January 20, 2014 (Obertsdorf, Germany) – With less than 50 days to go before the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games, the stars are aligning for Canadian biathlete Chris Klebl, who scored another World Cup win in Obertsdorf, along with Nordic skiing teammate and countryman Brian McKeever, who won gold on Sunday as well, with guide Erik Carleton.

Jan. 18 – Sprint Events

Athletes from Japan, France, Sweden, Norway and Germany have collected six podium places in sprint freestyle races at the cross-country finals of the IPC Nordic Skiing World Cup on Saturday (18 January), slowing the charge of Sochi 2014 hosts Russia and fellow Nordic specialists Ukraine.

Japanese skiers picked up two third places in both men’s and women’s standing events, courtesy of Yoshihiro Nitta and Shoko Oto, whilst European athletes collected one first and second place and two third place finishes.

Maksym Yarovyi (UKR) © IPC Nordic Skiing

Germany’s Andrea Eskau continued her winning form in the women’s sitting. The current World Cup No. 1 looked unstoppable against Ukrainian 2013 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championship sprint classic silver medallist, Olena Iurkovska, in second. Norway’s Mariann Marthinsen picks up another podium in third to add to her bulging 2013-14 collection and retain her impressive consistency.

Whilst Russian World Championship bronze medallist Oleg Ponomarev led the field in the men’s visually impaired with guide Andrei Romanov, France’s Thomas Clarion and guide Julien Bourla were hot on his heels for second. 2013 World Championships sprint classic silver medallist Zebastian Modin, guided by Albin Ackerot, completed the podium. Reigning Canadian world champion and winner of Friday’s (17 January) long distance freestyle Brian Mckeever (guide Eric Carleton), and Russia’s four-time Paralympic relay champion Nikolay Polukhin (guide Andrey Tokarev) could only manage 12th and eighth, respectively.

Joining Russian victor Vladislav Lekomtcev, sprint classic world champion, and teammate  Aleksandr Pronkov on the podium in the men’s standing was Japan’s 10km and sprint classic Paralympic champion Yoshihiro Nitta.

Adding to a great day for Japan on the 1.2km course was Oto Shoko, picking up a third in the women’s event to add to her two existing World Cup podiums. Ukraine’s World Championships sprint bronze medalist Oleksandr Kononova placed first, ahead of 16-year-old Russian Natalia Bratiuk, who currently sits an impressive third in the cross-country World Cup standings.

It was then left to the Ukrainians and Russians to battle it out in the men’s sit-ski and women’s visually impaired races.

Five-time Russian world champion Roman Petushkov was beaten to first place by Ukraine’s Maksim Yarovyi. Petushkov’s teammate and short distance biathlon world champion Grigory Murygin completed the podium.

The women’s visually impaired race was once again headed by 21-year-old five-time biathlon and cross-country world champion Mikhalina Lysova and guide Andrey Ivanov. Ukraine’s 10km biathlon World Championships silver medalist Oksana Shyshkova finished second, leading Lysova’s long distance world champion teammate Elena Remizova who adds to her long list of accolades in third.

Races conclude in Oberstdorf tomorrow (18 January) with the middle distance classic events, before skiers head to Oberried for the final biathlon World Cup races ahead of Sochi 2014.

Jan. 19 – Middle Distance Events

Nordic skiers have shown that there is everything to play for heading into Sochi 2014, with some close finishes in the middle distance classic races on the final day of the IPC Nordic Skiing World Cup cross-country finals in Oberstdorf, Germany.

Germany’s world champion Andrea Eskau completed a hat-trick of victories with a win in the women’s sitting over 5km (13:06.1), delighting the home crowds who had been watching her progress all weekend (17-19 January). Eskau sits atop the cross-country world rankings heading into the biathlon finals in Oberried, Germany, which start on Thursday (23 January) but Norwegian Mariann Marthinsen is the overall 2013-14 cross-country World Cup winner.

Russia’s 10km biathlon bronze medalist from the 2013 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in Solleftea, Sweden, Svetlana Konovalova, finished second (13:20.6) leading Ukrainian Lyudmyla Pavlenko (13:21.7) who adds to her podium from the sprint freestyle from Saturday (18 January).

Chris Klebl © IPC Nordic Skiing

In the men’s event, Canada’s Chris Klebl once again sped to victory in 23:34.7 to follow on from his long distance win (17 January,) showing that he will be a face to look out for come March. Klebl’s victory was not enough to stop Russia’s Roman Petsuhkov from winning the overall World Cup title however, despite the world champion’s third place finish (23.39.6) behind Ukraine’s Maksim Yarovyi (23:37.5).

Klebl’s teammate Brian Mckeever and guide Erik Carleton beat reigning world champion Nikolay Polukhin into top spot to secure his place as the best in the world with less than 50 days to go until Sochi 2014 (25:02.7). Polukhin and guide Andrey Tokarev finished in 25:37.1 with Solleftea 2013 silver medalist and world No. 2 teammate Stanislav Chokhlaev completing the podium (26:18.4). That performance secured Chokhlaev the overall World Cup win.

Brian McKeever © IPC Nordic Skiing

The women’s visually impaired was an all-Russian affair and saw visibly exhausted winner (14:18.7) Mikhalina Lysova (guide Alexey Ivanov) speak for many skiers in her post-race interview: “The race was very tough today”, the reigning world champion said. World No. 1 and World Cup champion Elena Remizova with guide Natalia Yakimov finished second (14:24.0) ahead of Iuliia Budaleeva guided by Tatiana Maltseva (14:49.6).

Rounding off the days action in partly cloudy conditions, two degrees Celsius above freezing, was a double win for reigning world champion standing skiers Russian Vladislav Lekomtcev and Ukraine’s Oleksandra Kononova.

Kononova (15:10.5) leads the world rankings after her win against teammate world No. 2 Iuliia Batenkova (15:54.7) and Russian Anna Milenina (15:55.5). Russia’s Alena Kaufman finished the World Cup with the overall title.

Lekomtcev’s win over 10km in 26:37.7 does not affect compatriot Minnegulov’s status as the overall World Cup winner, adding to his profile with a second place (27:17.4) ahead of a second third place of the weekend for Japan’s Yoshishiro Nitta (27:29.9).

Nordic skiers will now move on to Oberried for the final IPC Nordic Skiing World Cup biathlon races from 23-26 January.

World and full overall World Cup rankings can be found here.

A livestream is available here and live results are available at www.ipc-worldcup.com.

Pictures are also available here.