TOBLACH, Italy — After cancelled events in Poland last week the Nordic Skiing system finally got underway this weekend in Toblach.
The United States came away with four wins in the 10km classical events. Jake Adicoff (Guide: Jake Brown) won the men’s vision impaired double, finishing in a time of 30:37.9 in the time trial, just clear of Zebasitian Modin (SWE, Guide: Emil Joensson) who had a factored time of 30:53.4. Thursday’s finish was even closer, a one second win for Adicoff in the mass start, Modin just couldn’t close the gap.
The other US golds were won by a familiar face, Oksana Masters, finishing just 20 seconds clear of teammate Kendall Gretsch to win the women’s sitting races both days.
North America wasn’t done with medals in the 10km classical races there; CanadianMark Arendz claimed the men’s standing race finishing almost one minute ahead of his nearest rival. His was the only win that wasn’t repeated in the mass start race, swapping second place with Japanese skier Taiki Kawayoke.
His teammate Brittany Hudak medaled in the women’s standing interval start, finishing a distant second to Norwegian great Vilde Nilsen before finishing third in the mass-start which was again won by Nilsen.
The hosts had something to cheer about in the men’s sitting which was claimed by Giuseppe Romele who beat out Ukrainian Pavlo Bal twice. This race saw more medals the Canadians with Derek Zaplotinsky claiming bronze in both races.
Germany dominated the women’s vision impaired races with Linn Kazmaier (Guide: Florian Baumann) finishing well in front of her teammate Leonie Maria Walter (Guide: Christian Krasman) to win both races.
Sundays saw the event switch to freestyle after the sprit races were cancelled. It opened with another home gold for Romele to sweep the men’s sitting classification. This time it was Brazilian Cristian Westemaier Barrera who finished second, relegating Bal to bronze.
Masters also completed her sweep, again beating teammate Gretsch, by just five seconds, as the two set a marker for the rest of the field to try and catch next week in Martell.
The men’s standing saw a drastically different result on Sunday with German Marco Meier claiming gold with Arendz not starting the race. Serheii Romaniuk (UKR) finished in second just seven seconds back. Nilsen completed her sweep of the women’s standing events easily, more than a minute ahead of Ukrainian duo Oleksandra Kononova and Liudmyla Liashenko.
Adicoff completed his sweep of the men’s vision impaired races, putting the Americans top of the medal table with six. The German domination of the women’s standing was broken in the freestyle race when Simona Bubenickova (CZE) claimed the gold by seven seconds from Kazmaier.
ESPOT, Spain – The para alpine skiingWorld Championships moved to the combined races on Wednesday, with a broad swath of countries gaining gold medals.
Eva Aarsjoe (SWE) claimed the women’s standing event, dominating from the start. She claimed the win in the super-g backing up her win in that event on Tuesday. She then extended her lead, claiming gold by winning the slalom. She was the only skier in the classification to go under two minutes.
Chiara Mazzel (ITA) managed the same feat in the women’s visual impaired classification. She won the Super-G in a rapid 58.54. In the afternoon, she backed up to win the slalom and finish with a combined 1:59.95.
All three women’s classifications were won in sweeps, as Anna-Lena Forster (GER) easily won the women’s sitting event. She won her second gold medal of the meet, winning the combined gold by a margin of over 14 seconds.
Johannes Aigner (AUT) swept his classification after two close races. He claimed the super-g in 52.79 before backing up to win the slalom and the event by less than one second from Giacomo Bertagnolli.
Robin Cuche (SUI) won the men’s standing super-g to take a handy lead into the slalom. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t able to hold on. A blistering run from Arthur Bauchet of 53.15 in the slalom saw the Frenchman win the combined event. He finished over four seconds clear of Cuche, who just couldn’t hold on.
Jesper Pedersen (NOR) got quicker in the slalom after winning the super-g in the men’s sitting classification. He won the super-g in the morning in 54.4 before going even faster in the slalom, winning in 53.42. Despite those quick times, he was less than one second ahead of silver medalist Rene de Silvestro (ITA).
The world championship moves to giant slalom on Thursday before a rest day on Friday.
BEIJING – The United States had two big wins on the final day of competition at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games on Sunday to make it a good finish for the team.
The Americans’ dominance of ice hockey continued with a fourth consecutive gold medal. The USA beat Canada 4-0 in a final the country dominated from the opening minutes.
Canada had moments where the side looked threatening. Still, their North American rivals always held a measure of control.
