Para Nordic Team Opens Season with Seven World Cup Podiums

Canada’s Para nordic team started the season with seven podium finishes, including three golds in Vuokatti, Finland after three days of biathlon racing. All eyes were on defending World Cup champion Mark Arendz, following his perfect record last year. 

“Coming into this season was just about starting new,” said 11-time Paralympic medalist Arendz. “Last season was that undefeated season, but this year we start with different focuses as we look towards the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games.” 

Arendz picked up right where he left off, capturing gold in the 7.5-kilometre sprint race and shooting a perfect 10-for-10 on the range. Finishing 12 seconds behind was Ukraine’s Serhii Romaniuk, with China’s Xiaobin Liu 11 seconds back. 

“I’m really happy with how it went today,” Arendz said after the race. “You never know where your fitness is for the first race of the season, especially after travel and fighting jet lag, but I was really happy with how the body reacted. I’m happy with how I felt, and shooting clean on the range, so it’s great to settle my nerves and get that first one under the belt.” 

In the women’s standing field, Canada’s Natalie Wilkie captured bronze after two misses, behind China’s Yujie Guo, who took gold, and Ukraine’s Liudmyla Liashenko, who claimed silver. Brittany Hudak finished sixth with one miss on the range. 

After a difficult summer battling injuries, Collin Cameron finished fifth in the men’s sitting field with a time of 23:49 and two misses, while Derek Zaplotinsky finished seventh with a time of 24:13, shooting a perfect 10-for-10. 

“It was hard missing the majority of last year through illness, and then again having to take time off training for three months this summer for a shoulder injury, “Cameron said. “I think I proved that, despite so much time off, I can still compete with the best in my sport. It was a great feeling to finish fifth in my first biathlon race of the year.”

On the second day of competition, Canada finished first and second in Women’s Standing in the 12.5-kilometre individual event. Natalie Wilkie took gold with one miss on the range and a time of 38:33. Hudak secured silver, shooting a perfect 20-for-20 with a time of 38:56. China’s Yujie Guo earned bronze with a time of 39:14.

“It’s always tricky racing in colder conditions,” Hudak said of the –18 degree conditions. “We’re coming into the range swinging our arms to try to warm our fingers up, and I think the conditions really play around with your mindset. But Para athletes do well with adversity, and tough conditions are just something you have to learn to overcome.” 

Despite another perfect 20-for-20 day on the range, Arendz finished second, just 4.5 seconds behind Ukraine’s Serhii Romaniuk, whose teammate Dmytro Sereda claimed bronze. 

Collin Cameron finished eighth with two misses, while Derek Zaplotinsky placed 11th with one miss. Ukraine’s Taras Rad and Pavlo Bal took gold and silver, while China’s Zixu Liu claimed bronze. 

Natalie Wilkie and Mark Arendz closed out the final Para biathlon race in Vuokatti with gold medals in the sprint pursuit event. Arendz delivered yet another flawless day on the range, finishing 26.4 seconds ahead of Germany’s Marco Maier, who took silver, and 42.6 seconds ahead of Ukraine’s Serhii Romaniuk, who earned bronze. 

Despite two misses, Wilkie secured gold by eight seconds, ahead of Ukraine’s Oleksandra Kononova, and 31 seconds ahead of China’s Guo Yujie. Brittany Hudak finished fifth. 

Derek Zaplotinsky finished 11th in the men’s sitting field, while Ukraine’s Taras Rad took gold with a time of 8:15. China’s Mengtao Liu and Zixu Liu claimed silver and bronze with times of 8:37 and 9:24, respectively. 

“It has been a great way to start the new season. The fabulous results reflect that the work over the off-season paid off,” said Arendz. “I’m very proud to have the shooting come together as it has. Three clean races are an awesome way to start. There were a few close calls, and I’m sure some heart flutters from the coaches, but all the paddles did go up.” 

Canada’s Para nordic team now switches over to cross-country with three more races scheduled in Vuokatti, Finland. 

“Now to transition into the cross-country races. Kicking off the season with a sprint is always interesting,” Arendz said. “There is always that small element of uncertainty before the first race of where you will stack up against the others. But I focus on the process, doing the small things correctly, and we’ll see where that leaves me after day one and into the rest of the cross-country season.” 

Canada results summary

Full Results: https://live.ultimate.dk/uploads/2024/biathlon/paravuokatti/ 

With thanks Nordiq Canada.