THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE INTERNATIONAL BIATHLON ...

PERSONALITIES PersönlichkeitenAnastasiYa Kuzminaeighth, the exhaustion visible on her face. Nonetheless shewas genuinely pleased for her teammate Pavol Hurajt, whohad just celebrated his biggest win, the Bronze medal.“They were tough competitions. The weather was perfect– sun, blue skies – but the course was very soft and notreally suited to my skiing style … but I’m really happy forPavol Hurajt that he won the Bronze.”home, dancing wildly on stage with her son Jelisejand accepting honorary citizenship of the town. A fulltwo weeks after the Olympics, Kuzmina and Hurajtwere still popular guests on television, among politiciansand sponsors alike. There was hardly time to thinkabout training, so it’s no surprise that they had no majorsuccesses in the final World Cups. Yet in her new homeland,Kuzmina is still a heroine; for her Olympic medals,her likeable personality, and because she has truly shownthat she has grown to love her new home. The people ofSlovakia can feel it. •Pavol HURAJT andAnastasiya kuzminawith the slovakiapresident IvanGasparovicPavol HURAJT undAnastasiya kuzminamit dem Präsdient derSlowakei IvanGasparovicSick in the Relay Before the concluding Relay, theSlovakian Olympic heroine’s body started protesting; shehad a temperature. In the end they decided to enter hernonetheless. While she had the second fastest course timefor her leg, she virtually collapsed with sheer exhaustionat the finish line.“Nastya has managed a fantastic achievement,’ Sanitracommented. “She had a temperature, but in the Relay sheshowed that she is a biathlete of the highest calibre. Sheput up a real fight, even though she almost collapsed atthe finish. It’s great that the President of Slovakia, IvanGasparovic, was able to see Nastya Kuzmina’s enormouswillpower and character in person; he was at the shootingrange.”Tears in her Eyes As a reward, Kuzmina had the honourof flying back home in the President’s jet a few dayslater. 5,000 people came out to greet her, a large numberfor the little town of Banska Bystrica. Kuzmina’s newhomeland received their heroine with open arms. Exhaustedbut overjoyed, Kuzmina celebrated with the folks fromSilvester 2009 lag Juraj Sanitra, Chef des slowakischenBiathlonverbandes und seit September 2009 Schießtrainervon Anastasiya Kuzmina, im slowakischen Brezno mit Grippeim Bett. An einem solchen Tag melden sich gewöhnlich nurMenschen, die gute Wünsche überbringen wollen. Und dochversuchte ihn jemand dringend zu erreichen…800 km westlich, im österreichischen Obertilliach, war Kuzminamit ihrem Konditionstrainer und geliebten Ehemann DanielSkilaufen. Sie waren schon auf dem Weg zurück zur Pension,um mit Sohn Jelisej und Daniels Eltern Silvester zu feiern.Noch zwei Kilometer entfernt in einer Abfahrt, die Anastasiyaspäter als kinderleicht bezeichnet, fiel sie und das genau aufdie linke Hand. Ein Ski rutschte höchstwahrscheinlich unterden anderen. Die linke Hand schwoll sofort an. Das Röntgenbildzeigte einen Bruch ihrer Mittelhandknochen.Nach einigen Beratungen auch mit Sanitra folgte im neuenJahr eine Operation in Lienz in Österreich bei Dr. Eduard Sporer,der zur gleichen Zeit auch Lindsey Vonn, später Abfahrts-Olympiasiegerin in Vancouver, behandelte.66 biathlonworld The official Magazine of the IBU 20 I 2010