Early in the first period Liam Hickey rushed the American net, but Jen Lee was at his best to keep the Canadian off the score sheet. That allowed him to launch a counter which gave Declan Farmer a chance to score, which he took.
That would begin the flood of goals as the United States continued its dominance of the sport for over a decade. Canada will be concerned about the looming Chinese threat; the hosts finished third here and are aiming to be in the top tier with the North Americans.
Pedersen wins fourth gold
Jesper Pedersen (NOR) sealed being the most successful athlete in Beijing as he won four gold medals. He clinched his fourth in Sunday’s men’s sitting slalom.
It was a dominant performance from Pedersen, who claimed the win six seconds ahead of silver medal winner Niels de Langen (NED).
“I exceeded all expectations. Of course, this is what I’ve been dreaming of for the last couple of years. Still, to be able to have such good events here and in Hafjell [2022 World Championships] as well, it’s been just amazing for me,” said 22-year-old Pedersen. “I’m just so happy, and now I’m ready to go home and take a well-deserved rest.”
Arthur Bauchet (FRA) was only one gold medal behind the Norwegian as he won his third gold medal in the men’s standing.
One more gold medal behind was Italian Giacomo Bertagnolli (guide: Andrea Ravelli), who will go into his home Olympic Games in four years as a great success. He won the men’s vision impaired in an entertaining race.
Relay gold makes Masters most decorated woman in Beijing
Oksana Masters (USA) clinched her third gold medal of these Games as she was part of the victorious United States cross country mixed relay team.
With Daniel Cnossen and Sydney Peters, Masters handed off to Jake Adicoff (guide: Sam Wood) for the final leg behind the Chinese. Adicoff powered away and claimed the gold medal 26 seconds ahead of the hosts to cap it for the Americans.
Ukraine had one more gold medal to win, and it was an emotional win in the open relay. Grygorii Vochysnkyi led the team of Vasyl Kravchuk, Dmytro Suiarko and Anatolii Kovalevskyi (guide: Oleksandr Mukshyn).
Needing to come from fourth place, Kovalevskyi and Mukshyn pushed and overhauled the three in front of them to take an emotional gold medal.
“This win today means Ukraine is like five fingers (one fist),” Vovchynskyi said. “It means Ukraine, the whole country, is like one person. Today our whole winning team is like one guy. Everyone supports each other, like in Ukraine now. This is like a union of all the Ukrainian people here. On this podium will be all of Ukraine together.”
BEIJING – It has been an incredible Beijing 2022 for Finland‘s Santeri Kiiveri. That continued Thursday as he clinched another historic alpine skiing medal for his country as the men’s giant slalom events awarded medals.
Earlier in the Games, Kiiveri won his country’s first alpine skiing medal with silver in the super-combined. Today he went one better, getting Finland’s first alpine skiing Paralympic gold medal with a win in the men’s standing giant slalom.
“The giant slalom has all the time been really good for me but I haven’t been able to do good runs in the races and now everything came together,” said the champion. “It’s been a great job for me. After the first medal I decided that now I would just enjoy and go full gas and that paid off.”
It was a very close race; Thomas Walsh (USA) was only 0.04 seconds behind in one of the tightest finishes ever. Arthur Bauchet (FRA) sealed his third medal by finishing third.
Photo: OIS
Another skier won his third medal as Jesper Pedersen (NOR) claimed gold in the men’s sitting. It’s his third gold of the games as he continues his consistent performances. He was joined on the podium by Rene de Silvestro (ITA) and Liang Zilu (CHN).
A thrilling second run from Johannes Aigner (AUT) (guide: Matteo Fleischmann) saw him come from behind to claim gold in the men’s visually impaired. That saw Giacomo Bertagnolli (ITA) (guide: Andrea Ravelli) step up to try and overhaul Aiger’s time. Still, he fell short, losing his title and falling to second place.
China, Sweden, Canada and Slovakia qualify for curling semifinals
Photo: OIS Photos
As the round-robin completed on Thursday, China and Canada will join the European duo of Sweden and Slovakia in the Beijing 2022 wheelchair curling semifinals.
There were concerns that the hosts would not make it through to the semifinals after losing their first two matches, but those concerns were quickly put to rest. After losing the first two games, China came back and won seven straight, capping that with a 6-3 win over Great Britain in the morning.
