In the News

Canada’s Mark Arendz Fires Short of Podium at IPC Biathlon World Cup

31 January 2012

Canada’s Mark Arendz came up just shy in his bid to win his fifth IPC Biathlon World Cup medal of the season after finishing fourth in the men’s 12.5-kilometre race on Sunday in Cable, Wisconsin.

The 21-year-old Arendz, who snagged the bronze medal in Saturday’s 20-kilometre race, skied a consistent 12.5 kilometres and shot clean in each of his four stops on the range to finish one spot off the podium with a time of 38:55.0.

“It turned out to be a ‘What can you do’ kind of day,” said Arendz. Yesterday there were an number of mistakes that kept adding up but today everything was bang on. I was back in the proper mindset and had all cylinders burning and was ready to go. I was very happy with the skiing effort.”

Arendz, of Springton, P.E.I. had one of his best days ever on the range with shots hitting the target dead centre.

“The shooting felt as natural as a ski stride, it flowed harmoniously with the skiing,” said Arendz. “Nothing went wrong today, it just wasn’t my day. I was happier with my race today, finishing fourth, than I was of my race yesterday.”

Russian athletes grabbed the top-two spots on the podium. Kirill Mikhaylov finished on top with a time of 37:24.0, while Vladislav Lekomtev was second at 38:08.3. Norway’s Nils-Erik Ulset rounded out the podium in third at 38:40.7.

Ottawa’s Margarita Gorbounova and her guide of Brian Berry, of Thunder Bay, Ont., were the only other Canadians to suit up on Sunday, finishing seventh in the women’s 10-kilometre visually impaired category with a time of 55:37.4.

CrossCountry Canada 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 55,000 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, Teck Resources Ltd., Canadian Pacific, and Statoil – along with the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee and Own the Podium, Cross Country Canada develops Olympic, Paralympic and world champions. For more information on Cross Country Canada, please visit us at www.cccski.com

Complete IPC World Cup Biathlon Results: http://www.ipc-nordicskiing.org/Calendar/

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Chris Dornan
Media and Public Relations
Cross Country Canada
T:281-703-4394