole Vault. NU20R from Vladyslav Malykhin - 5.70

IAAF ratified the Pentathlon U20 WR of Alina Shukh. They didn't ratify her result from Zaporizhzhya (4550) because the venue is not certified. They took her Tallinn result instead (4542). On a good note - starting from 2019 all UAF competitions will be hosted by certified arenas/venues/routes only.

IAAF goes with what official ID documents say. She said she's 15, her local federation said yesterday that she's 15, our national federation wrote an article about her.... etc etc etc.

What do you mean? Levchenko (19 yo) jumped 1.94 and almost jumped 1.96 in March (dammed, it was so close). Herashchenko (22 yo) jumped 1.93 this winter. Okuneva (27 yo) jumped 1.94 in the end of February. Shukh (18 yo) jumped 1.92 and refused from 1.95 last June, but she's a heptathlete and they (she and her mom-trainer) don't prefer separate events. She said they could prepare for HJ only & achieve the Olympic standard but she wouldn't have gone to the Olympics in any case. By the trainers decision AND her mom's. She jumped 1.89 this winter btw. The only one who struggles to jump higher than 1.90 is Chumachenko (22 yo). I think I'm gonna have a stroke because of her She jumped 1.90 twice this winter though. Our trainers never force young athletes to show senior results, even if somebody qualifies to big events they won't get chosen by the Council too. You can show 1 awesome season and then disappear forever/get a serious injury etc. We've had such policy for decades. We prefer more smooth system. I'd say Levchenko is the only exception.

According to her profile at UAF she was born on 19.09.2001. According to her own OK social network profile she's 15 years old

HJ. 15 years old Yaroslava Mahuchikh has just jumped 1.90 & refused from jumping 1.93

Olena Pidhrushna will take part in the Wings for Life World Run. Wondering how many km's she will run. Anastasia Merkyshina will take part in Skarverennet ski marathon o_0. Olha Abramova won the case against the IBU in Lausanne The CAS lifted 1 year DQ. Unfortunately nobody will give her that lost season back. New Season: Ukraine, Russia, Sweden, USA, Switzerland Announce Teams http://www.biathlonworld.com/news/detail/new-season-ukraine-russia-sweden-usa-switzerland-announce-teams

What an awesome comeback for Vita 3 years without competitions because of a back injury & giving birth to a baby (she's been training for 2 years after recovery though). Thanks to Marie for giving advices to Vita on how to combine pregnancy & biathlon. + before the race she had a chat with another mommy Weronika Nowakowska who's going to start there as well. imho Vita & Valj won't reach Dzhyma's level next season)) but it will be a crazy competition for the last 2 places in the Olympic team 4sure. ps. Valj Semerenko finished her season (as planned). Olena Pidhrushna became ill in Korea so she decided to finish her season too. Both didn't start their summer trainings well (Valj fully skipped all summer work) so here's the result Vita said she's not going to risk with her health and World Cup in Oslo would be too much for her. She's putting a stake on preparations for the Olympics.

What a long jump)) Elvis left the building (( Congrats to Albania o_0 Losing by 1cm is not the best thing, but yesterday's WCH qualification standard is awesome for him, just like 3 jumps past 8m today.

Didn't expect that from Levchenko, she was so close in her 2nd attempt 0_o. It was only the 2nd start for Okuneva this season))

Finally! 8.18 for Nykyforov he's been ready for such jumps for 2 years, gosh I witnessed so many failed jumps from him ... can't stop facepalming every time I see his run-up I hope his technics will become more stable. Overall having 4 guys who had jumped past 8m but didn't qualify to the Olympics was awful((

Congrats to the 3rd best team of the race Pidhrushna was in the start list originally but skipped the race because she felt sick ... a shitty result in the relay is coming

Vita Semerenko is training in Otepää right now and she will debut in the IBU Cup there in March

speaking about luck Dzhima had an involuntary shot o__0 (VERY rare thing in biathlon but it happens) in the individual race which cost her a medal. Varvynets - her bullet got stuck in the relay.

If Varvynets didn't count crows at the last shooting... Merkushina Pidhrushna And of course unbeatable Germany In the rare moments when I wasn't hyperventilating I cheered for Slovakia, USA & Belarus

All Kazakh doping tests are thankfully negative.

Virolainen who was in the preliminary start list was sent home. Supposedly because she didn't feel well.

Russian fans attacked even German instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BQTTnmmhfJl/?hl=en "Fourcade is a bitch", "Arabian wh*re" etc. They left death threats on Anaïs Chevalier instagram yesterday. In VK Ukrainians are being called "nazies" by them (as always) and being offered to "suck French c*ck"