Canada needed two wins to qualify and got them managing a 9-3 win over Estonia and a 7-6 win over Norway. Those results set up a semifinal rematch from four years ago when China stunned the previously unbeaten Canadians.
Sweden had to fight off a spirited performance from the Americans to seal a place in the semifinals. Sweden came from behind to defeat the USA 10-7 on the back of a perfect seventh end.
Slovakia clinched its first curling semifinal appearance thanks to beating Switzerland 8-6 in the morning. That then needed Great Britain beat Latvia, which happened with an 8-4 win sending Slovakia through.
The two European sides will faceoff in the other semifinal; Sweden will be seeking its first curling medal since 2006.
BEIJING – It was a diverse day on the cross country course but one country did especially well. The hosts managed two gold medals on a busy day at Beijing 2022.
China swept the two sitting events in the cross country sprint events. It was a perfect repeat of the long distance races with Zheng Peng winning the men’s and Yang Hongqiong claiming the women’s. That women’s race was especially tight with Oksana Masters (USA) finishing in second place by just 1.7 seconds.
“I’m not sure about any tactics, but because all the fans outside have been cheering for us, the rhythm they’ve been giving us is really great.”
Zheng Peng
Carina Edlinger (AUT) (guide: Josef Lorenz Lampl) was perhaps the star of the day as she won the women’s vision impaired race. After just missing the medals four years ago she focused on winning this event for the past four years but struggled at the world championships. She dominated the field, beating Oksana Shyshkova (UKR) by seven seconds.
Brian McKeever (CAN) (guide: Russell Kennedy) claimed his 14th gold medal to close in on the record. He won the men’s visual impaired race, edging out Jake Adicoff (USA) in a tight finish, the pair separated by 0.8 seconds.
“This is the race that is hardest for us to win. My least favourite race,” McKeever said. “I said yesterday that I think I would rather race a 220km in Sweden next month than do another sprint, but here we are. It was fun.”
Benjamin Daviet (FRA) won his first individual title in his third Paralympic Games as he won the men’s standing. The times set by the fastest racers were very quick with Daviet having to push hard to claim gold ahead of Marco Maier (GER) by just 1.3 seconds.
Three youngsters took the medals in the women’s standing. Natalie Wilkie (CAN) claimed her second gold of the games with a late push to overcome Vilde Nilsen (NOR).
Asian Sides Join North Americans in Ice Hockey Semis
China faced a tough test in ice hockey for the first time but came through with flying colors to advance to the semifinals. A quick game with a brace to Zhidong Wang saw China manage a 4-3 win over the Czech Republic. The difficulty will ramp up again in the next round when they take on defending champions, the USA.
The Czech Republic came back from 3-1 down to level the scores but Wang won the match with less than two minutes to play.
South Korea also won through to the semifinals with a comfortable 4-0 win over Italy. That set up a semifinal with Canada, which would be a historic win.
China goes top in Curling
Defending curling champions, China, are on top of the standings in curling following a 7-5 win over Slovakia and a 7-4 win over Norway. That allowed China to take advantage of a slip from Sweden who now shares the lead with China. Sweden also beat Norway, 8-6 but couldn’t repeat China’s result against Slovakia, falling to a 6-5 loss.
BEIJING – Ukraine managed two podium sweeps as the embattled nation continued its dominance in Biathlon keeping the team in second place in the Beijing 2022 medal tally.
Vitalii Lukianenko (guide: Borys Babar) backed up from his sprint gold medal to claim another in the men’s visually impaired middle-distance biathlon. Just like on Sunday he led two teammates onto the podium with Oleksandr Mukshyn claiming silver and Oleksandr Nikonovych bronze.
Iryna Bui continued her Paralympic progression finally breaking through for her first gold medal in the women’s sitting. She finished a frustrating fourth place four years ago. There were three Ukrainian flags raised at the medal ceremony as Oleksandra Kononova came in behind her and Liudmyla Liashenko repeated her third-place finish from four years ago.
Photo: OIS/Thomas Lovelock
There was another first biathlon gold as Leonie Maria Walter (GER) (guide: Pirmin Strecker) stunned Ukrainian Oksana Shyshkova (guide: Andriy Marchenko) in the women’s visually impaired. Dropping two shots cost Shyshkova who just ran out of course to close down Walter.
The women’s sitting saw an American one-two with the order reversed from the sprint race on Sunday. Kendell Gretsch was able to get past her teammate Oksana Masters and get the gold medal, relegating Masters to second.
