Cross Country Canada —Brittany Hudak finishes sixth, Derek Zaplotinsky places 13th—

VUOKATTI, Fin.—Mark Arendz dug deep to deliver a silver-medal performance in the biathlon sprint race at the World Para-Nordic World Cup in Vuokatti, Finland on Saturday.

The two-time Paralympic medallist shot clean in his two rounds of shooting on the range to post a second-place time of 19:39.4 in the men’s 7.5-kilometre standing sprint race.

“My focus was on the range and although it wasn’t my best shooting I was able to clean to keep me in the race,” said the Hartsville, P.E.I. native, who won a bronze at the season-opening cross-country ski sprint race on Friday. “I could feel yesterday’s effort in my legs. The fitness was there but I wasn’t able to get into that next gear so I was a little disappointed to bleed so much time in the last lap.”

Arendz managed to hang on for the silver medal, finishing eight seconds behind race winner, Ihor Reptyukh of the Ukraine. Reptyukh missed one shot in his first stop at the range, but still pulled out a golden performance with a time of 19:31.0. Benjamin Daviet, of France, rounded out the men’s podium with a time of 19:44.6 (0+1).

In the women’s standing race, it was Brittany Hudak, of Prince Albert, Sask., finishing in the middle of the pack in sixth place. Hudak missed one shot in both rounds of shooting en route to posting a time of 23:56.4 in the six-kilometre biathlon sprint.

The Ukraine team swept the women’s standing podium. Oleksandra Kononova finished on top at 20:51.4 (2+2). Liudmyla Liashenko was second at 20:56.4 (2+0), while Bohdana Konashuk skied to the bronze-medal position on the podium with a time of 21:59.5 (1+0).

Development athlete, Derek Zaplotinsky, was the only other Canadian to suit up on Saturday and finished 13h in the men’s 7.5-kilometre sit-ski sprint race. Zaplotinsky missed five shots, while posting a time of 33:24.0.

Complete Men’s Results: http://bit.ly/2hbVsEu

Complete Women’s Results: http://bit.ly/2ha4sN0

CCC is the governing body of cross-country skiing in Canada, which is the nation’s optimal winter sport and recreational activity with more than one million Canadians participating annually. Its 60,000 members include athletes, coaches, officials and skiers of all ages and abilities, including those on Canada’s National Ski Teams and Para-Nordic Ski Teams. With the support of its valued corporate partners – Haywood Securities Inc., AltaGas, Mackenzie Investments, Swix and Lanctôt Sports– along with the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee, Own the Podium and B2Ten, CCC develops Olympic, Paralympic and world champions. For more information on CCC, please visit us at www.cccski.com.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Chris Dornan

Media and Public Relations

Cross Country Canada

T: 403-620-8731