January 29, 2015 (Cable, WI) – Russia’s visually impaired skiers took both men’s and women’s cross-country sprint titles at the 2015 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in Cable, Wisconsin, USA, on Wednesday (28 January), while Andy Soule (USA) and Oksana Masters (USA) both won bronze in the men’s and women’s sitting categories, respectively, as Team USA advanced five athletes to the finals of the cross-country sprint on the fourth day of competition at the International Paralympic Committee Nordic Skiing World Championships.

The men’s standing event was an all-Russian top three with Vladimir Udaltcov and guide Ruslan Bogachev winning gold whilst compatriots Oleg Ponomarev, guided by Andrei Romanov, took silver. Stanislav Chokhlaev and guide Evgenii Fatkhullin raced to bronze, their third medal of Cable 2015.

Elena Remizova and guide Maksim Pirogov also cruised to gold in the women’s race, giving them their third medal.

Silver was won by Ukraine’s Oksana Shyshkova and guide Lada Nesterenko, a feat Shyshkova was pleased with given the competition.

“I have very strong competitors so as usual, the race was quite tough,” Shyshkova said through a translator. “I’m happy with the result and satisfied with my skiing.”

Russia’s Iuliia Budaleeva, guided by Tatiana Maltseva, crossed the line in third to win bronze.

After being held off the podium on Tuesday (27 January), Ukraine’s Maksym Yarovyi returned by winning gold in the men’s sitting. Russian Alexey Bychenok claimed silver and the USA’s Soule claimed his third medal in four races with bronze.

“It was a great day for me and for Team USA,” Soule said. “I’m so proud to be part of this team. It was a very interesting race with traffic the whole time. I was in the race the whole way, and I was able to find that last bit of speed when I needed it at the end.”

Soule’s achievement was part of a two-medal performance for the host country as Oksana Masters was awarded an emotional bronze in the women’s sitting.

Masters (Louisville, Kentucky), a two-time Paralympic medalist in Nordic skiing, won the first world championships medal of her career.

“This was a really tough competition,” Masters said. “The tracks were really tight, and I’ve never spent so much time skiing in such a close pack. I’m thrilled with my result today, especially on such a tough course.”

“It is really rewarding to get on the podium,” Masters said.

The U.S. team displayed excellent depth as three men and two women advanced to the sprint finals after the qualifying and semifinal rounds. Soule was joined by teammates Navy Lt. Cmdr. Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kansas) and Aaron Pike (Park Rapids, Minnesota) as the U.S. athletes filled half of the six spots in the final; Cnossen finished fifth, Pike finished in sixth.

In the women’s final, Masters was joined by teammate and 11-time Paralympic medalist Tatyana McFadden (Clarksville, Maryland) who finished sixth.

“We’re so proud of our team’s performance today,” said U.S. Paralympics Nordic skiing head coach Eileen Carey. “So much of our focus this year has been on improving tactics and maneuvering, and those where huge components to our success in getting five athletes to the finals and two athletes on the podium today.”

After four days of competition, Team USA owns four medals with one silver and three bronze medals. Athletes will enjoy an off day on Thursday, followed by three additional days of competition.

Germany’s Andrea Eskau powered herself to her second gold medal and Norwegian Mariann Marthinsen took silver to round out the podium in the women’s sitting.

Ukraine’s Oleksandra Kononova continued her domination in the women’s standing, charging to an unbelievable fourth gold medal and 100 per cent record in cross-country and biathlon from Cable 2015.

Kononova beat Sweden’s Paralympic champion Helene Ripa into silver, whilst Kononova’s teammate Luidmyla Liashenko took bronze.

“It is a fight but in a good way,” Ripa said. “I think she [Kononova] is very happy today that she beat me and I think she had a very good race today and I am very happy to be second.”

The men’s standing saw Russia take their third gold of the day courtesy of Vladislav Lekomtcev. France’s Benjamin Daviet took silver to once again find his way onto the podium.

“It was a hard race,” Daviet said with the help of a translator. “Third medal in three days. It is very good.”

Lekomtcev’s compatriot Rushan Minnegulov took bronze to round out the top three.

1km CL Sprint Results
Women
Men

Competition continues on Friday (30 January) with biathlon long distance events.

Races start at 10am (CST) every day, with a rest day on 29 January.

A live stream of the competition is available at USParalympics.org. Complete results and competition schedules are available at Paralympic.org.