China’s stunning home Games continued in the men’s standing when Liu Mengtao as his skiing proved enough to overcome missing three shots.
“My skiing was fine today, but the shots, not that good. I tried my best, so I am satisfied. I want the Chinese flag to rise to the highest tip. That’s where I got the motivation.”
Liu Mengtao
Mark Arendz (CAN) upgraded to gold after finishing third in the last two Paralympic Games. He used his perfect shooting to claim the win, pulling away from Grygorii Vovchynskyi (UKR) who claimed silver after missing a shot.
Canada secures passage to ice hockey semi-finals
Canada powered through to the ice hockey semi-finals with a comfortable 6-0 victory over South Korea in the final group stage match. James Dunn starred scoring a hattrick to give his team the ticket to skip the quarter-final.
There was a virtual qualifier in Group B as the Czech Republic played Slovakia with a win required to advance. The Czech Republic claimed passage to the quarters with a 3-0 win which also dragged Italy through to the knock-out stages.
The Italians will now play South Korea and the Czech Republic will play China for a shot at the medal rounds.
The USA and Canada, by finishing first and second in Group A advanced straight to the semifinals.
Sweden leads close field in curling
Sweden is top of the standings in curling following two wins on Tuesday beating Estonia 6-4 and Great Britain 6-4 as the competition reached the halfway stage.
Slovakia continued its impressive performance with two wins to jump to second, first defeating Slovakia 7-2 and then stunning the Canadians in a thriller 9-8. China joins Slovakia on second thanks to a comfortable 10-2 win over the United States.
Canada was pushed down to fourth with that loss, Norway jumped up to fourth with wins over Switzerland (8-5) and Latvia (8-6). The Latvian’s incredible debut was only knocked slightly by that loss keeping the Baltic side in fourth place.
BEIJING – Canada lifted up to third place on the medal tally after its strongest day at Beijing 2022. A record-breaking performance from Brian McKeever was a particular highlight.
McKeever (guide: Graham Kennedy) won his 14th Paralympic Games gold medal in his favorite event, the men’s vision impaired long-distance cross country.
“I’m still hungry. I still love training every day. When we are out there, we are still competing against each other on the training sessions.”
Brian McKeever
Jake Adicoff (USA) (guide: Sam Wood) might be the one to take over McKeever’s throne as he finished in a close second place. Zebastian Modin (SUI) (guide: Emil Joensson Haag) was behind the two North Americans to take bronze.
Canada’s good day continued in the women’s standing which was claimed by Natalie Wilkie who was joined on the podium by teammate Brittany Hudak who claimed the bronze medal. Splitting the pair was American Sydney Peterson.
Oksana Shyshkova (UKR) (guide: Andriy Marchenko) repeated her opening day heroics as she claimed gold in the women’s vision impaired and is looking to control the classification.
“I think I will realize my great achievement here after everything ends and I get home, but all our medals that our team win here we dedicate to Ukraine and to every citizen of Ukraine,” Shyshkova said.
In comparison to McKeever Taiki Kawayoke (JPN) claimed his maiden gold medal claiming the men’s standing, finishing 90 seconds clear of the field.
Canadian history continues in snowboard
Photo: OIS/Thomas Lovelock
History continued for the Canadian team on the snowboard slope as Lisa Dejong claimed her country’s first medal in the sport, winning the women’s snowboard-cross SB-LL2. Cecile Hernandez (FRA) claimed gold, the pair upsetting American Brenna Huckaby.
Things got better for Canada in the men’s SB-LL1 as Tyler Turner backed up his world championship finishing ahead of defending champion Mike Schultz (USA).
“This is crazy. Four years ago I didn’t even think I’d snowboard, and now standing on top of the podium, it’s unbelievable.”
Tyler Turner
It was an all-Chinese final in the men’s SB-UL which shocked the sport after Maxime Montaggioni was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Ji Lija claimed the gold medal ahead of Wang Pengayo and Zhu Yonggang.
Matti Suur-Hamari (FIN) defended his title in the men’s SB-LL2 with two first-time medalists behind him. Garret Geros (USA) finished in second while Ben Tudhope (AUS) completed the podium.
Big comeback sees Forster claim combined gold
Photo: OIS/Simon Bruty
After being disappointed to miss out on the downhill and super-G, Anna Lena-Forster (GER) claimed the gold medal in the women’s sitting super combined.
