March 08, 2014 (Sochi, Russia) – Reigning world champion Mark Arendz fired his name into the history books as the first Canadian ever to win a silver medal in biathlon at the Paralympic Winter Games coming second in the men’s 7.5-kilometre standing biathlon competition.

The Hartsville, P.E.I. resident who turns 24 in a few days came a hair short of winning the gold after clocking the second fastest time at 19:14.0 (1+0) just .07 seconds behind Vladislav Lekomtce, the gold medal winner from Russia, who clocked-in at 19:13.7 (0+1) after crashing at the finish line. His teammate Azat Karachurin also missed one shot en route to winning the bronze medal with a time of 19:14.9.

Mark Arendz on his way to historic silver © Matthew Murnaghan/Canadian Paralympic Committee

“It feels absolutely great and a big relief to get on the podium right away,” beamed Arendz in the finish corral. “I fought as hard as I could, and it was such a close race at the end.”

It has been a memorable run for the rising Canadian star since making his Paralympic debut on home snow in 2010. With a room full of medals, he has twice finished second overall on the IPC World Cup biathlon standings, and last year locked up his first overall Word Cup title in the men’s standing category to cap off a season that was highlighted by one gold and two bronze medals at the 2013 World Championships.

Arendz’s coach, Robin McKeever, guided his brother and 10-time Paralympic medallist, Brian, to Canada’s only other Paralympic medal in biathlon. The brother tandem won a bronze medal in the visually impaired 7.5-kilometre sprint discipline at the 2006 Paralympics in Turin, Italy.

“It is so warm and not really winter like conditions so the course was really slowing down out there. The guys in the wax room did a great job on the skis. I will celebrate this one with them,” he added.

It was a dominant day for the Russian team on Saturday as they collected nine medals in the biathlon competition to open the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. kick-started

Roman Petushkov, a four-time world champion last season, claimed his first-ever Paralympic gold medal with a flawless performance in the men’s 7.5km sitting event. He did not miss a single shot at the range and crossed the line in 21:03.7, eight seconds ahead of Ukraine’s silver medallist Maksym Yarovyi. Japan’s Kozo Kubo finished in 21:45.6 to collect the bronze medal.

The USA’s Andrew Soule lead his team with a strong 4th-place finish just 2.9s behind Kubo. Daniel Cnossen was 14th at 3:10.1, Jeremy Wagner finished 18th at 4:25.1, Aaron Pike was 19th at 4:54.7, Travis Dodson was 20th at 6:31.5 and Sean Halsted was DSQ’d.

In the women’s 6km standing event, Alena Kaufman and Anna Milenina provided the host nation with its first one-two finish. Kaufman finished in 18:27.2 with her compatriot Melinina reaching the end of the course 30 seconds later after missing two of her shots on the range. Ukraine’s two-time Paralympian Iuliia Batenkova added a fifth bronze medal to take her total Paralympic tally to 10 medals. “Third place is normal for me, but today is just the first day of competition which is for warming up for the bigger races,” Batenkova said.

Ottawa’s Caroline Bisson placed 14th in the women’s 6km standing category. Bisson went 2+1 on the range to post a time of 27:14.8. “I was so excited to race when I woke up this morning. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to get this first one out of the way,” said Bisson of her first-ever Paralympic race. “It was such a thrill to compete today. I pushed as hard as I could to the end. Overall I am satisfied with that.”

Russia also claimed a one-two finish in the women’s 6km visually impaired biathlon through world champion Lysova and Iuliia Budaleeva. Ukraine’s Oksana Shyshkova stopped any chance of a Russian sweep as she beat Elena Remizova for third place.

Lysova was almost two minutes ahead at the 4km stage, allowing her to finish in first place without any pressure. She finished the course with guide Alexey Ivanov in 20:03.2. Budaleeva and her guide Tatiana Maltseva followed in 20:31.7. Shyshkova finished almost 20 seconds (20:49.0) behind.

Canada’s Margarita Gorbounova, also of Ottawa, and her guide, Andrea Bundon of Regina, teamed up to finish seventh. Gorbounova, who missed two shots in her first bout of shooting, stopped the clock at 26:17.8 at 6:14.6 behind the winner.

Another Russian, Nikolay Polukhin, began his quest to better his tally of six medals from the Vancouver 2010 Games by claiming a silver in the men’s 7.5km visually impaired biathlon. He was beaten by Ukrainian Vitaliy Lukyanenko who crossed the line in a time of 20:18.8.  Polukhin and his guide Andrey Tokarev followed 10 seconds later with Vasili Shaptsiaboi from Belarus claiming the bronze. In 14th was the USA’s Jacob Adicoff at 5:16.8 with fellow American Kevin Kanafin in 16th at 6:09.9 behind. Canada’s Brian McKeever did not start.

In the women’s 6km sitting event, Germany’s Andrea Eskau joined a unique list of summer and winter Paralympic gold medallists. The 42-year-old, who also won two gold medals in handcycling at London 2012, led all the way along the course to finish in an impressive time of 19:12.4 and earn her first Winter Paralympic gold. “I want to win another gold tomorrow,” Eskau said after the race.

Russia’s Svetlana Konovalova followed Eskau in 19:31.1, while Ukraine’s Vancouver 2010 gold medallist Olena Iurkovska finished eight seconds (19:39.6) behind for a bronze medal. The USA’s Oksana Masters was only 3.6s off the podium in fourth behind Iurkovska.

Results

Women’s 6km Sitting here.
Men’s 7.5km Sitting here.
Women’s 6km Standing here.
Men’s 7.5km Standing here.
Women’s 6km – Visually Impaired here.
Men’s 7.5km – Visually Impaired here.