Mark Arendz won his first gold medal of the season in Sjusjoen, Norway in a 15-kilometre biathlon event, Tuesday (Dec. 13).
Arendz, 21, continued his meteoric rise as one of the nation’s – and the world’s – best young para-Nordic athletes, with a time of 47:13.0; more than a minute ahead of second place Nils-Erik Ulset of Norway. The win was his fourth on the IPC World Cup circuit. The gold is in addition to a silver medal he won on Dec. 12.
“I woke up this morning ready for this race and felt very comfortable on my skis, which is a big step forward for me from previous years,” said Arendz. “I was confident my training in adverse conditions helped me today. The wax techs worked their magic and gave me an amazing pair of boards.”
Arendz grew up in Springton, P.E.I., but now lives and trains in Canmore with the Rocky Mountain Racers.
“I believe two things are key to this success. Training with Brian McKeever and Erick Carleton a lot this season, in particular for my distance and intensity workout, as well as continuing to train with the Rocky Mountain Ski Club, has been very good for me.”
McKeever and Carleton added to their own medal collection on Dec. 15, when the duo won silver at Sjusjoen, Norway. Battling wind and fog, McKeever and Carleton finished the 20-km course in 49:32.0.
“We came in here a little tired from the racing we’ve been doing over here in Europe, but are happy with the way we skied today,” said 32-year-old McKeever, who has been racing able-bodied races in Europe over the last two weeks. “Eric did a great job guiding today. We did as good as we can, but just plain got beat.”
(For more on McKeever and Carleton, see page 61).
Stanislav Chockhlaev and Maksim Pirogov of Russia won gold with a 10 second lead on the Canadian team.
“Definitely when it is windy you have to change things up a bit because it is a lot more work to be in the front,” said Carleton. “Brian and I talked about things today and traded the lead a bit. It was a good plan and turned out to be a pretty good day.”
