Winter Paralympics preview: Para cross-country skiing day two

The second day of Para cross-country skiing at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games will see men’s and women’s standing and vision impaired athletes battling in the long-distance events on Monday (7 March) at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre.

The competition starts at 10:00 AM (Local Time) with the men's standing followed by the men's vision impaired. The women's standing and women's vision impaired races conclude the programme.

Here is all you need to know!

STANDING EVENTS

Ukraine’s superstar Liudmyla Liashenko appears as clear favourite for gold in the women’s 15km standing event at the Beijing 2022.

After winning the bronze medal at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, she transformed third place into first at the Lillehammer 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships in January.

Norway’s 21-year-old Vilde Nilsen is leading the new generation that will try to take away the gold medal from Liashenko. Beijing 2022 will be Nilsen's second Paralympic Winter Games.

She was one of the stars of the World Championships in her home nation taking four medals, including two golds. She picked a silver medal in the long-distance event behind Liashenko. 

USA’s 20-year-old Sydney Peterson was just behind Nilsen on the podium with a bronze in Lillehammer. She will make her Paralympic debut on Monday in Zhangjiakou.

China's Zhiqing Zhao will be aiming a second medal after her bronze in the Para biathlon sprint, behind Liashenko who took silver in the same event.

The hosts will come strong in the men's long distance standing race with five athletes among the 16 names on the start list. 

Cai Jiayun, Ma Mingtao, Li Taiyun, Wang Chenyang and Qiu Mingyang will try to emulate Peng Zheng's and Hongqiong Yang's victories in the sitting long-distance events on Sunday. 

Canada's Mark Arendz and Japan's Taiki Kawayoke are among the most experienced Paralympians in action in the men's standing race. Arendz already visited the podium in China with a bronze in Para biathlon.

VISION IMPAIRED EVENTS

Medallists in the women's Para biathlon sprint, Ukraine's Oksana Shyshkova and German skiers Leonie Walter and Linn Kazmaier will be in search of more glory in Beijing on Monday.

Shyshkova is the PyeongChang 2018 silver medallist in the event, while 15-year-old Kazmaier and 18-year-old Walter will make their Paralympic debut in Para cross-country skiing.

China's Yue Wang finished fourth behind the trio in Para biathlon and is another medal contender in Zhangjiakou.

Canadian Brian McKeever will make his sixth and last Winter Paralympics appearance in Beijing. He will be defending the PyeongChang 2018 title and will extend his Paralympic legacy to 18 medals if he reaches the podium.

Sweden's Zebastian Modin will be again on McKeever's way as the Sochi 2014 bronze medallist and fourth place at PyeongChang 2018. USA's Jake Adicoff is another medal contender following his bronze at the World Championships in January.

Live results from Beijing 2022 will be available on Paralympic.org. You can follow all the action, behind the scenes and news on World Para Snow Sports social media channels on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.