site.btaBiathlete Blagoy Todev Says He Feels Physically Unwell after Failing to Finish Sunday's Race

Biathlete Blagoy Todev admitted that he was not feeling well physically, which was one of the reasons why he was lapped and did not finish Sunday's 12.5-kilometre pursuit at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The 24-year-old Todev started 42nd with a deficit of two and a half minutes after the sprint, but made five mistakes in his first three shots, after which he was overtaken by the leaders and dropped out of the race.

He described his shooting on Sunday as terrible. "Another day when I do not feel well at all. Everyone can beat me, including the children, perhaps, were they competing here in Antholz. It is not my race," said Todev, who nevertheless achieved the best individual performance of the Bulgarians at the Olympics among the men with his 22nd place in the individual 20 km race.

He added that he was not demotivated before the competition, considering that he started 42nd with a two-and-a-half-minute deficit. "I intended to give it my all. I would certainly have been happy with a good ranking in the mass start, but after the first shooting, even in the middle of the lap before the shooting, when I saw that five people were overtaking me, I knew that the situation was not good. After the shooting, I told myself that I had no chance of anything. My only regret is that I took up the time of the wax technicians and coaches," commented Todev.

"We are not competing for the first or second day. I have competed in a hundred World Cup races. I did not need experience, but function and shooting. In the relays, I have shown, even as a younger athlete, that I can compete with the big names. It does not hinder me in any way, I do not need additional experience," he added. 

Todev hopes that he and his teammates Vladimir Iliev, Konstantin Vasilev, and Anton Sinapov will mobilize and achieve a good result in their last start at the Games in the 4 x 7.5-km relay on February 17. "I really hope we can get together for the relay. But for now, I cannot find myself. I will most likely be the first runner. I want to bring the relay to the front again, although I strongly doubt my abilities at the moment. I have the desire, but I cannot do it. Words alone are not enough," he said.

22-year-old Konstantin Vasilev, who is making his Winter Games debut, finished last in 57th place in Sunday's pursuit in almost 8:58 minutes, after starting 56th with a deficit of almost three minutes. He made seven mistakes in the shooting. 

"I intended to put in more effort, but that is how it turned out with the shooting, and at one point it did not make sense anymore. Plus, I was not feeling my best. Sunday's competition was a pointless attempt. It did not even turn out to be good training," said a disappointed Vasilev.