The captain of the Ukrainian men's biathlon team, Dmytro Pidruchnyi, will not compete in the individual race at the 2025/26 World Cup opener in Östersund, Sweden.
He announced this decision on his personal Instagram page.
"I woke up in the morning and realized I wasn't feeling well. My throat is bothering me. After discussing it with my coach, we decided to sit this one out since there's a long season ahead and it's not worth taking risks," wrote the 34-year-old athlete.
The men's individual race in Östersund is scheduled for Wednesday, December 3, starting at 16:30 Kyiv time. Pidruchnyi was set to compete with the 28th bib.
It remains unclear whether the coaching staff will substitute Bohdan Borkovsky for Pidruchnyi in this race.