March 14, 2014 (Sochi, Russia) – Andy Soule, an Army veteran, just narrowly missed out on a medal once again, finishing fourth with a time of 44:52.6 in the men’s 15km sitting biathlon race. Russia swept the podium with Roman Petushkov winning the race by more than two minutes over Grigory Murygin. Petushkov finished in a time of 42:20.8 with Murygin finishing in 44:25.7. Aleksandr Davidovich was third at 44:46.2.

Soule continues to be the standout male athlete of these Games for the American squad as he has yet to finish lower than fifth in any event in Sochi. And although he has not landed on the podium thus far, Soule reiterated that he has been pleased with all of his races.

Andy Soule © Buzz Convington

“I just have to race within myself and not worry about what anyone else is doing because I can’t control it. I’ve put together a lot of good races in these Games.”

Soule was impressive on the range today, just as he has been throughout the Games, once again shooting clean by going a perfect 20-for-20.  That brought his Games total to 50-for-50 across all biathlon competitions, an incredible feat for any Nordic athlete and one that Soule is particularly pleased with.

“I am really proud of going 100 percent from the range in these Games,” said Soule. “I also had decent range times throughout so I could not have done much better; I had a great Games in biathlon.”

Lt Cmdr Dan Cnossen, who is still relatively new to Nordic skiing after having only taken up the sport less than three years ago, was also impressive today. Cnossen finished in 10th place with a time of 48:27.8, which included two, one-minute penalties for missed shots. It was Cnossen’s best finish in biathlon in Sochi after finishing 11th in the 12.5km and 14th in the 6km events earlier in the competition.

Cnossen was satisfied with his finish today but will evaluate today’s race and use it as a tool to assist him in his ongoing development.

“It’s a good take away for me, because as a biathlete I am still developing,” admitted Cnossen. “Today I learned to focus on the skiing, ski hard when I can but then relax in the range and to not do anything different.”

Petushkov continues to prove unstoppable in the Nordic skiing events at the Sochi 2014 Paralympics, winning his fifth gold medal of the Games. “Fans at the stadium shouted, ‘Roman, we want a fifth gold medal.’ That’s why I had to take first place,” Petushkov said. “My mental training is easy. I just tell myself, ‘I must.'”

Also placing well was Air Force veteran Sean Halsted (Spokane, Wash.). Halsted finished right behind Cnossen in 11th place with a time of 48:31.1 and was quick to note how fast the course was today.

“It was intense out there today; it was definitely slick,” pointed out Halsted. “I had to fine tune how I raced today and figure out how I was going to hit this fast snow.”

Also competing in the 15km sitting biathlon were Jeremy Wagner (Nanakuli, Hawaii), Aaron Pike (Park Rapids, Minn.) and Travis Dodson (Deming, N.M.) who finished 18th, 19th and 21st, respectively.

After racking up two Paralympic silvers already this week, Russia’s Nikolay Polukhin (36:42.9) finally got his first Sochi 2014 gold in the men’s 15km visually impaired biathlon with guide Andrey Tokarev with a time of 36:42.9. Ukrainians Anatolii Kovalevskyi (38:18.2) and Vitaliy Lukyanenko (38.21.6) finished with the silver and bronze, respectively.

“Yes, it finally happened – my first Paralympic individual gold medal,” Polukhin said. “I’d promised four years ago in Vancouver that I would win Paralympic gold in the individual race in Sochi.

“My federation and trainers have been waiting for me to win a gold since 8 March, but there were some imperfections and mistakes. Today, I tried to do everything without them, to shoot restrained and in cold blood. Everything turned out as I wished.”

Ukraine’s Grygorii Vovchynskyi won gold in the men’s 12.5km standing in a time of 37:41.1 to clinch his first medal of the Games, beating Norway’s Nils-Erik Ulset (37:44.2) by just one-tenth of a second. Russia’s top finisher in the event was Kirill Mikhaylov (37:45.6), who took the bronze.

Canada’s Mark Arendz gutted out an 11th-place finish. Sharp all week while winning two medals, the Paralympic gods dealt the 24-year-old Canuck a blow heading into the final biathlon competition with an intense head cold. Debating whether to even start, the Harstville, P.E.I. native put all the energy he had on the line, but struggled clocking a time of 40:34.2 (1+0+0+1). The USA’s Omar Bermejo finished 17th.

“Starting today was touch and go but we made the decision this morning to do it,” said Arendz. “The skiing and shooting has been there and the fitness has been incredible so it is frustrating that I got sick now.”

The long distance biathlon events put a premium on shooting with every missed shot costing the athlete a one-minute penalty. Arendz missed two under cool, cloudy and calm conditions at the Laura Stadium.

“If there is any race you have to rely on the shooting it is this one and I missed it a little,” added Arendz. “The focus was there today. It is just a lot battling the ups and downs with the sick. The shape is just so incredibly good right now. I wish I stayed healthy. Makes me hungry for another four years I guess.”

Russian 24-year-old Svetlana Konovalova continued her Paralympic medal streak by winning the women’s 12.5km sitting biathlon in 40:44.0 – putting on a very impressive performance after finishing in seventh place in the event at the 2013 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships.

Germany’s Anja Wicker (41:27.1) and Ukraine’s Olena Iurkovska (41:30.8) completed the podium, finishing second and third.

There was more Russia and Ukraine dominance in the women’s 12.5km standing biathlon, with Ukrainian Oleksandra Kononova grabbing gold in 40:30.6 ahead of two Russians – Alena Kaufman (40:32.7) and Natalia Bratiuk (41:00.9). Canadian Caroline Bisson from Ottaway placed 12th at 56:21.8 (1+2+0+1).

Iuliia Budaleeva took the gold in the women’s 12.5km visually impaired event in 35:25.9, defeating favourite and compatriot Mikhalina Lysova (37:21.0), who took silver. Ukraine’s Oksana Shyshkova (37:48.8) finished in third place.

Full results here.