Arendz and Cameron bring Canada’s medal total to 10 at Para Nordic World Cup

VUOKATTI, Finland – Mark Arendz of Hartsville, P.E.I and Collin Cameron of Sudbury, Ont. each won a bronze medal in their respective biathlon class start races on Wednesday to conclude the opening stop on the Para Nordic World Cup circuit.

In the men’s standing race, Benjamin Daviet of France won the gold medal in 22 minutes and 21.4 seconds followed by Nils-Erik Ulset of Norway in 22:39.0 and Arendz in third at 22:58.2.

It was Arendz’s fourth medal of the competition. He also took gold in the 10 kilometre cross-country and silver in both the 10 kilometre biathlon and biathlon sprint. Back in March Arendz earned a Canadian team record six medals at the Paralympic Winter Games.

In the men’s sitting race, Daniel Cnossen of the U.S. won in 27:45.9 with Tara Rad of Ukraine second in 27:54.7 and Cameron third in 28:50.5.

It was Cameron’s second medal. He also won gold in the biathlon sprint on the weekend.

The biathlon class start is a new event in which the competitors race head-to-head with all competitors in the same class starting together. The first past the finish line wins.

Canada ends the competition with 10 medals: three gold, five silver and two bronze.

Canada’s other medallists at the World Cup which started last Wednesday were Brian McKeever of Canmore and his guide Graham Nishikawa of Whitehorse with a gold and two silver in the three men’s visually impaired cross-country races and 17 year-old triple Paralympic Games medallist Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm, B.C. with silver in the women’s standing cross-country race.

“It has been a terrific start to the season for our team – in both cross-country skiing and biathlon,” said Arendz in a Cross-Country Canada release. “Personally, I’m encouraged by the results so far, but there are weaknesses that need to be worked on before World Championships. I don’t always have the ski speed early in the season so I’m very pleased with the effort and the results this past week.”