Alexandra Kamenshchik: “By remaining persistent, they can make the national team at the Youth Olympics”

More than 30 children from the Criuleni district have started attending biathlon training sessions as part of the NEXTGEN project.

The first biathlon training sessions took place at the Criuleni Youth Center. The Biathlon Federation opened this free section for children as part of a joint project with the IBU and Torner Sports Initiative. After the open lesson-presentation of the NEXTGEN project, more than 30 children from the villages of Rîșcova, Slobozia-Dușca, and Criuleni themselves began attending the section.

- In order to make training accessible for all children in the Criuleni district, we organized transportation for children from different villages. We see a great deal of excitement because training sessions use laser rifles and mobile targets. This is expensive equipment, and it has been provided to us by the International Biathlon Union. UBU supports our desire to nurture a new generation of athletes in Moldova, which is why our federation became a participant in the international Biathlon4all project. As part of our work with youth, we launched the large NEXTGEN project.

We hope that soon other districts of the republic will join us, - commented the launch of the children's sections by the president of the Biathlon Federation of Moldova, Dmitry Torner.

Training sessions are held every Wednesday and Friday at the UNIT Center from 15:30 to 17:00

and are open to all interested children!

The section coach, Moldovan biathlete Alexandra Kamenshchik, notes that she already sees talent among the kids, and if they maintain their determination, they could join the national team to participate in the 2028 Youth Olympic Games.

- To our pride, we see potential for both boys and girls to engage in biathlon. It is important that their parents support them in this. Laser rifles are safe for children; they are not real weapons, but they are excellent for training accuracy. For the first time in history, we have the opportunity to use such expensive equipment in children's training sessions, - said Alexandra Kamenshchik, a participant in two Olympics and a medalist in international biathlon competitions.

The Biathlon Federation emphasizes that they are open to collaboration with government authorities, parent committees, and teachers to implement the project at sports and general education schools, sports complexes, and youth centers across the country.

The NEXTGEN project aims to popularize biathlon among children and youth and is one of the initiatives of the Torner Sports Initiative - a series of initiatives by the president of the Biathlon Federation of the Republic of Moldova, Dmitry Torner.