USA’s Masters triumphs at cross-country World Cup

The USA’s Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games silver medallist Oksana Masters claimed her first victory of the season on Thursday (3 December), at the IPC Biathlon and Cross-Country Skiing World Cup in Tyumen, Russia.

Masters, who is also preparing to compete in rowing at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, headlined the long distance free races on the second day of competition.

The 26-year-old won her women’s sitting race in 40:40.5 ahead of Russian teammates Nadezhda Fedorova (40:47.5) and Mariia Iovleva (41:05.1).

The other race wins were taken by Russian skiers, keen to show a good performance on their home snow.

Elena Remizova took her second consecutive triumph of the competition, having topped the podium in the women’s visually impaired middle distance classic on Wednesday (2 December).

Remizova (42:03.5) and guide Maksim Pirogov led compatriots Marina Galitsyna (43:40.9), guided by Evgeniy Fatkhullin, and Liubov Vasileva (44:18.7) with guide Ekaterina Tyryshkina into second and third respectively.

Anna Milenina (39:35.9) also claimed first place for the second time in the women’s standing. Her teammates Ekaterina Rumyantseva (41:32.5) and Natalia Bratiuk (44:16.4) followed her onto the podium.

Sochi 2014 silver medallist Stanislav Chokhlaev (45:54.4) and guide Oleg Kolodiichuk took the men’s visually impaired by storm once again.

France’s Thomas Clarion (46:28.2) with new guide Antoine Bollet will be delighted with second place, ahead of Russia’s Aleksandr Artemov (46:51.2), guided by Ilya Cherepanov.

Paralympic and world champion Rushan Minnegulov (46:01.2) added more World Cup points to his collection with first place in the men’s standing. France’s Benjamin Daviet (46:51.2) and Norway’s Nils-Erik Ulset (46:53.8) collected second and third respectively to break the Russian dominance.

The men’s sitting concluded the action in Tyumen, with 19-year-old Ivan Golubkov (41:02.8) taking the top spot ahead of world champion Aleksandr Davidovich (41:46.9). Grigory Murygin (42:19.7) completed the podium for an all-Russian top three.

Full results are available online.

Competition continues in Tyumen on Saturday (5 December) with sprint races after a rest day on Friday (4 December)

The biathlon World Cup gets underway between 6-9 December.

Pictures, updates and coverage will also be available on IPC Nordic Skiing Facebook and on Twitter @IPCNordic.