Cable 2015: Biathlon returns for middle distance races
27.01.2015Russia’s Roman Petushkov is still looking for his first medal whilst Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine are also in podium contention.
Roman Petushkov of Russia celebrates victory in the men's 7.5km sitting biathlon during Day 1 of Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.
© • Getty Images
Andrea Eskau
© • James Netz Photography
Dignitaries look at as Stephanie Klett from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism lights the cauldron of Cable 2015.
© • IPC
Biathlon makes its return to the spotlight on Tuesday (27 January) at the IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in Cable, Wisconsin, USA with the middle distance races.
After just missing out on medals at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, the USA’s Andrew Soule will be gunning for his third Worlds medal in as many events when he takes to the course in the men’s sitting.
However the biggest story through two days of competition has centered on Soule’s Russian rival Roman Petushkov, who has yet to medal.
Meanwhile Ukraine’s Maksym Yarovyi could find himself in the hunt again, looking to add to his short distance biathlon world title from Saturday (24 January).
Anja Wicker, the reigning Paralympic champion from Sochi, will look to continue Germany’s success in the women’s sitting. She will have to contend with teammate Andrea Eskau, who has two medals to her name so far from both biathlon and cross-country events at Cable 2015.
Russia’s Marta Zaynullina joins Eskau with two medals in two days, taking silver in the first sitting events. She will look to make a move to the top of the podium.
Zaynullina’s teammate Azat Karachurin will enter the men’s middle distance race as the defending Paralympic Champion in the event, putting him on the list of skiers to watch closely.
However French skier Benjamin Daviet has had a great start to his campaign, locking up silver in the short distance.
The women’s standing events have featured back-to-back one-two finishes from Ukraine’s Oleksandra Kononova and Liudmyla Liashenko and there is plenty of logic to thinking they will once again factor in on the podium.
But Japan’s Yurika Abe was one of five athletes in the field to shoot perfectly for the first biathlon event, giving her fourth place on the day. Another clean shooting day would go a long way towards her podium chances.
The men’s visually impaired will see Russia’s Nikolay Polukhin and guide Andrey Tokarev take aim at their second gold medal.
On the women’s side, Germany’s Vivian Hosch and guide Florian Schillinger captured a bronze medal on Saturday, just 0.6 seconds ahead of Russia’s Elena Remizova and guide Maksim Pirogov.
Challenging Hosch and Remizova for a spot on the podium will be Ukraine’s Oksana Shyshkova and guide Lada Nesterenko, who won a silver medal in Saturday’s short distance and took bronze in the middle distance event at Sochi 2014.
Races start at 10am (CST) every day, with a rest day on 29 January.
Live results will be available at the Cable 2015 website as well as a livestream.
Low resolution pictures will be available at the IPC's Flickr account and high resolution versions are available on request via ipc.media@paralympic.org.
