Para biathlon: Anthony Chalençon misses out on the podium this time
Reigning world champion Anthony Chalençon (guided by Florian Michelon) failed to reach the podium in the individual event at the Para Biathlon World Cup in Vuokatti (Finland) on Saturday. With a score of 18/20 against the targets, he finished fifth, just over 30 seconds off the podium.
The Ukrainians made it a hat-trick of wins, with Oleksandr Kazik (guided by Serhii Kucheriavyi) winning at 18/20 ahead of Dmytro Suiarko (guided by Oleksandr Nikonovych) and Anatolii Kovalevskyi (guided by Oleksandr Mukshyn).
In the women’s category, Germany’s Leonie Maria Walter (guided by Christian Krasman) won on 20/20 ahead of China’s Wang Yue (guided by Liu Hang) and her compatriot Johanna Recktenwald (guided by Florian Baumann).
20/20 for Chloé Pinto
In the standing competition, Beaufort native Chloé Pinto achieved a superb 20/20. Although she still has some way to go on her cross-country skis, she finished tenth in this individual event, won by Canada’s Nathalie Wilkie (19/2) ahead of her compatriot Brittany Hudak (20/20) and China’s Guo Yujie (20/20).
The men’s race was a thriller, with Ukraine’s Serhii Romaniuk (20/20) taking the scalp of Canada’s Mark Arendz (20/20) by 4.5 seconds. Dmytro Sereda (20/20) completed the podium, while France’s Benjamin Daviet and Karl Tabouret did not start.
Another victory for Kendall Gretsch
Earlier in the morning, in the women’s category, American Kendall Gretsch (20/20) put in another impressive performance. Two days after her success in the sprint, she won the individual event, beating Germany’s Anja Wicker (20/20) by almost a minute. China’s Zhai Yuxin (18/20) took third place.
The boys’ race was dominated by Ukraine, with Taras Rad (19/20) winning 1 min 25 sec 2 ahead of his compatriot Pavlo Bal (18/20). Liu Zixu (17/20), the Chinese representative, completed the podium.
Full results
Visually impaired
Men
Ladies
Standing
Men
Ladies
Sitting
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Ladies
- Vuokatti: Anthony Chalençon (guided by Florian Michelon) third in the opening World Cup sprint
- The programme for the Vuokatti World Cup, the first stage of the 2024/2025 season
- “I’m going back totally motivated”: after his break from para-rowing, punctuated by participation in Paris 2024, Bornandin Benjamin Daviet is about to start his winter of para-Nordic skiing.
- “She has to gain time over her rivals”: at the Vuokatti World Cup, Chloé Pinto will be trying to qualify for the Worlds.
- “I’ll go all the way to the 2026 Games and then I’ll stop”: Paralympic and world champion Anthony Chalençon sets his retirement date