Coming fourth in the super-G, Forster had to overcome an almost 10-second deficit to claim the gold medal but was rapid in the slalom to win it. The gold ended Momoka Muraoka’s (JPN) hope of sweeping the classification as she was forced to settle for second.
There was another comeback in the women’s standing as Ebba Aarsjoe (SWE) who came back from three seconds back in the super-G to claim the gold medal thanks to a great run in the slalom. That relegated Zhang Mengqui (CHN) to the silver medal.
Jesper Pederson (NOR) claimed his second gold medal in as many days as he won the men’s sitting. The Dutch pair of Jeroen Kampschreur and Nils de Langen rounded out the podium.
After finally breaking through for his first Paralympic title Arthur Bauchet doubled up as he won the men’s standing. Santeri Kiiveri (FIN) claimed his country’s first alpine Paralympic medal finishing in second while Adam Hall (NZL) finished third.
Henrieta Farkasova (SVK) (guide: Michal Cerven) claimed yet another gold medal, her 11th. A stunning slalom run pushed her past Zhu Daqing (CHN) (guide: Yan Hanhan). The men’s race was won by Giacomo Bertagnolli (ITA) (guide: Andrea Ravelli).
Baltics claim first curling wins
Photo: OIS/Bob Martin
It was a historic day for Estonia and Latvia as both managed their first Paralympic curling wins. Estonia came out victorious in the Baltic derby before stunning the defending silver medalists Norway. In Latvia’s second game they shocked the world championship silver medalists Sweden to get on the board.
China had its best day of the Bonspiel so far, winning both of its games today. The hosts beat South Korea 9-4 and Switzerland 7-4 to secure a 3-3 record.
Canada fell for the first time of the tournament as Sweden stunned the defending champions 6-3 in the morning session.
BEIJING – It was an emotional moment on the biathlon field as Ukraine managed to sweep the men’s vision impaired sprint biathlon to open the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games.
Vitalii Lukianenko (guide: Borys Babar) took gold in his first Paralympic Games, leading home a pair of compatriots. Oleksandr Kazik (guide: Serhii Kucherriayvi) managed a stunning comeback. After missing a shot, he used his speed to claim silver. By comparison, clean shooting saw Dmytro Suiarko (guide: Oleksandr Nikonovych) claim bronze.
The good results for Ukraine continued, picking up two more gold medals. Oksana Shsyshkova (guide: Andriy Marchenko) finally got the gold medal that had been eluding her in the women’s vision impaired sprint biathlon.
“When I entered the start, all thoughts were only about my family, my relatives, everybody who is in Ukraine,” Shyshkova said. “My race, my victory, is dedicated to them.”
The men’s standing was claimed by Grigorii Vovchynski, who completed Ukraine’s haul of medals, putting his country on top of the medal tally at the end of the first day.
China wins more medals on day one than all Winter Paralympics combined
Zixu Liu racing in the men’s sitting Biathlon (Photo: OIS/Thomas Lovelock)
Coming into Beijing 2022, the hosts had only won one medal in the Winter Paralympic Games, but in one day, they lifted that total to eight.
Two of those were gold medals from the biathlon field as Zixu Liu and Yujie Guo; Liu claimed the men’s sitting title while Guo won the women’s standing.
Guo was joined on the podium by compatriot Zhiqing Zhao, the pair sandwiched by another Ukrainian, Liudmyla Liashenko.
The combination of countries was the same in Liu’s event, with Ukraine’s Taras Rad separating the Chinese pair as Mengtao Liu took bronze.
There was history in the only event not won by Ukraine or China. Oksana Masters became the first person to win a winter and summer Paralympic gold in the same 12 months since the two events were staged in different years. Masters made up for her error from four years ago and managed her first clean shoot of the season to claim the women’s sitting gold medal. She was joined on the podium by compatriot, and fellow Tokyo gold medalist, Kendell Gretsch. At the same time, China’s Yilin Shan won the silver medal.
“I owe a lot to my mom and then it is for Team Ukraine and Ukrainian people. It is as much for Team USA as it is for Ukraine. I’m so proud to be Ukrainian, to be American and represent both and that’s the power of sports that you can represent so much more than just one thing.”
Oksana Masters
Henrieta Farkasova continues domination
Henrieta Farkasova celebrates after her ski in the women’s visual impaired downhill
Undefeated in eight years, Henrieta Farkasova (SVK) (guide: Martin Motyka) showed little signs of stopping in Beijing. She claimed her 10th Paralympic gold medal in the women’s visual impaired downhill.
