Injured Star Cherezov May Return Soon

Russian biathlon star Ivan Cherezov may be back in competition before the end of the season after recovering from a double leg break suffered in a September fall, a national team coach said Wednesday. Cherezov, a silver and bronze relay medalist in the 2006 and 2010 Olympics, will be assessed at the national team at the training base in Anterselva, Italy, after the sixth World Cup stage, which ends there Sunday. "We need to see Ivan in the flesh to see what kind of shape he's in," Andrei Gerbulov was quoted as saying. "We'll work out a training program to control the workload as necessary. There is hope that we will see Ivan in the international arena before the end of the season." Cherezov, 31, a three-time world champion in the relay, broke his tibia and fibula in a fall during the first race of the Russian national summer championships in the central city of Ufa. The ninth and final stage of the IBU World Cup is in Khanty-Mansiysk, in western Siberia, on March 13.