The opening day of the Para Biathlon World Cup in Val di Fiemme featured the always thrilling Sprint Pursuit. Team Canada stole the show, claiming victories in three different categories. Each of these wins can be summed up in one word: spectacular.

The day began with a morning Sprint, that set the starting order for the afternoon pursuit. Athletes in each category who finished within 30% of the winner’s time qualified for the Pursuit. Both races covered a 4 km distance, but the Sprint imposed a 20-second penalty per missed shot, whereas in the Pursuit, athletes had to ski penalty loops for any shooting errors.

The art of winning in this new dynamic format was best mastered by the Canadians. The first to succeed was Derek Zaplotinsky, competing in the men’s sitting category. The 39-year-old delivered a flawless performance on the shooting range in both races, securing his first-ever Para Biathlon World Cup victory. He edged out Yerbol Khamitov from Kazakhstan by just seven seconds, while third-placed Zixu Liu from China finished nearly half a minute behind.

Just minutes after Zaplotinsky’s triumph, Brittany Hudak delivered a stunning comeback in the women’s standing category. Starting from third place after the Sprint, the Canadian delivered flawless shooting, overtaking Ukraine’s Iryna Bui and China’s Zhiqing Zhao, who had led at the halfway mark. Zhao’s five missed shots in the final round proved costly, allowing Hudak to claim her first victory of the season—her best result since January last year.

The ever-reliable Mark Arendz completed the Canadian hat trick. Just like Zaplotinsky, he delivered 100% shooting accuracy across both races. With the World Cup leader in such dominant form, his rivals had little chance. Marco Maier from Germany crossed the finish line 46 seconds behind, while Grygorii Vovchynskyi from Ukraine secured third place 50 seconds back.

In the sitting women’s category, the battle for victory was an intense duel between Anja Wicker and Kendall Gretsch. Their sprint race was separated by a razor-thin margin, with Wicker leading into the pursuit. The German maintained her advantage after the first shooting but lost the lead after a crucial miss at the second shooting. Gretsch capitalized, pulling away to win by 47 seconds. The American is establishing herself as a Sprint Pursuit specialist, having won this format last year in Martell and securing gold at the World Championships in Prince George. Korea's Yunji Kim rouded out the podium in third.

Due to technical issues, athletes in the vision impaired category competed only in the sprint. In the men’s event, Iaroslav Reshetynski from Ukraine delivered a perfect 10/10 on the range, securing victory. His teammate Anatolii Kovalevskyi followed in second place, while Nico Messinger from Germany finished third.

On the women’s side, Carina Edlinger broke the German-Chinese dominance, claiming victory with just one missed shot. The Austrian biathlete edged out Germany’s Leonie Maria Walter and China’s Yue Wang. A notable return to competition came from Linn Kazmaier, last season’s triple world champion and Crystal Globe winner, who placed sixth in her season debut.

Thursday marks the second day of competition at the future Paralympic Games venue. Athletes will battle for victory in the sprint races.

Photos: Vanzetta/IBU