Mikhalina Lysova, Roman Petushkov aiming for more biathlon medals

The Russians have already taken 19 medals in the first two days of biathlon – eight of them gold – and Mikhalina Lysova and Roman Petushkov heavily favoured in their events.

After a day off, the Sochi 2014 Nordic skiing competition will resume at 10:00 (MSK) on Friday (14 March) with the long-distance biathlon events, where the host nation will look to continue their dominance in the sport.

The Russians have already taken 19 medals in the first two days of biathlon – eight of them gold – and Mikhalina Lysova and Roman Petushkov heavily favoured in their events.

In the women’s 12.5km visually impaired race, Lysova will be seeking her third gold of Sochi 2014, with her toughest competition expected to come from teammate Iuliia Budaleeva and Ukraine’s Oksana Shyshkova. Lysova, guided by Alexey Ivanov, is a two-time defending world champion in the event.

"I can't promise that I will continue winning like that, but I will certainly try,” Lysova said after winning the 10km distance earlier in the week.

Petushkov has already won four golds at these Games, making him the biggest individual medal winner at Sochi 2014. On Friday, he will be challenged in the men’s 15km sitting by the event’s world champion Kozo Kubo of Japan and another teammate, Grigory Murygin.

With two Sochi 2014 golds already in her pocket, Russia’s Alena Kaufman is a firm favourite entering the women’s 12.5km standing event. She will go up against Ukrainians Oleksandra Kononova and Iryna Bui, as well as Finland’s Maija Jarvela.

The women’s 12.5km sitting event is expected to be a three-horse race between Germany’s Andrea Eskau and Anja Wicker and Russia’s Svetlana Konovalova. Eskau heads into the race with two golds and a silver already around her neck from Sochi.

After taking bronze in the 7.5km standing, 18-year-old Azat Karachurin returned to top form in the 12.5km to take gold and is hoping to end his Sochi campaign on a high in the men’s 15km standing event. Norway’s Nils-Erik Ulset and Canada’s Mark Arendz are expected to be his toughest challengers.

In the men’s 15km visually impaired event, the rivalry between Russia’s Nikolay Polukhin – guided by Andrey Tokarev – and Ukraine’s Vitaliy Lukyanenko – guided by Borys Babar – is expected to be played out in full.