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To my mind, the most remarkable about the Krylov Cup 2004 in Moscow is the successful participation of the Canadian team. First of all, the Canadian girls have proven indeed what I have always maintained: 7-8 days of training is enough for any canoeist who has never taken an archery before to be really able to shoot good enough for international competition in Indian biathlon competition.
This can be explained by the similarity in the basic movements of the upper part of the human body (arms and shoulders) in canoeing and in archery shooting. Although it may seem different as the same muscles perform dynamic work in canoeing and static work in archery shooting.
Canadian participants – Sheila Kuyper, Debbie Bell, Sara Lawlor, Jessie Temple, Jillian Fedechko and Natasha Ostopovich came to Moscow 10 days before the competition starts.  None of them has ever practiced archery. But this did not keep Natasha Ostopovich from gaining 2 bronze medals in C1 and C2 mixed with Ramil Almakaev from Moscow. Of course, this is also due to the fact that Indian biathlon is a very young sport and the level of results in it is not too high at the moment. Obviously, Natasha Ostopovich, the 15 year old Canadian girl is very talented and she has a good perspective in Indian biathlon. I would also like to emphasize the remarkable discipline in Canadian team during the training as well as their high sporting spirit they have shown in all the competitions.
The participation of Russian girls in woman’s canoe demonstration races at World Cup 2003 in Atlanta (USA) made them able to approach Canadian leaders within 1 year. I think, it is logic to expect the same or even more from Canadian participants of Krylov Cup 2004 in Moscow. It is quite obvious, that next year they will have a lot of chances to win in such competition.
I hope that my estimations will become reality and next year everyone will see that women’s canoe and Indian biathlon stimulate each other’s development and should go forward together.
 
Dr. Valery Krylov
FIIB President