China claimed more medals, taking silver through Daqing Zhu (guide: Hanhan Yan), while Great Britain got off to a good start with Millie Knight (guide: Brett Wild) claiming bronze.
It was a diverse collection of gold medalists in the downhill, most notably in the men’s vision impaired which was won by 16-year-old Johannes Aiger (guide: Matteo Fleischmann) in the first downhill race the pair had ever completed. It was a close race as Aiger’s time was only 0.36 seconds clear of defending champion Mac Marcoux (CAN) (Guide: Tristan Rodgers).
“The feeling is indescribable. It was my first downhill race, and I am very happy. Unbelievable,” Aigner said. “We have never raced downhill before, just a few training days. I don’t think we realize what we have done at the moment,” Fleischmann concluded.
Women’s sitting saw two medals for Asia with gold to Japan‘s Momoka Muraoka, who stunned world champion Anna-Lena Forster (GER). China claimed yet another medal through Siton Liu’s bronze.
Three athletes claimed their first Paralympic gold medals. The most notable among them was Arthur Bauchet (FRA), who has come so close so often in the men’s standing. Another first-time Paralympic champion, Mollie Jepsen (CAN), claimed the women’s event.
The biggest shock of the day came in the men’s sitting when Corey Peters (NZL) stunned the world with an incredible time to claim the gold medal. Peters was nearly horizontal on parts of the course which allowed him to get fantastic speed to claim gold.
China’s banner day continues in ice hockey
Shen Yifeng scores his third goal for China
Expectations were high for the Chinese ice hockey team. After a stunning performance in the Division 2 World Championship, there were thoughts that China could deliver on the big stage. The hosts certainly lived up to that expectation with a dominant 7-0 win over fellow debutants Slovakia.
Shen Yifeng starred for the speedy Chinese team, scoring four goals and being all over the ice through the 45 minutes.
💥THE RECORD BREAKER💥
Declan Farmer scored once and assisted for 3⃣ more goals vs Canada 🇨🇦 to enter the record books.
The other two matches were also shutouts. In a replay of the 2018 gold medal match, the USA showed its strength beating regional rivals Canada 5-0. That would be the same scoreline in the other match as the Czech Republic beat Italy 5-0 on the back of a 3-0 first period.
Curling revenge for Canada
Canada in action in the first Curling session at Beijing 2022
After being stunned by China in the 2018 semi-final, there was excitement around the curling bonspiel opening match between Canada and China. This time Canada came through strongly and got a measure of revenge over the defending champions with a 7-3 win.
In the afternoon session, Canada would back that up, claiming an 8-4 win over Switzerland to put the team in a commanding position.
Norway won a thriller in the opening session, showing their medal credentials using a solid start to beat Great Britain 7-5. Great Britain would recover and manage a big win over the USA 10-6, completing a rough day for the Americans. They gave up too much early against Slovakia, who beat them 9-3 in the opening session.
After the first two ends, Sweden took a 4-0 lead and never looked back, claiming a 9-2 win over Switzerland.
There was little expectation for Latvia, barely able to play in the pandemic era, facing an experienced South Korean side. Still, the Baltic side showed up the form book. Latvia claimed a win in its Paralympic debut, beating the Koreans 8-4.
There is no specific classification in wheelchair curling. Any athlete that is a wheelchair user can compete in the sport. Players must be able to move the stone either by hand or with a delivery stick.
Differences to the Olympic Games
Players compete in stationary wheelchairs; this means there is no sweeping. Everything else is the same.
Venue
Beijing National Aquatics Center (The Ice Cube) – The venue was used for curling in the Olympic Games and the aquatics events in 2008 for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
2018 Results
China will be coming into its home Paralympic Games as the defending champion, but 2018 was tight. China was one of three teams to finish the group stages with a 9-2 record. Norway wasn’t one of those teams but finished second after beating the Korea Republic for the second time. Canada beat the hosts in the bronze medal game, ending its reign as the only champion in the sport but continuing Canada’s record of medaling at every Paralympic Games.
Favorites for Beijing
China comes in as heavy favorites, having won the World Championship hosted at the same arena in October. Sweden lost that final and pushed them up to sixth in the qualification rankings, an impressive performance after missing the 2019 World Championships. Behind those two was RPC, which came second in the qualification rankings and was the only other team to win a world championship in the cycle. The qualification rankings have a three-way tie for third place. Canada, Great Britain, and Norway sit in third with 23 points. Still, all three were left disappointed with their performances in China as the United States stunned all three teams to finish fourth. This was the result the USA needed to qualify for these Games.
