Russian Athlete and The Witcher Fan Wins Gold At The Tokyo Olympics
The Tokyo Olympics have finally started after being postponed due to COVID. It should come as no surprise that those young sportsmen (russian athlete) like traditional entertainment such as movies and video games. One athlete in particular, though, drew our eye: Vitalina Batsarashkina is a Russian actress who is best known for her role in the film ” Super-fan of The Witcher.
Silver in 2016 was earned by Vitaliya Batsarashkina, but she’s already won gold in 2021! As she won gold in the Tokyo Olympics, Russian shooter Vitalina Batsarashkina displayed her enthusiasm for The Witcher series by wearing a pendant from The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. Since its debut in 2007, The Witcher has become one of the most popular and highly acclaimed video game series. It is based on fantasy novels of the same name by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was published in 2015 and is generally regarded as one of the finest video games of all time by critics and fans. Since its release in 2020, the acclaimed action role-playing game has enjoyed a record-breaking year with over 30 million sales. Henry Cavill stars as the Witcher Geralt in Netflix’s adaptation of the series.
About Vitalina Batsarashkina
Vitalina Batsarashkina, a Russian athlete and The Witcher superfan, earned a silver medal in the 10m air pistol event at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Despite wearing the identical Witcher attire, she won gold in this year’s games.
Batsarashkina is a Witcher enthusiast, but that’s no reason to write about her. Games are a big part of the lives of most athletes at these games, from Pokémon to Skyrim to League of Legends, to name just a few.
Batsarashkina is unique in that she participates in her event while wearing Witcher merchandise. Witcher medallion hanging from her trousers in 2016 and graphics on her shooting glasses in 2017 were among the things she wore to promote the game in 2016. A second Witcher medallion was worn in 2021, but this time it was worn around her neck.
Medallions are a vital tool for Witchers, and each Witcher wears a medallion from their own school. In both the games and the novels, medallions let Witchers discover magic by responding to it in their environment. Ciri wore the Cat School medallion worn by Vitalina in The Witcher 3, whereas Geralt of Rivia wore the Wolf School medallion worn by Vitalina in the first Witcher game.
Batsarashkina has competed before wearing Geralt’s bling.
She donned a Witcher medallion and Witcher-themed shooting glasses to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she won silver, according to Kotaku. Batsarashkina’s super-chill shooting posture made the rounds on Twitter today, at least until someone saw the pendant dangling from her trousers.
Her fandom isn’t limited to the field. In this amazing tweet, take a closer look at the clothing. (By the way, I want one of those shirts!)
Her choice in shooting gear caught the notice (and approval) of CD Projekt Red, the Witcher’s developer.
As for Batsarashkina’s allegedly nonchalant attitude, there’s a solid explanation behind it. Tweeted @joedobner, a Twitter user, “It’s all about control and composure.” Your heartbeat throws off your aim when you’re firing so accurately, they stated. A strong posture is maintained by standing with the least amount of tension feasible.
Suma Shirur, a former Indian professional shooter, says much the same thing on the Olympics.com website: “I need a lot of muscle endurance if I have to regulate the movement, maintain my body still at the same spot for a long length of time. That’s going to take a lot of stamina. You need to be physically fit to do this.”
Also, a good camera is certainly a plus.
“If anyone on Earth is going to be happier with silver than gold, it’s going to be a Witcher fan,” I joked last time, but because she’s an athlete, of course, gold is better. So, Congrats!
Antoine Kostadinova of Bulgaria got silver while Jiang Ranxin of China won bronze. On ABC’s website, you may watch the final video.
As such, it was a first for the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), which had never won a gold medal in the Olympics. As NBC explains, the team is technically not representing Russia because the country has been determined to have engaged in widespread systemic doping at international sporting competitions, including the Olympics.
Isn’t Russia barred from participating in the Olympics? How will Vitalina be able to compete?
The World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia for two years for its state-sponsored doping programme. Any athlete who represents Russia at the Olympics, Paralympics or World Championships between December 17, 2020, and December 17, 2022, is banned.
Originally, the Court of Arbitration for Sport had set a four-year penalty, but it was reduced to two years by the arbitrator. At least 15 medal winners from the Sochi Olympics in 2014 were involved in the state-sponsored doping operation, which was uncovered in 2016.
Given the massive number of athletes expected to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, it would be even more astonishing if none of them was gamers. It’s nice to see Vitalina Batasarashkina’s enthusiasm for The Witcher series hasn’t waned since her initial appearance in Rio, and after the competition, she’ll be able to look forward to the next-gen update for Witcher 3, as well as Season 2 of the Netflix series later this year.
