Ukraine dominant in biathlon
Thomas Lovelock/OIS
Taras Rad
Team Ukraine got off to a flying start, winning five medals in biathlon on the first day of competition at the 12th Paralympic Games being held in PyeongChang, South Korea, on March 9-18. This international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, governed by the International Paralympic Committee, has events in six sports with a total of 80 gold medals to be awarded. Forty-nine nations are represented with athletes competing in alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, para ice hockey, snowboarding and wheelchair curling.
Ukraine’s delegation consists of 33 persons, including 20 competing athletes and 10 assistants for athletes with visual impairments. They are participating in three of the six sports: biathlon, cross-country skiing and snowboarding. This is Ukraine’s sixth Paralympic appearance. The Ukrainian Paralympic Committee announced medal rewards of $125,000 for gold, $80,000 for silver and $55,000 for a bronze medal.
Thomas Lovelock/OIS
Liudmyla Liashenko
Flag bearer Vitaliy Lukyanenko won Team Ukraine’s first gold medal, coming in first in the men’s 7.5-km biathlon race for visually impaired athletes. His teammate Anatolii Kovalevskyi won the bronze medal in the same event. Biathletes Liudmyla Liashenko (6-km standing) and Oksana Shyshkova (6-km sprint visually impaired) were actually the first Ukrainian medalists, the former winning bronze, the latter winning silver with the assistance of guide Vitaliy Kazakov. Ihor Reptyukh was the fifth first-day medal winner, nabbing a bronze in the men’s 7.5-km standing. Ukraine finished day No. 1 of the competition tied for first place with five medals.
Day two saw Maksym Yarovyi win Ukraine’s second gold medal in men’s 15-km sitting cross-country skiing.
On day three Reptyukh notched a gold medal in the 20-km, free, standing skiing, Oksana Shyshkova nabbed a silver in the women’s 15-km free, visually impaired, and Liashenko took home a bronze medal in 15-km free, standing.
Six more medals were won in biathlon on the fourth day with 18-year-old Taras Rad demonstrating extreme competitiveness, overcoming American Daniel Cnossen in the men’s 12.5-km sitting event, gaining time in his final turns and shooting a perfect 20 for 20, to win the gold medal by 1:01.7 seconds. Reptyukh won silver in men’s 12.5-km standing, Oleksandr Kazik (silver) and Iurii Utkin (bronze) added to the medal haul in the men’s 12.5-km, visually impaired. Ukraine’s women were not denied: Shyshkova won a gold in the women’s 10-km, visually impaired, while Liashenko added another bronze in women’s 10-km, standing.
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Maksym Yarovyi
Day five had Shyshkova come through with a bronze medal in cross-country skiing’s women’s 1.5-km sprint classic, visually impaired event. Three days of competition remain with one scheduled day of biathlon and two more days of cross-country skiing. Ukraine stands a solid chance of surpassing 20-plus medals at these Games.
Ukraine was tied for third overall (16 total medals) and tied for third with five gold medals as this edition went to press. Speaking of dominance, out of 36 medals awarded in biathlon, Ukrainian athletes have won 11.
Ukraine has won 90 medals at the Paralympic Winter Games including 20 gold, 34 silver and 36 bronze. Team Ukraine captured 25 medals in both 2006 and 2014. Ukraine has won all of its medals in cross-country skiing (49) and biathlon (41) with 10 gold medals in each sport.