Ukraine’s Shyshkova back in top form at home

Ukraine’s Paralympic medallist Oksana Shyshkova returned to the top of the World Cup podium on Sunday (15 January), winning the women’s long distance cross-country freestyle visually impaired at home in Western Center.

The long distance freestyle for the men’s and women’s sitting, standing and visually impaired were rescheduled from 14 January due to poor weather conditions.

Shyshkova (52:49.60), guided by Vitalii Kazakov, triumphed over Austria’s Cara Edlinger (53:56.4) and guide J.J. Edlinger, flipping the result from Friday’s (13 January) short distance classic.

Ukraine’s Olga Prylutska (54:39.4), guided by Borys Babar (54:39.4), clocked the third fastest time.

In the men’s equivalent, French skiers took the top two spots. World Championships silver medallist Thomas Clarion (56:25.9) and guide Antoine Bollet secured the win ahead of Anthony Chalencon (58:42.7), guided by Simon Valverde. Ukraine’s Iurii Utkin (58:55.9), guided by Ruslan Perekhoda, finished third.

The host’s world champion Oleksandra Kononova (50:11.3) followed up her win from the women’s middle distance classic standing with another first place in the long distance freestyle.

Ukraine performed a clean sweep in this event, as Iuiia Batenkova (50:14.8) and Liudmyla Liashenko (51:18.5) ended second and third respectively.

In the men’s standing, Ukraine’s World Championships bronze medallist Ihor Reptyukh (57:05.7) added a second win to his haul from Western Center. Norway´s Nils-Erik Ulset (57:54.8) was second and Reptyukh’s compatriot Grygorii Vovchynskyi (59:51.5) third.

Germany´s Andrea Eskau (43:07.1) secured her second win in Western Center in the women´s sitting. The German was followed by her teammate Anja Wicker (45:22.1) and Belarus´ Lidziya Hrafeyeva (45:33.2).

South Korea’s Eui Hyun Sin’s (45:53.3) run of form continued in the men’s sitting, following up on his win from Friday. Ukraine´s Maksym Yarovyi (46:20.0) took second and Belarus´ Dzmitry Loban third (47:32.9).

The World Cup will continue on Monday (16 January) with the sprint freestyle. Biathlon races will take place on 17, 19 and 20 January.

This is the last major event before the 2017 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships, which will be held in Finsterau, Germany, from 10-19 February, and will feature around 135 athletes from 25 countries.

Live results and a live stream are available on World Para Nordic Skiing’s website.