Three-time Olympic champion (2010, 2014, 2018), world champion, two-time European champion biathlete Anastasia Kuzmina, who retired in 2019, plans to resume her career. She announced this on Tuesday, October 10.
She means only about the home European Championship and Brezno-Osrble, which will be held in January 2024.
«Therefore, it will be very, very difficult. I would like to please the fans again, show some results and unite the team, and not disappoint them.
I really can’t predict how I’ll be able to perform at the European Championships. We understand that biathletes from a lot of countries approach the tournament differently, it’s not even clear what kind of competition there will be and where I can get in terms of results.»
The Slovakian biathlon team was very strong 5 years ago, when Anastasia Kuzmina competed for Slovakia. Paulina and Ivona Fialkova couldn't compare with Anastasia, but Paulina still has a dozen second and third places to her credit, but not any victory.
This trio, as part of the relay team, regularly brought their team to high places, often getting into top-6, twice taking fourth place. But Kuzmina left long ago. Even after the end of the season, Paulina announced that she would miss the next season due to maternity leave, and now Ivona Fialkova has announced her retirement.
Thus, Slovakia was left with Maria Remenova, Suzana Remenova, and Julia Machinyakova, who last year could not earn any point at the World Cup. Slovakia also has Henrieta Horvatova in reserve.
The Slovak women's team is currently the youngest, with an average age of 22 years.