In Biathlon, there are no relays, and the distances are shorter than the Olympic Games. In Cross-Country Skiing, there are no different styles, and again the distances are shorter. Visually impaired athletes use a laser gun instead of a rifle in the Biathlon.
Classification
There are three classifications, sitting, standing, and visually impaired. Sitting athletes use something similar to a wheelchair on a ski. Standing athletes may have modified poles but compete similarly to the Olympic athletes. Visually impaired athletes compete with a guide and use a laser gun that makes a noise when pointed at the target in Biathlon.
Venue
Kuyangshu Biathlon Field (Cross-Country Skiing) and Hualindong Ski Resort (Biathlon). Both venues hosted the same sports in the Olympic Games.
2018 Results
Biathlon was dominated by the Russians, who competed under the neutral flag in Korea while competing as RPC this year. All of the Neutral gold medals came in visually impaired and standing classification. Ukraine was only one gold medal behind, with four.
North Americans led the way in cross-country skiing. Both the USA and Canada came away with four gold medals. Brian McKeever won three of Canada’s gold medals, while Oksana Masters was half of the USA gold medal tally.
Favorites for Beijing
Women’s Visually Impaired Cross Country – Since PyeongChang, the battle between Sviatlana Sakhanenka (BLR) and Anna Panferova (RPC) has been the story of the classification. Vera Khlyzova (RPC) will also be a strong contender.
Women’s Standing Cross Country – Vide Nilsen (NOR) hasn’t missed the podium in an event she’s competed in since 2018 and will be a heavy favorite in all events this year. In the past 12 months, she only has one second-place finish, in the Long-Distance race in Lillehammer, every other event she has won.
Women’s Sitting Cross Country – It’s been a constant battle between Oksana Masters (USA) and Marta Zainullina (RPC). The two are impossible to split on top of the world rankings. Should Masters claim a gold medal, she’d be the first person to win gold in a summer and winter Paralympic Games within 12 months.
Men’s Visually Impaired Cross Country – Two Russians have dominated this classification. Stanislav Chokhlaev and Oleg Ponomarev have been almost impossible to split all season. McKeever (CAN) is also in with a chance is McKeever (CAN), who is barely over one point behind the pair.
Men’s Standing Cross Country – Expect the Russian Paralympic Committee to dominate this classification with the top four athletes in the world rankings, all representing the RPC. Vladislav Lekomtsev has led the way, but just 2.54 points behind is Vitalii Maylshev.
Men’s Sitting Cross Country –Giuseppe Romele (ITA) and Ivan Golubkov (RPC) are well in front of the rest of the classification but have proven impossible to split. The trails in Beijing should settle their battle once and for all.
Women’s Visually Impaired Biathlon – Vera Khlyzova (RPC) has led the field all year and holds a 28.91 point lead over the rest of the competition. She will have a strong chance of a sweep in the classification. The RPC should sweep many podiums.
Women’s Standing Biathlon – While the RPC dominates the VI classification, their eastern neighbor, Ukraine, dominates the standing classification. Liudmyla Liashenko will come in as a heavy favorite with a 13 point lead over teammate Iryna Bui.
Women’s Sitting Biathlon – Masters didn’t claim any gold in Biathlon in Korea four years ago but will come in as a big favorite in Beijing. Her teammate Kendall Gretsch is her only real threat here, with the pair 20 points clear of the rest of the field.
Men’s Visually Impaired Biathlon – Eastern Europeans feature heavily in the men’s VI classification. Expect a tight battle between Yury Holub (BLR) and Chokhlaev, who lead the world rankings. Nikolai Polukhin (RPC) shouldn’t be counted out despite sitting almost 10 points behind that pair.
Men’s Standing Biathlon – Lekomtsev is even stronger in Biathlon than Cross Country;. At the same time, a sweep of the whole classification shouldn’t be expected. It’s not improbably to suggest that the man that leads both classifications could win every gold medal. Benjamin Daviet (FRA) is the closest to him, over 12 points behind.
Men’s Sitting Biathlon – Golubkov is also strong in the Biathlon, holding the top spot in the world rankings. He will face a challenge from teammate Danila Britik and neighbor Taras Rad (UKR).
Para Sports 