Old and new rivalries to spice up Para Biathlon competition at Beijing 2022

Rivalries old and new will be forged at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games on 5, 8 and 11 March when athletes head out at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre.

An exciting build-up to the Winter Paralympics has seen the World Cup and World Championships conclude, offering a glimpse into the form of the field.

The USA’s PyeongChang 2018 two-time gold medallist Kendall Gretsch has been skiing confidently once again this season, competing off the back of a gold in the triathlon from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

Her performance in the women’s sitting at January’s World Championships in Lillehammer, Norway, delivered her golds in the middle and long distance biathlon as well as in cross-country skiing.

Germany’s Anja Wicker was the only women to deprive Gretsch of a full-house of golds in Lillehammer, crossing the line first in the sprint.

In the men's standing, Frenchman Benjamin Daviet is the defending sprint and middle distance Paralympic champion who also stood on the most recent World’s podium.

Ukraine’s Iryna Bui also looks to be hitting form at just the right time in the women’s standing. Bui came back from a slow start to the season at a World Cup in December to win gold in the long distance and a silver in the middle distance. That was her first world title since 2013 and she is searching for her maiden Paralympic medal in Beijing.

In the women's sprint standing, the Ukrainian trio of Oleksandra Kononova, Liudmyla Liashenko and Iuliia Batenkova-Baumann will line up hoping to repeat their podium sweep from Lillehammer 2022.

Another Ukrainian, Oksana Shyshkova, returns as the Paralympic silver medallist from 2018 with guide Andriy Marchenko in the women's vision impaired.

Para Biathlon gets underway at Beijing 2022 on 5 March with the men’s and women’s sprints. 

The complete schedule and results from Beijing 2022 are available on Paralympic.org.