France’s Daviet wins first World Cup biathlon race

In the men’s sitting, the most decorated athlete from the Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympic Games headlined a Russian sweep of wins in all other classifications across men’s and women’s events.

French World Championships bronze medallist Benjamin Daviet secured the first biathlon World Cup win of his career on Sunday (6 December), in Tyumen, Russia.

The 26-year-old was victorious in the men’s individual long distance standing at the opening races of the season at the Pearl of Siberia winter sports centre.

The win represents a fantastic start for the Frenchman, who secured his first World Championships podiums at the 2015 IPC Biathlon and Cross-Country Skiing Worlds in Cable, Wisconsin, USA.

Daviet (40:42.6) led Russian teammates Aleksandr Pronkov (40:49.4) and Aleksandr Iaremchuk (41:06.8) into second and third respectively.

In the men’s sitting, the most decorated athlete from the Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympic Games headlined a Russian sweep of wins in all other individual long distance races across men’s and women’s events.

Six-time Paralympic champion Roman Petushkov (42:23.8) dropped just one shot on his way to the top, ahead of compatriot Grigory Murygin (42:26.6). Germany’s Martin Fleig (42:51.4) got his biathlon campaign successfully underway with third.

Stanislav Chokhlaev (37:35.4) with guide Oleg Kolodiichuk beat Russian world champion teammate Nikolay Polukhin, guided by Andrey Tokarev (39:22.8) in the men’s visually impaired, as he had done in all the cross-country races in previous days.

Nikita Povarov (40:37.6) and guide Pavel Eliseev completed the top three, all of whom shot clean.

In the women’s visually impaired Mikhalina Lysova (40:03.3), with guide Alexey Ivanov, shot perfectly to take the win. Lysova took the victory in her continued battle with second-placed teammate Elena Remizova (43:26.8), guided by Maksim Pirogov.

German Clara Klug (48:09.5), with guide Martin Hartl, claimed her first World Cup podium in third.

The Russian dominance continued in the remaining events, with home skiers taking all top three places.

In the women’s standing Ekaterina Rumyantseva (41:52.6) dropped just one shot on her way to the win. Despite not shooting well Anna Milenina (43.54.4) finished in second ahead of Natalia Bratiuk (44:18.0).

Maria Iovleva (48:10.8) led World Championships silver medallist Svetlana Konovalova (48.21.7) in the women’s sitting. Natalia Kocherova (49:28.6) was third.

Full results are available.

Biathlon competition continues in Tyumen on Tuesday (8 December) with sprint races after a rest day on Monday (7 December).