Ukrainian biathletes distinguished themselves with an extremely noble act.
The Ukrainian men's team , which was recognized as the best biathletes following the seventh stage of the 2024/25 World Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, gave the prize they won to Norwegian Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold .
The Ukrainian relay team of four – Artem Tyshchenko , Vitaliy Mandzyn , Anton Dudchenko and Dmytro Pidruchny – recorded a video message to the Norwegian biathlete, in which they said that they wanted to share the award they had received with her.
“Together, our team decided to share this prize with Ingrid, because we decided that she really deserves it. This prize is also for you, because you had a very difficult season, so we want to support you even more,” Mandzyn said during his address.
Ingrid has already responded to the noble act of the Ukrainian biathletes: “This is the best manifestation of the biathlon family. Thank you, guys, I didn't deserve it as much as you, but we'll discuss this another time,” said the Norwegian.
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In the voting for the “best athlete of the week”, which was conducted by the International Biathlon Union (IBU), the Ukrainian men's team received a minimal advantage over Tandrevold.
At the stage in Nove Mesto, the Ukrainian team sensationally won “bronze” in the men's relay, losing only to the teams of France and Norway.
For Ukraine, this is the first medal at the Biathlon World Cup level in three seasons. Before this, the last time the “blue-yellows” won the award was at the stage in Oberhof in the 2021/22 season, when Daria Blashko and Artem Tyshchenko won the bronze in the single mixed relay.
Tandrevold won the sprint and took second place in the relay at the Czech stage of the World Cup. The 28-year-old Norwegian won her first individual World Cup gold this season after undergoing heart surgery.
The current World Cup biathlon season will end with stages in Pokljuka, Slovenia (March 13-16) and Holmenkollen, Norway (March 21-23).