Russian skiers take final day victories at biathlon World Cup

Russian biathletes swept the board once again on the concluding day of action at the IPC Biathlon and Cross-Country Skiing World Cup in Tyumen, Russia, on Wednesday (9 December).

Stanislav Chokhlaev headlined the hosts’ efforts with his third successive win of the competition in the men’s biathlon pursuit visually impaired with guide Oleg Kolodiichuk. The Russian also claimed all three wins in the cross-country competitions between 2-5 December.

Chokhlaev (38.24.2) beat his world champion teammate Nikolay Polukhin (41:47.1) and guide Andrey Tokarev to secure an early lead over him in the overall World Cup standings.

Nikita Povarov (42:24.5) and guide Pavel Eliseev occupy third place in the rankings heading into the next World Cup in Finsterau, Germany, between 21-28 February, thanks to their podium finish.

Chokhlaev leads with 300 points, followed by Polukhin (240 points) and Povarov (170 points).

World champion Grigory Murygin (43:11.9) retained his form in the men’s sitting, shooting clean ahead of Germany’s Martin Fleig (45:09.8) in second. The USA’s Andrew Soule (46:06.8) was third.

Murygin (280 points), Fleig (220 points) and Russia’s Roman Petushkov (195 points) are the current leaders in the overall men’s sitting World Cup after the races in Tyumen.

In the men’s standing, Worlds gold medallist Vladislav Lekomtsev (38:57.0) was the only man to record a clean sheet to claim his second biathlon victory of the meet.

France’s Benjamin Daviet (40:46.3) maintained his 100 per cent podium record for the start of the season in second, followed by Norway’s Nils-Erik Ulset (42:45.5) in third.

Just 10 points now separate Lekomtsev (250 points) and Daviet (240 points) in the World Cup rankings whilst Ulset (185 points) rounds out the top three.

Irina Guliaeva (41:36.0) took the first win of her career in the women’s sitting. Despite dropping two shots the Russian led teammates Natalia Kocherova (41:55.4) and Paralympic silver medallist Svetlana Konovalova (42:27.7) into second and third respectively.

Konovalova (240 points) and Guliaeva (225 points) are first and second in the World Cup rankings, followed by compatriot Maria Iovleva (196 points).

Paralympic champion Mikhalina Lysova (37:36.4) did not drop a shot in the women’s visually impaired to secure the overall World Cup lead with guide Alexey Ivanov. Lysova ends the opening races with 300 points.

Teammate Elena Remizova (43:34.4), guided by Natalia Yakimova, finished second, also trailing Lysova in the Cup standings with 240 points. Germany’s Clara Klug (44:20.4) and guide Martin Hartl finished in third. Klug occupies the same position in the rankings with 180 points.

The women’s standing was an all-Russian top three with Anna Milenina (39:00.2) finishing first ahead of Ekaterina Rumyantseva (43:03.6) in second. Natalia Bratiuk (47:28.7) was third.

Milenina (280 points) has a slender lead over Rumyantseva (260 points) in the overall World Cup, with Bratiuk (180 points) in third place.

Full results and World Cup standings can be found at www.ipc-biathlon.org and www.ipc-crosscountryskiing.org.