On day seven of the Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang Germany wrapped up double gold in the long distance sitting biathlon, with Andrea Eskau claiming her second gold of the Games in the 12.5km, while compatriot Martin Fleig won the men’s 15k event. There were also golds for Russian athletes Anna Milenina and Mikhalina Lysova in the 12.5km standing and 12.5km visually impaired categories respectively.
Fleig said: “It’s an unbelievable feeling and an unbelievable day for me. We had perfect skis, perfect clean shooting which is important for the individual race. It’s awesome.”
Eskau explained how her tactics in the longer race was to focus very much on the shooting. “I took more time than the other times, because it depends really on the shooting. One miss will hurt you very much, so I stayed a little bit calmer and took more time because I was sure I could even catch some time in the tracks if it’d been necessary, but it was not.” In the biathlon, athletes have a minute penalty added to their time for each target they miss in the shooting.
Bibian Mentel-Spee claimed her second gold of the Games in the women’s banked slalom. Mentel-Spee, who has recovered from multiples surgeries to treat cancer, won by a margin of nearly three seconds.
The USA’s Brenna Huckaby also took a second gold medal in the snowboarding, in the banked slalom SB-LL1 class. Huckaby made headlines earlier this year by becoming the first amputee to feature in the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Huckaby said that, in doing the shoot, she “wanted to represent women with disabilities the right way.” She says that after the issue appeared she had supportive messages. One woman told her “If I had seen these pictures when I was younger, that would’ve made such a difference in my recovery after cancer.”
Huckaby had her right leg amputated following complications with bone cancer, and says that “I started snowboarding to find a purpose. Everyone wants to feel important and snowboarding made me feel that. When gymnastics was ripped away from me at 14 I was lost and in a deep hole, snowboarding was my ladder out.”
New Zealand’s Adam Hall and Finland’s Sini Pyy have been announced as the winners of the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award at the Paralympics. Named after South Korean Dr. Whang Youn Dai who worked to promote disability sports in her home nation and around the world, the award is presented at every Paralympics to athletes who “best exemplify the spirit of the Games and inspire and excite the world”.
Hall competed in the alpine skiiing, winning bronze in the Super combined standing, having grown up with spina bifida. Pyy took part in the biathlon in Pyeongchang, having lost mobility after a car accident when she was aged 17. She will compete again on Saturday in the 5km event.
Tomorrow’s wheelchair curling final will be between Norway and China after two tight semi-finals today. Norway edged out hosts South Korea 8-6 in a match-up that had to go to a deciding extra end.
In the other game, China were 4-3 victors over Canada, scoring in the final end to take a match that was not without controversy. In the seventh end a stone hit Canadian skip Mark Ideson’s chair, leading to a dispute about where the ‘burned’ stone should be placed. South Korea and Canada will now contest for the bronze medal before tomorrow’s final.
