At the Östersund Biathlon World Cup, three Ukrainians competed in the men’s sprint. Mandzyn finished 24th, scoring Ukraine’s first points, Borkovskyi 43rd, Tsymbal 61st, while Johannes Bø won.
The first stage of the Biathlon World Cup in Östersund, Sweden, continued with the men’s sprint on Saturday, December 6, reports Suspilne.
Three Ukrainian biathletes represented the country in the race: Vitaliy Mandzyn, Bohdan Tsymbal, and Bohdan Borkovskyi. Dmytro Pidruchnyi and Artem Tyshchenko were also supposed to compete but did not start due to illness.
Before the Östersund men’s sprint, the “blue and yellow” team had not yet scored any points in the World Cup standings in individual races — neither among women nor men. Mandzyn broke this streak by finishing in the top 25.
Race summary
- Vitaliy Mandzyn finished 24th, 1 minute and 36 seconds behind the leader. The Ukrainian made a single mistake in the standing shooting, while less than 15 seconds separated him from the top 20.
- Mandzyn was the fastest Ukrainian on the course — 29th overall — and completed the two shooting stages in exactly one minute.
- Bohdan Borkovskyi finished just outside the points zone, taking 43rd place in his second individual World Cup start. At the shooting range, he was the fastest among Ukrainian biathletes (28th overall), missing two targets in the prone stage.
- Bohdan Tsymbal had two penalty loops. With the 61st time, he was the first athlete excluded from the pursuit race, while Mandzyn and Borkovskyi, finishing in the top 60, will be able to start in the Sunday, December 7 pursuit.
- Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bø won his second consecutive “gold,” also winning the Östersund sprint. The podium was completed within 15 seconds by Martin Uldal and Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet — all three completed the course without penalty loops.
World Cup. Östersund. Sprint (men)
1. Johannes Thingnes Bø (Norway, 0+0) 24:26.3
2. Martin Uldal (Norway, 0+0) +11.1
3. Quentin Fillon Maillet (France, 0+0) +14.3
4. Sturla Holm Lægreid (Norway, 0+1) +25.0
5. Sebastian Samuelsson (Sweden, 0+1) +25.1
6. Vetle Christiansen (Norway, 0+0) +29.7
24. Vitaliy Mandzyn (Ukraine, 0+1) +1:36.6
43. Bohdan Borkovskyi (Ukraine, 2+0) +2:17.2
61. Bohdan Tsymbal (Ukraine, 1+1) +2:50.4
The men’s pursuit will close the Östersund stage program on Sunday, December 7 (start at 16:20). The women’s pursuit will take place earlier at 14:15.
