Para biathlon: Les Bleus in the top ten in the Val di Fiemme sprint
On Thursday lunchtime, the day after a sprint pursuit that finished in fourth place, Bornandin Benjamin Daviet took part in the para biathlon world cup sprint in Val di Fiemme (Italy). On the site of the next Paralympic Games, and for his last outing before the World Championships in Pokljuka (Slovenia) in a few days’ time, the Haut-Savoyard failed to reach the podium.
With a 9/10, he finished eighth, more than a minute from winning. It was the unchanging Canadian Mark Arendz (10/10) who took victory ahead of China’s Cai Jiayun (10/10) and Ukraine’s Serhii Romaniuk (9/10). Karl Tabouret (10/10) was ninth.
In the women’s category, Chloé Pinto from Beaufort was still on the starting line afterhaving to withdraw on Wednesday due to illness.
With a score of 8/10, the Frenchwoman finished the sprint in tenth place. Victory went to Ukraine’s Oleksandra Kononova (9/10) ahead of China’s Zhao Zhiqing (10/10) and her compatriot Iryna Bui (10/10).
China dominates seated category races
At the start of the day, it was the seated competitors who kicked off the hostilities. China shone brightly, taking four of the six places on the podium.
Firstly, in the men’s competition, Liu Mengtao (10/10) narrowly beat Kazakh Yerbol Khamitov (10/10) and then his compatriot Liu Zixu (10/10).
The women’s race was won by Wang Shiyu (10/10), who was stronger than Germany’s Anja Wicker (9/10) and her team-mate Yuxin Zhai (9/10).
Ukraine and Germany win among the visually impaired
Among the visually impaired, whose races took place in the afternoon, Ukrainian Oleksandr Kazik (guided by Serhii Kucheriavyi), at 9/10, won ahead of two compatriots with perfect shooting skills: Iaroslav Reshetynskyi (guided by Dmytro Drahun) and Anatolii Kovalevskyi (guided by Oleksandr Mukshyn).
The women’s competition was dominated at 10/10 by Germany’s Leonie Maria Walter (guided by Christian Krasman) ahead of China’s Wang Yue (guided by Liu Hang) and her compatriot Johanna Recktenwald (guided by Emily Rose Weiss).
Full results
Standing
Men
Ladies
Sitting
Men
Ladies
Visually impaired
Men
Ladies
- The programme for the second stage of the 2024/2025 World Cup in Val di Fiemme
- Anaïs Delavier, Alexis Sanchez and Maxime Gayet selected: the French team with some newcomers at the Val di Fiemme World Cup
- Val di Fiemme: Benjamin Daviet fourth in the sprint pursuit, Karl Tabouret tenth
