Aleksandrs Patrijuks | Photo: Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP
Biathlon World Cup
Latvian biathlete Aleksandrs Patrijuks took the 65th place in the six-kilometer sprint competition of the sixth stage of the World Cup in Rupolding on Thursday, but Edgars Mise took the 98th place.
The first place was won by the French biathlete Kenten Fillon-Maye, who never made a mistake in the shooting and finished in 23 minutes and 23.7 seconds. The second was the German Benedict Dolls, who, even after shooting flawlessly, conceded to the winner by 7.2 seconds, but the third place was taken by the Belarusian athlete Anton Smolsky, losing 32.1 seconds and making one mistake in the second shooting.
Patryuk made a mistake twice in the first shot, leaving Fyon-May a minute and 59.4 seconds behind. Mise, on the other hand, made only one mistake in the second shot, but conceded two minutes and 56.6 seconds. Rūdis Balodis, who started in the IBU Cup competition in Slovakia yesterday, was also announced to start in the World Cup, but did not start.
It has already been reported that on Wednesday none of the Latvian biathletes qualified for the racing competition, with Baiba Bendika taking the 50th place, and Sanita and Sandra Buliņi the 69th and 104th positions, respectively. There will be relays on Fridays and Saturdays, and chases will take place on Sundays. The next stage will take place in Antholca-Anterselv, Italy. The Olympic Games will be held in Beijing in February, and the Kontiolahti stage will start at the end of the month, after which the World Cup stage will take place on the Otepää track in Estonia for the first time. The season will traditionally end in Oslo.
Mountain skiing
Latvian downhill skier Miks Zvejnieks won two slalom victories in downhill skiing in the International Ski Federation (FIS) in Italy on Thursday. First, the Fisherman was the fastest in the sum of two races, defeating the Russian athlete Simon Yefimov by 0.29 seconds and the Japanese Rion Takeuchi by 1.39 seconds. Zaks Gedra was immediately behind the best three, 1.53 seconds behind Zvejnieks, but Christopher Gulbis took 13th place, losing 4.17 seconds.
In the second competition, which took place immediately after the first, the Fisherman won the first place again. Second place went to Jefimov, who lost 0.27 seconds to the Latvian, but third place was taken by the German skier Dominiks Zerhohs, giving way to 0.76 seconds. In the second race, Gulbis took the tenth place, 4.44 seconds behind. Gedra did not finish in the first race.
The fisherman won 29.17 and 27.68 FIS points in this competition, Gulbis scored 65.77 and 62.44 points, and Gedra earned 40.43 points in fourth place in the first competition.
Two women’s slalom competitions were held on the same track. In the first of them, Latvian athlete Liene Bondare took 11th place among 12 athletes who reached the finish line in both races, and the winning Italian Selina Hallere lost 6.4 seconds.
Only nine of the 24 athletes finished in both races in the second race. Bondare finished in seventh place and conceded Hallere in 4.65 seconds, which was also the fastest in the second race. Bondare took 77.44 and 61.24 FIS points in this competition. Tarvisio, Italy, took place in the European Cup downhill, in which Elvis Opmanis took 65th place, 7.25 seconds behind the winner Larsa Rosti from Switzerland.
Latvian mountain skiers are fighting for the opportunity to represent Latvia at the 2022 Beijing Olympics this season.
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