Cross Country Canada – —Emily Young fires short of podium in fourth, Derek Zaplotinsky places 11th—

 

VUOKATTI, Fin.—Make it three in a row for Canada’s Mark Arendz.

 

The two-time Paralympic medallist skied to his third straight podium finish at the season-opening World Para-Nordic World Cup – this time in the 15-kilometre individual biathlon race.

 

Arendz, of Hartsville, P.E.I., added another silver to his three-medal haul after clocking a time of 45:53.3.

 

“There were a few things I can take away from the race to work and improve on, but in the end, it was a solid day,” said Arendz, who also won a bronze in a cross-country sprint, and a silver medal in this weekend’s biathlon sprint races.

 

“Neither the skiing nor the shooting were perfect today, but I’m pleased they were strong enough to hold onto second place.”

 

One missed shot in four rounds of shooting on the range cost the 26 year old any shot at challenging for the gold.

 

“I felt in control on the range, and for the most part it went very well,” said Arendz. “Unfortunately I had the one miss in my third bout. It was a breathing error after a troublesome setup. But it is early in the race season. I’m ecstatic for the results I’ve been able to achieve so far. The body is not moving as fast as I would like it to, but it is going in the right direction.”

 

Norway’s sharp-shooting Nils-Erik Ulset won the deep men’s standing division, shooting clean and skiing fast to finish ahead of Arendz on the podium with a time of 41:54.4.  Benajamin Daviet, of France, finished in third at 46:21.5 despite missing five on the range (1+0+2+1).

 

Canada’s 25-year-old Emily Young continues to be a podium threat each time she hits the start line. The third-year member of the National Para-Nordic Team finished just shy of the medals on Saturday, placing fourth in the women’s 12-kilometre individual biathlon race. The Kelowna, B.C. resident, who won the bronze medal in the cross-country sprint race last week, finished with a time of 48:12.5 (0+1+1+0).

 

The Ukraine women continued to dominate the standing division. Oleksandra Kononova won the gold with a time of 42:47.9. Liudmyla Liashenko missed three shots en route to winning the silver medal at 44:09.1 (2+0+0+1). Iuliia Batenkova completed the sweep for the Ukraine women, clocking a third-place time of 46:44.9 (0+0+2+1)

 

Derek Zaplotinsky, of Smokey Lake, Alta., also hit the start line for Canada in the men’s sitting classification. The newcomer continued his development, placing 11th with a time of 1:15:21.6 (4+3+3+3).

 

The World Para-Nordic World Cup continues on Tuesday with the biathlon relay – a new event to the para-nordic lineup.

 

COMPLETE RESULTS:www.paralympic.org

 

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