Russian biathletes Victoria Metelya and Daniil Serokhvostov married on October 3, according to reporting by Sport-Express citing the athlete's social media accounts.
Metelya published photos and video clips from the wedding ceremony on her social media pages. The bride wore a closed white dress featuring long sleeves and a high collar, while the groom wore a black suit. Metelya initially shared a video displaying her wedding dress and wrote that she had dreamed of it, before uploading a short video clip captioned today and later posting images from the ceremony itself.
The Russian Biathlon Union issued an official statement congratulating the newlyweds following the ceremony. The national governing body wished the new biathlon family love, mutual understanding, and endless happiness, telling them to love and be loved.
The Russian Biathlon Union serves as the administrative body overseeing professional biathlon events and managing squad selections throughout the country. Sport-Express is a major national sports daily newspaper based in Moscow that covers Russian athletes and international sporting events.
Private relationship and team transfer
The couple kept their relationship hidden from the public for a long time, choosing to reveal that they were together only in the summer of 2024. During a podcast interview in the spring prior to that announcement, Serokhvostov had denied any romantic involvement, answering questions by stating that they were just friends.
Two weeks after that podcast appearance, Serokhvostov transferred from the Novosibirsk Oblast team to represent the squad from the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, also known as Yugra, where Metelya competes.
Both Novosibirsk Oblast and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug are major federal subjects in Russia with established athletic development programs. Khanty-Mansiysk, the administrative center of Yugra, is a major biathlon venue that regularly hosts national championships and top-tier winter sports events.
National titles and international competition
In September, both biathletes achieved top results on the track at the Russian Summer Biathlon Championship, where each athlete won a gold medal. Metelya earned her gold medal in the relay event, while Serokhvostov secured first place in the individual sprint race.
Summer biathlon is an established off-season variant of the sport. Competitors race on roller skis or on foot over paved courses while carrying rifles to fire at targets, adhering to the same marksmanship rules used during winter events.
Serokhvostov has also achieved notable victories on the international stage, having previously won gold medals in relay events during World Cup stages.
Biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle marksmanship. The World Cup circuit is the highest level of international competition in biathlon, held annually across winter sports venues in Europe and around the globe.
