MINSK, 10 March (BelTA) – Belarusian Raman Svirydzenka has claimed gold in the cross-country skiing men’s sprint classic at the XIV Paralympic Winter Games in Italy, BelTA has learned.
The 21-year-old athlete emerged victorious in the LW2-LW9 categories (standing athletes with limb impairments). In the sprint qualification, Svirydzenka posted only the 12th result among 30 participants and secured the last qualifying spot for the next stage. Raman then went on to win his semifinal and also finished first in the final, finishing three seconds ahead of silver medalist Sebastian Marburger of Germany. The top three was rounded out by French Benjamin Daviet, who finished seven seconds behind the Belarusian.
The 21-year-old athlete emerged victorious in the LW2-LW9 categories (standing athletes with limb impairments). In the sprint qualification, Svirydzenka posted only the 12th result among 30 participants and secured the last qualifying spot for the next stage. Raman then went on to win his semifinal and also finished first in the final, finishing three seconds ahead of silver medalist Sebastian Marburger of Germany. The top three was rounded out by French Benjamin Daviet, who finished seven seconds behind the Belarusian.
Earlier this season, Svirydzenka won the sprint at the January World Cup stage in Germany. Raman’s gold medal is the first award for Belarusian team at the current Paralympics. In the same discipline, within the LW10-LW12 classes (sitting athletes) for women, Belarusian competitors Lidziya Loban and Valiantsina Biryla concluded their performance in the semifinals, taking 9th and 12th place respectively. Meanwhile, in the LW2-LW9 categories for women, Darya Fedzkovich finished in 14th position.
On 11 March, 10km interval start classic will be held on the Tesero track. Relay races are scheduled for 14 March, and individual 20 km freestyle races will take place on the final day of the Paralympics, 15 March. In total, the XIV Paralympic Winter Games have brought together more than 600 athletes from 55 countries in Italy. Belarusian athletes are competing under the national symbols.
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