Rozhkov Sergey is a well-known Russian biathlete, world and European champion, a multiple winner of the World Cup stages. One of the representatives of the stellar composition of the national team. The peak of his success came in the late 90s - early 2000s.
Early career
Rozhkov Sergey was born in Murmansk on April 1, 1972. After school, he entered the Murmansk Arctic State University.
From the age of 12, he became interested in skiing and, by the time he was an older person, had finally entered biathlon. At 24, he became a member of the national team of Russia. In 1995, first sent to the World Cup. Rozhkov's debut is the stage in the Swedish Östersund in the individual race. Rozhkov Sergey confidently holds the race for the debutant and finishes it in 15th position.
The very next start brought the athlete the first hit in the top ten of the World Cup. In the sprint, Rozhkov takes 7th place. Having traveled to three more stages, the biathlete conducts a total of 8 races and is included by the coaching staff in the composition for the World Cup.
First medal
In 1996, the competition took place in the German Ruhpolding. It was at this world championship that the athlete showed a sensationally successful result. Sergey Leonidovich Rozhkov participates in the team race together with more experienced Viktor Maygurov, Vladimir Drachev and Pavel Muslimov. Today, this kind of biathlon has been removed from major starts. The peculiarity of the race is that all athletes go to the race at once. At the finish between the leader and the last in the team, the distance should not exceed 50 meters or 15 seconds. Otherwise, the team receives a minute of penalty.
The Russian team in the race performed successfully, making only 2 misses. However, Belarusians shot without any mistakes. Therefore, Sergey Rozhkov won only a silver medal. The total lag was a little over 32 seconds.
At the first stage of the Cup after the World Cup, Rozhkov wins the first victory. In his crown individual race, he comes to the finish line first.
True, the ending of that season was blurry. After the first victory, Rozhkov Sergey first came 50th in the sprint, and at the next stage in Hochfilzin, Austria, he became 45th in the individual race and 36th in the sprint.
As a result, in that season, Rozhkov spent 13 races to offset the World Cup, scored 122 points, taking 13th place.
Cup wins
Rozhkov spent the next season less successfully, rising three times to the podium, occupying invariably third place. Such a result was achieved in the relay in Holmenkollen, the team race in Ruhpolding and the individual race in Italian Antholz. At the end of the season, Sergey Rozhkov took 19th place. The biathlete performed much more successfully next season. He won the relay in Finnish Kontiolahti and finished the season in 10th place.
Golden season
The most successful for Rozhkov was the 2004/2005 season. In almost half of the races in which he took part, he fell on the podium. He started with a
bronze medal in the relay in the Norwegian Beitostolen.
Rozhkov went to the start of 30 races, though he could win only once. The biathlete got Victoria in a sprint in the Italian Cesana San Sicario. Seven times won silver medals and 6 times bronze medals. At the end of the season, Rozhkov scored 656 points, becoming the fifth in the overall standings of the World Cup.
That season, lost only to compatriot Sergei Chepikov, the third was the Frenchman Rafael Poiret, the second - the German Sven Fischer, and the great Norwegian Ole-Einar Bjoerndalen won. For Rozhkov, the performance at this World Cup was the most successful in his career.
Olympic debut
As for every athlete, the Olympic Games were the most significant competitions for Rozhkov. The biathlete managed to get to this sport festival for the first time in 2002. The sports forum was held in the American Salt Lake City.
A full member of the Russian team was Sergey Rozhkov. His biography was replenished with another significant page. As an athlete of the main structure, Rozhkov began with a performance in the individual race. He clearly worked at all borders, not making a single miss. However, significantly inferior to rivals. One has only to say that the champion in this discipline at that Olympics, the Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, missed the target twice. Rozhkov, having not received a single minute of penalty, took only 12th place. The total lag was 2 minutes 40 seconds.
The next discipline was sprint. Here, for Rozhkov, everything turned out even worse, having made annoying mistakes at the firing lines, he came to the finish line only 51th. In the further pursuit race for medals, of course, did not count.
In pursuit of the pursuit, Rozhkov set off briskly, but made a mistake at the very first turn. However, having clearly worked out the three remaining ones, he managed to significantly improve his final position, rising from 51st to 27th place.
The relay race became the final start. Rozhkov fled in the second stage. The first to go the distance was Viktor Maigurov. Confidently passing his stretch of the path, he passed the baton to the leader in the rank of Rozhkov, but Sergei failed to maintain the advantage. First, he made 2 misses when shooting while lying down, then another one in a standing position. I lost all the advantage and passed the baton to my teammate Sergey Chepikov only 5th. And Chepikov, and Pavel Rostovtsev, who followed him, also shot not without flaws, having missed two times 6 times. The result - the 4th place in the relay team.
Turin Olympics
The athlete managed to speak at the Olympics again after 4 years in Turin. Sergey Rozhkov didn’t come to these competitions in the best shape. Photo athlete said that the season is not easy. In the World Cup, the biathlete had only one podium - the second place in the relay. Therefore, at the Olympics, he took part in only one race - the mass start.
The final start for Rozhkov at the Olympic Games took place on February 25, 2006. The first two lines Sergey passed without errors, not making a single miss. However, shooting from a standing position, as often happens, failed the athlete. Having missed once at the third and fourth firing lines, Rozhkov excluded himself from the list of applicants for a high place. As a result - only the 20th position with a lag of 1 minute 49 seconds from the victorious German Michael Grice.
Rozhkov finished his sports career in 2008. In the last season in the World Cup, he spent only three races.