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Siberian teenager wins silver in shooting thanks to hunting lessons from age of 6

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08 August 2016

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'Last time I was hunting with grandpa, I killed three ducks and overtook him. He nabbed two.' Picture: Vitalina Batsarashkina

Vitalina won silver in air pistol shooting from 10 metres, losing the gold to China's Zhang Mengxue. She thanked her grandfather Grigory Trokhleb, 66, for taking her hunting at such a young age. 

'When I was six, I sat in a boat with him, closing my ears when he was shooting,' she said. 'When I was about 10, I learned to shoot from the gun. On 8 March [International Womens' Day, state holiday in Russia] that year, my grandfather gave an air rifle. At 11, I killed my first prey. It was a small teal.

Vitalina Batsarashkina

At 11, I killed my first prey. It was a small teal. Picture: Vitalina Batsarashkina

'He brought me to sports shooting  when I was 12. At first, I didn't like there, but then I felt some excitement. 

'My other grandpa [Mikhail Batsharashkin] is also involved in hunting, and my dad [Igor Batsarashkin]  is a former policeman. So it was hard not to shoot in such a family. They all know how to shoot and there was a lot I could learn from them.

'Last time I was hunting with grandpa, I killed three ducks and overtook him. He nabbed two. Maybe I will go for the duck hunting when come back.'

Vitalina and her family


Vtalina and her granddad Mikhail

Vitalina Batsaraskina (first from the right) with her mother Irina (second from the right) and grandfather Grigory Trokhleb (first from the left). Vitalina with her grandfather Mikhail Batsarashkin. Pictures: social media

Meanwhile, there were also silvers for Russian women's archery team - Tuyana Dashidorzhieva, 20, (TransBaikal region), Inna Stepanova (Buryatia), and Ksenia Petrova, 27, (Sverdlovsk region), losing to South Korea.

The last time Russian's women archers won medals was back in Soviet times, in 1987. Both Stepanova and Dashidorzhieva are ethnic Buryats. 

Archery is a traditional sport in the Republic of Buryatia, in southern Siberia. 

Russian women's archery team (from left to right): Ksenia Petrova, 27, Tuyana Dashidorzhieva, 20, and Inna Stepanova. Picture: worldarchery.org

Russian women archery team

Comments (1)

Great accomplishment Vitalina! Nice to hear positive things about passing on traditions like hunting and spending times outdoors. I am sure that all of your family and countrymen are very proud of you (as they should be)!
Brian Erdrich, Anchorage, Alaska, USA
10/08/2016 05:11
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