Canadian Para biathlete Mark Arendz wins overall World Cup title after undefeated season
Canadian Para biathlete Mark Arendz completed a perfect season while capturing the men’s overall World Cup title on Wednesday in Prince George, B.C.
The Hartsville, P.E.I., native won the men’s 10-kilometre standing race to open the Para Nordic World Cup Finals, posting a time of 27 minutes, 42 seconds at the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club. Ukraine’s Serhii Romaniuk (28:37.5) took silver ahead of Germany’s Marco Maier (29:34.5).
Arendz claimed his third career Crystal Globe after winning all four Para biathlon races on the World Cup circuit this season. He also swept all three individual events at the inaugural Para Biathlon World Championships last week at Caledonia.
”The feeling is fantastic and it is even more amplified today by being at home,” Arendz said. ”It makes it extra special.”
The two-time Paralympic biathlon champion missed just one of his 20 shots across four rounds on Wednesday — his first miss of the World Cup season. Arendz shot perfectly in three of four events at Para biathlon worlds.
While Arendz is no stranger to success in biathlon, with eight Paralympic medals in the discipline, this season marked a step forward for the 34-year-old.
“When I first started out I was hoping that one day I would have the capabilities to win day in, day out,” Arendz said. ”And here over the last month I’ve realized that I am that guy.”
In other Canadian results, Collin Cameron of Bracebridge, Ont., finished fourth in the men’s sitting event, his first race of the season after being out with a sinus infection. Smoky Lake, Alta., native Derek Zaplotinsky placed two spots behind Cameron.
Salmon Arm, B.C.’s Natalie Wilkie and Prince Albert, Sask.’s Brittany Hudak were fifth and sixth, respectively, in the women’s standing race.
