Para-cross-country skiing: two top 5 finishes for Les Bleus in Canmore
This Thursday morning, a continental cup of para-cross-country skiing was taking place in Canmore (Canada) in the form of a 5km individual skate. French rower Alexis Sanchez, a finalist at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, put in a magnificent performance, taking fifth place out of twenty-five competitors.
Showing great improvement on his debut last winter, he completed the course in 15 min 38 sec 7, less than 30 seconds off the podium. At the front, Collin Cameron won, ahead of Aaron Pike and Daniel Cnossen.
Also in the women’s category, American Oksana Masters made a winning comeback in para cross-country skiing. She won by a mere 0 sec 6 over South Korea’s Yunji Kim , while Kendall Gretsch was third.
Chloé Pinto ahead of Cléo Blanc in the standing category
In the visually impaired category, another Frenchman shone: Maxime Gayet. Guided by former biathlete Alexis Bernard, he too took fifth place in his race, not far from fourth and less than 35 seconds from the top 3. Category wins went to Logan Lariviere (guided by Joseph Hutton) and Maddie Mullin (guided by Brooke Ailey).
Finally, in the standing event, the two Tricolores entered took the last two places, with Chloé Pinto sixth and Cléo Blanc seventh. Local star Natalie Wilkie won this competition, while Japan’s Taiki Kawayoke beat Canada’s Mark Arendz in the men’s event.
Next Thursday, the Para-Cross-Country World Cup opens in the same venue. Benjamin Daviet and Karl Tabouret, who travelled to Canada on Monday, will complete the young French team.
Full results
Offical-Results
