Sweden’s Ostersund town is all decked away with light blue ads to mark the historic first for the standalone Para Biathlon World Championships that gets underway on Thursday (12 March).
Three days that are action-packed feature 104 sitting, standing and vision impaired athletes compete across specific, middle and sprint procedures. Eighteen globe champions should be crowned, and all sorts of sessions will be streamed live from the Ostersund 2020 occasion site and in addition followed on Instagram and Twitter.
Time 1 – Individual (12.5km sitting, 15km standing/VI)
The initial six globe champions will soon be chosen Thursday.
Oksana Masters is going to be one of the high-profile athletes closely followed during the historic Championships. She’ll be wanting to include a trio of biathlon world titles alongside the prestigious honor she won in February — the Laureus Sport Award for ‘Sportsperson of the season with a Disability’.
A post provided by World Para Snow Sports (@parasnowsports) on Mar 9, 2020 at 2:53am PDT
Masters, going to the contest perfectly understands a sweep that is perfect the patient, middle and sprint sitting procedures is going to be challenging.
She had attempted the feat at final year’s World Championships in Prince George, Canada, and had succeeded when you look at the center and sprint, but dropped short within the person.
“Ostersund has hosted therefore world that is many activities, through the IBU’s to Para, as well as did an incredible task once I ended up being right here a year ago when it comes to World Cup, ” said Masters, who admitted she actually is more a cross-country expert whilst still being taking care of biathlon.
“Just about every athlete listed here is peaking and this can be an possibility I am and what I need certainly to work with. For me personally to increase from the most readily useful and find out where”
With reigning world that is individual and United mail order wives States teammate Kendall Gretsch dedicated to triathlon certification for Tokyo 2020, the screen of possibility is spacious for Masters.
With that said, Paralympic champ Andrea Eskau of Germany can be a strong contender for the name.
Other movie movie stars fighting when it comes to specific silver medals are 2019 globe champions Taras Rad (men’s sitting) of Ukraine, France’s Benjamin Daviet (men’s standing) and Germany’s Clara Klug (women’s vision weakened).
DAY 2 – Sprint (6km sitting, 7.5km standing/VI)
Action resumes Saturday (14 March), while the next generation of Para biathletes can add on for their resumes with favourites Clara Klug and Belarus’ Yury Holub. Klug, 25, and Holub, 23, won their particular sprint races within the eyesight reduced category at Prince George 2019.
Yury Holub has already established a rocky road to their very very very first silver medal regarding the 2019-20 World Para Nordic Skiing World Cup period! ???? #ParaNordic #Lillehammer2019 #ParaSnowSportshttps: //t.co/g3nXpIDJLj
Youth may be the important thing for rate only at that year’s Worlds, nevertheless the men’s sitting occasion will test that theory. Ukrainian 20-year-old Taras Rad is another future possibility and you will be opting for a consecutive sprint silver.
The sprint, nevertheless, holds a unique invest one’s heart of 39-year-old Daniel Cnossen. The usa biathlete won this occasion in the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympics to commemorate his first career that is major medal, and maybe a maiden world name can come this week.
“I’ve had a great deal of pros and cons this period and I’m simply searching for a performance that is consistent the shooting. That’s my personal goal, ” Cnossen commented. “The psychological section of shooting is exactly what can be quite inconsistent.
“In addition think we now have an even more complete field this 12 months, so individually I’m thinking if i must shoot faster or hit more shots, Cnossen explained.
“There’s a large psychological component, and that’s what’s challenging but also satisfying concerning the sport. ”
But, after a set of runner-up finishes, Germany’s Martin Flieg is set not to ever repeat their Prince George 2019 outcomes. He won the gold that is individual PyeongChang but seems strongest in sprint.
The women’s race could be a Ukrainian showdown between reigning world champion Liudmyla Liashenko and runner-up Oleksandra Konokova in the standing category. When you look at the men’s competition, reigning globe and Paralympic champion Benjamin Daviet continues to be the guy to beat.
Time 3 – center (10km sitting, 12.5km standing/VI)
Sunday (15 March) could be the final possiblity to make World Championship dreams be realized. If there clearly was any stopping French favourite Benjamin Daviet, it might be Canada’s Mark Arendz or Norway’s Nils-Erik Ulset.
Canada’s ???? Mark Arendz is amongst the stars ? contending at the Para Biathlon World Champs that kick of the next day (12 March) in Ostersund, Sweden!
The men’s standing is one of the competitive groups, also it ended up being this occasion where Ulset nearly won their world that is first gold a whilst. The air that is scandinavian play to their advantage. But Arendz, bronze medallist from this past year, may have other motives.
I want to medal in the individual and middle, ” Daviet admitted, adding that key to winning in Ostersund are: “One, my physical fitness“For me, the objective is gold in the biathlon sprint, and. Two, white snowfall. Three, mindset. Four, the wind. ”
Yury Holub (men’s vison weakened) and Taras Rad (men’s sitting) will be the world that is defending Paralympic champions. Meanwhile Oksana Masters (women’s sitting), Liudmyla Liashenko (women’s standing) and Clara Klug (women’s vision reduced) will be the winners that are returning the 2019 version.