Russia Dominates 1st Day of Competition in Vuokatti

26 Jan 2009 By IPC

With lots of snow and perfect conditions, the first day of the 2009 IPC Biathlon & Cross-Country World Championships saw the Biathlon Pursuit. On 25 January, a total of 87 athletes in three categories (Sitting, Standing, Visually Impaired) competed for medals and World Championships honours.

The Russian team dominated the slopes of Vuokatti, Finland, and took home nine medals.

In the Visually Impaired category, Evgeni Safronov (RUS) won the Men’s race, with Vitaliy Lukyanenko (UKR) and Nikolay Polukhin (RUS) following in second and third place. In the Women’s Visually Impaired category, three Russians made their way to the podium with Polina Kameneva on first place and Tatiana Ilyuchenko and Liubov Vasileva following.

In the Sitting category (Men’s), Sergiy Khyzhnyak (UKR) took the gold medal , while Russian Roman Petushkov and Iurii Kostiuk (UKR) won silver and bronze. Olena Iurkovska from Ukraine won the gold medal in the Women’s Sitting category followed by her team mates Lyudmyla Pavlenko Lyudmyla and Tetyana Tymoshchenko.

The Standing category saw Nils Erik Ulset from Norway finishing ahead of Josef Giesen (GER) and Ilgam Makhmutov (RUS). Burmistrova Anna (RUS) took home the gold in the Women’s Standing category, followed by Alena Gorbunova (RUS) and Ota Shoko from Japan.

Today’s competition day will see the first races in Cross-Country Skiing (classic technique).