11.03 Ukraine’s Lukyanenko Races to 2nd Sochi Paralympic Gold

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia, March 11 (R-Sport) – Ukraine’s Vitaliy Lukyanenko won his second race at the Sochi Paralympic Games on Tuesday, shining at the 12.5-kilometer visually impaired biathlon.

Lukyanenko built on his success at the 7.5-kilometer event and once again beat Russia’s Nikolai Polukhin into second place, 10.3 seconds behind.

Vasily Shaptsiaboi of Belarus finished third for a complete repetition of Saturday’s podium.

Visually impaired biathlon involves blind or partially sighted athletes competing with the help of sighted guides. In the shooting portion of the event, athletes use modified rifles that provide aural cues to help them hit the targets.

Earlier in the day, Mikhalina Lysova, Roman Petushkov, Alyona Kaufman and Azat Karachurin all won biathlon gold medals for Russia.

The only other athlete to win any of the six biathlon events on the first day of competition was Germany’s Anja Wicker in the women’s 10-kilometer sitting event.

The Paralympic biathlon events use so-called “calculated time,” in which each athlete’s time is modified by a percentage reflecting the extent of their disability.