Collin Cameron Captures Biathlon Bronze at IPC World Cup in Norway

LILLEHAMMER, Nor.–Canada’s Collin Cameron battled to the bronze medal in the opening biathlon competition of the IPC World Cup season on Wednesday in Lillehammer, Norway.

The 31-year-old took advantage of fast skis to lock up third spot with a time of 42:00.8 in the men’s sit-skiing 12.5-kilometre race.

“It was a really sweet race today. My goal was to just use it as a training race and focus on my range procedure,” said Cameron, who won a silver in the cross-country sprint race on Monday. “But I really started skiing faster on the final lap when Robin (head coach) yelled a split that I was in it. So, for a training race, it went really well.”

Cameron, who is a cross-country sprint specialist, has found his groove in the biathlon competitions following two bronze medals at the 2018 Paralympic Games and one more silver in the same 12.5-kilometre discipline at last year’s World Championships. He secured his second World Cup podium in biathlon despite missing just one shot in four stops at the range.

“I honestly had zero goals in mind for today’s race, other than the range procedure. I know why I missed the one shot so I can take a positive from that because I’m starting to understand why I miss when I miss,” added Cameron. “I couldn’t have done it without the whole team screaming at me all over the course during the fourth and fifth laps. I owe them a lot of credit for getting me around.”

Germany’s Martin Fleig shot clean to win the classification with a time of 41:54.7. Taras Rad, of the Ukraine, was second at 41:55.1 (0+0+0+1).

Derek Zaplotinsky, of Smoky Lake, Alta., placed 10th at 45:39.3.

Two Canucks finished fourth in the men’s and women’s standing divisions.

Eight-time Paralympic medallist, Mark Arendz, shot clean, but didn’t have the ski speed over the 15-kilometre track to find a spot on the podium. Arendz, of Hartsville, P.E.I., was fourth at 41:18.1.

Russia’s Vladislav Lekomtsev shot clean after missing one shot in his opening round of shooting to win the gold medal with a time of 40:43.5.

Brittany Hudak, of Prince Albert, Sask., also found herself in the first spot off the podium despite a perfect day of shooting. The 2018 Paralympic medallist posted a time of 52:22.8 in the women’s 15-kilometre standing division.

Natalie Wilkie, of Salmon Arm, B.C., missed just one shot in her final stop at the range en route to finishing sixth with a time of 53:20.4.

Oleksandra Kononova, of the Ukraine, set the time to beat at 50:25.7 (0+0+1+0).

The season-opening IPC World Cup wraps up on Thursday in Lillehammer.

Complete Para-Nordic Results: https://www.paralympic.org/nordic-skiing/live-results/info-live-results/NS1N19/eng/zz/engzz_general-general-schedule.htm

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